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Clay M. Gatens

Clay’s primary areas of practice are Complex Civil Litigation, Class Actions, Real Estate and Land Use Law. 

Clay’s litigation practice involves complex civil litigation and consumer class actions against some of the nation’s largest lenders, loan servicers, and casualty insurance companies. Clay served as lead Class Counsel in certified class actions against Wells Fargo and Nationstar Mortgage that resulted in landmark settlements in favor of the plaintiffs for $26,305,000 and $17,000,000 respectively. 

In approving these landmark settlements, the Honorable Salvador Mendoza, Jr. of the United States District Court noted “…the exceptional results Class Counsel achieved for the class — including the first and largest settlement of this type, exceeding $26 million; (2) Class Counsel’s diligent and efficient approach to this litigation and their ability to leverage past experiences and successes to obtain timely payment for Class members and avoid protracted litigation; and (3) Class Counsel’s significant experience in complex class actions….” 

The Honorable Thomas O. Rice, Chief United States District Judge stated “Class Counsel’s work produced significant results for the Class, including class certification in state court, a favorable ruling the Washington Supreme Court on questions certified by this Court, and various other rulings beneficial to the Class. Class Counsel survived dispositive motions practice and preceded not only toward, but past, class certification. Moreover, Class Counsel’s work, professionalism and performance during the mediation process ultimately resulted in an excellent settlement for the Class.”

In addition to his trial advocacy work, Clay’s appellate advocacy includes serving as lead counsel in oral arguments in front of both the Washington State Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Published opinions from these appellate arguments include Jordan v. Nationstar Mortg. LLC, 781 F.3d 1178 (9th Cir. 2015); Jordan v. Nationstar Mortg., LLC, 185 Wash. 2d 876, 374 P.3d 1195 (2016); Carranza v. Dovex Fruit Co., 190 Wash. 2d 612, 416 P.3d 1205 (2018); Bess v. Ocwen Loan Servicing, LLC, 727 F. App'x 918 (9th Cir. 2018).

Clay also serves as counsel for numerous large scale development projects in the region involving Master Planned Resorts, Major Subdivisions, Planned Unit Developments, and historic renovations. These projects include ski resort expansions, golf course developments, data centers, mixed-use residential and commercial in-fill projects, and minor and major residential subdivisions located throughout Washington State.

At the state level, Clay is an Executive Committee Member of the Real Property Probate & Trust section of the Washington State Bar Association where he has chaired a number of Continuing Legal Education seminars focused on real property issues and served as editor for the section’s newsletter publication. Locally, Clay’s community focus is on involvement with long range economic planning and development for the region. This focus is demonstrated by his service on the mayor-appointed committee evaluating the region’s economic sustainability, and his service on the think tank groups that focus on economic and social development in the North Central Washington region. In 2016, Clay was a keynote speaker at the annual National Consumer Law Center conference in Anaheim, California. 

EDUCATION

PRESENTATIONS/TEACHING

Clay was a keynote speaker at the 2016 National Consumer Law Center, Annual Conference

ADMISSIONS & PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

NOTABLE CASES & DECISIONS

  • Jordan et al v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC

    • Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, 374 P.3d 1195 (Wash. 2016)

    • Jordan v. Nationstar Mortgage, LLC, 781 F.3d 1178 (9th Cir. 2015)

  • Elmore v. Bank of America

  • Huber et al v. Wells Fargo Bank

  • Lair v. Outerwall, Inc. d/b/a Coinstar

  • Johnson v. Assurant Insurance Company

PUBLICATIONS