Russ has successfully represented business clients of all sizes ranging from small mom and pop operations to Fortune 500 corporations, performance groups and record labels.
Services provided have included business formation and other transactional needs such as partnership agreements, recording contracts, artwork licensing, and organizational agreements. While Russ continues to practice in these areas, he also provides affordable, top-flight estate planning, trust formation and probate representation to clients of all income levels.
Having previously navigated multiple high-conflict cases through the probate process, he is adept at using his litigation skills when drafting estate planning documents to avoid or minimize the potential for conflict to the greatest extent possible. Finally, he has garnered substantial experience in drafting and counseling clients seeking prenuptial, postnuptial, separate/community property agreements, gestational surrogacy contracts, and private adoption petitions.
Russ is licensed to practice law in Washington, Illinois and Wisconsin (inactive), the federal courts in the Western and Eastern Districts of Washington, Western and Eastern Districts of Wisconsin, Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.
A proud Alaskan, he was born in Fairbanks and graduated from Eastmont High School in East Wenatchee, Washington. Russ then went on to receive his B.A. in Political Science from Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington, and his law degree from the University of Idaho in 2002. During law school he was a member of the student National Lawyers Guild chapter and volunteered multiple semesters with the Idaho Legal Aid Service’s Lewiston office.
Russ continues to be actively involved in the international metal music scene as co-founder of Kaala Records & Distroction, occasional contributor to music web-magazines, and is a passionate advocate for regional PNW bands. He also serves as a Board Member of the Western Washington University Alumni Association.
Stephen has achieved success as an executive, director and legal adviser to private practice clients and in-house counsel roles. He started his career as a consultant developing high-level strategies for multinational firms. He first became Company Secretary and then an executive director of a strategic consultancy and investment bank. During that time his focus shifted to working with start-up and medium sized enterprises. In this role, he helped clients overcome obstacles to domestic and international growth, build management expertise, and develop strategic planning and market strategy. He has also served as a non-executive director on many boards and an advisory panel. As a business leader, Stephen has seen and resolved most types of common challenges affecting a wide range of industries in domestic and international commerce. He also has more than two decades experience negotiating and drafting key commercial and corporate agreements as an officer, executive or external adviser.
After relocating to the United States, Stephen was licensed to practice law in Wisconsin where he formulated complex legal arguments successfully presented to several federal circuit, state appellate and supreme courts and the United States Supreme Court. He also managed a bulk litigation practice while managing an active transactional, legal risk management and dispute resolution caseload focused on international agreements and parties. He left private practice to help revitalize a century-old manufacturing company as an executive, board director and de facto in-house general counsel.
Stephen is licensed to practice law in Wisconsin and the United States Supreme Court. He was born in Warwickshire, England and has a B.A. Honors Degree, in Politics and International Relations from the University of Kent, UK, a post leadership Masters in Business Administration from the University of Surrey, UK, and a British professional qualification in international trade and payments, before earning his law degree (cum laude) from Marquette University Law School, Wisconsin, in 2007. He has since contributed to a number of international publications on subjects including the impact of different legal traditions and cultures on effective negotiation, contracts, and dispute resolution in international trade, and the legal implications posed by managing digitally-held information. He is a former elected Vice-Chair of the Dispute Resolution group of an international association of business law firms and was a judge for the Wisconsin annual Governors’ Business Plan competition for seven years.
