John L. Messina
Early in his career, founding partner John L. Messina won the biggest personal injury verdict in the history of the state of Washington, a record that stood for a number of years. He has been in practice for more than 40 years and is recognized by his peers as one of the 100 best trial lawyers in Washington state.
John graduated first in his class at Gonzaga Law School. For more than 25 years, he has received the highest rating possible by Martindale Hubbell, the national legal publication that rates performance and ethics. He is a Washington Law and Politics "Super Lawyer" and holds the prestigious national certification of Civil Trial Specialist from the National Board of Trial Advocacy. He is also a member of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, whose membership is limited to 500 trial lawyers nationally. Since 1988, John has also held the distinction of being certified in Civil Trial Advocacy.
John has won hundreds of cases involving negligence by government agencies, product manufacturers and contractors, and has represented many ordinary citizens injured by negligent driving and medical care. He brings passion and concern to every case and is committed to helping clients cope with the devastating injuries they have suffered.
In addition to his legal activities, John is extremely active in the greater community. He serves on the committee of the Washington State Supreme Court that writes standardized trial jury instructions and has served on the boards of the Gonzaga Law School, the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and the Washington Sons of Italy. He helped write changes to the Tacoma City Charter and authored the provisions regarding election of the council by districts and term limits.
John is a native of Tacoma and is married to Guelda (Lewis). They have four children and six grandchildren.
John and Guelda contributed funds to the Gonzaga University of Law to build the Law Review editor's office in the new law school building. In recognition of this, John received the plaque shown below.
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