Brad Thoreson: The Seattle Litigator Named 2027 Lawyer of the Year in Real Estate

Bradley "Brad" Thoreson is a partner at Buchalter's Seattle office and Seattle Co-Chair of the firm's Litigation Practice Group, where his complex commercial litigation practice focuses on commercial real estate for some of the largest owners and developers in the United States. In 2027 he earned the Best Lawyers in America "Lawyer of the Year" distinction for Litigation - Real Estate, a recognition reserved for one attorney in each practice area and metropolitan area whose peer-review ratings reflect exceptional professional achievement.

This feature traces the arc of that practice: the degrees and admissions behind it, the institutional investor and pension fund work of earlier years, the multistate COVID rent litigation of the recent period, the real estate disputes Thoreson's profile reflects today, and the teaching and board service he carries alongside the docket.

Where Brad Thoreson Started: Education, Admissions, and the Foundations of a Seattle Litigation Practice

Brad Thoreson earned a B.S. from Seattle Pacific University in 1985, where he played basketball and baseball, and a J.D. from the University of Puget Sound in 1988, and after his final term clerked for the Honorable Frank D. “Don” Howard, Federal Judge at the 9th Circuit U.S. Federal Bankruptcy Court. He is admitted in Washington and Oregon, and before Federal District Courts for Western and Eastern Washington, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the United States the Supreme Court.

That combination of state and federal admissions has shaped the kind of matter Thoreson is able to take. A dispute that begins in a Washington superior court and moves through the Court of Appeals and at times, onto the Washington State Supreme Court, or one that starts in Federal District Court and continues to the Ninth Circuit, or the Court of International Trade to the United States Supreme Court, stays with the same lawyer rather than changing hands at each level.  Thoreson argues at all levels, prior to trial, at trial and on appeal, where necessary.

Thoreson is a Class A Shareholder at Buchalter, a full-service business law firm that describes itself as a trusted partner to businesses, entrepreneurs, individuals and organizations for more than 90 years, and he serves as the Pacific Northwest Chair of the firm's Litigation Practice Group.

The Institutional Investor and Pension Fund Cases That Built Brad Thoreson's Reputation

While commercial real estate had been for many years the center of his practice, Brad Thoreson took on the responsibility of acting as the Litigation Chair of his former firms Investment Management Group, spending years representing institutional investors and public pension systems in troubled investment matters. Over a seven-year span he represented multiple large public pension fund clients in matters involving informal negotiations, litigation and trial, with recoveries ranging from $5 million to $400 million. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Custodial bank and securities lending disputes

Two of the custodial bank matters in Brad Thoreson's record involved Securities Lending Agreements. He was lead attorney in the successful representation of the Investment Office of the University of Washington in multi-billion dollar litigation against its custodial bank, Northern Trust, on breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty claims under a Securities Lending Agreement, obtaining interim injunctive relief against the bank, described by the firm as the only known case where the securities lending client exited the program without resort to monstrous losses by way of an equitable division of the account's assets that had plummeted in market crash of September 29, 2008. The related work for the University of Washington Treasury Department produced a $230,000,000 recovery adverse to its former custodial bank. In a separate follow on engagement, Thoreson represented the Regence Group in claims against BNY Mellon for violations of 12 separate Regence affiliated Securities Lending Agreements, recovering its loan securities valued at more than $180 million and tens of millions of dollars in damages after years of litigation in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Washington, and adverse to Boies Shiller & Flexner.

Pension systems, funds and trials

The pension fund work in Brad Thoreson's record spans several jurisdictions and several kinds of problems. He represented the Sacramento County Employees' Retirement System in a direct real estate contract based breach of contract claim against The Weyerhaeuser Company, which produced a multimillion dollar verdict and the other damages and fees sought after a two week bench trial, then settled very favorably while the defendant was appealing the adverse verdict. He also represented the Seattle City Employees' Retirement System in an effort to exit a British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands hedge fund investment after redemption was denied and audit functions failed, facilitating a takeover of the BVI feeder fund by commencing actions in U.S. federal courts and in the British Virgin Islands; the New York City Retirement Systems in a fraud-related matter incidental to an international investment fund; the Kern County Employees Retirement System in a fraud-related matter involving its former investment manager and auditor; and the New Mexico Educational Retirement Board on litigation due diligence review, investigation and legal analysis involving claims of "pay-to-play" placement agent.

Thoreson’s trial work spans 40 years, his first being a two week jury trial in Whatcom County Superior Court, involving civil claims brought by the State of Washington against a local company where the jury returned a verdict in Thoreson’s clients favor, bench and jury trials involving fraudulent business transactions, one where the jury returned a verdict for two times the amount Thoreson sought leading to a published appellate decision; Peregrin Investors v. Chan, a real estate fraud case where Thoreson recovered over $4,000,000 in damages from a general partner for Hong Kong-based limited partners;  J&M Capital Group v. Jamison & McFarland, in which Thoreson represented the owner of the historic J&M Hotel and Cafe in Seattle's Pioneer Square against its primary tenant over lease terms and prevailed on all claims following a bench trial in July of 2017. Thoreson also served as local counsel for Syntrix Biosystems in its patent suit against Illumina Inc., where a federal jury awarded Syntrix $95.8 million plus interest and royalties, described in the firm's account as one of the largest patent judgments ever in the state of Washington.  Thoreson has also tried many cases involving real estate contracts and leases, a good example being Peloquin v. Sordenstone, 174 Wn.App 1072 (Div. I 2013).

Brad Thoreson's COVID Rent Recoveries Against LA Fitness Across 14 States

Brad Thoreson recovered over $10,000,000 for two different building owner clients and a REIT for unpaid COVID rent from LA Fitness in 14 different states. The defenses raised included the assertion that force majeure arising from government closures forgave the payment of rent for those periods, and three of the cases required success at the state and federal trial court, appellate court and Supreme Court levels in Washington, California and Michigan. Past results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

A related engagement involved Unico Properties, a multi-billion dollar private equity real estate investment fund, in a complicated dispute with LA Fitness. That matter resulted in the termination of a 30-year lease on part of a city block in Bellevue, Washington, and the client was able to re-lease the property to an office user creating immense newly captured value.

Not every matter in this chapter involved a lease, easement or purchase contract. In the last two years, Thoreson saved a profitable company from insolvency through what the firm describes as strategic intervention leading to unified decision making from divergent member interests, producing a going concern and avoiding collapse and loss of over $10,000,000.

What Brad Thoreson's Commercial Real Estate Litigation Practice Handles Today

Brad Thoreson's current practice is complex commercial litigation focused on commercial real estate for some of the largest owners and developers in the United States, with most claims exceeding $10,000,000. Recent clients in substantial real property disputes include CrossHarbor Capital Partners, Unico Properties, Blackstone, EQ Office, CIM Group, Revantage, BRE, Hudson Pacific, Miles Sand & Gravel, Kairos Investment Management, Urban Visions, Pacific Oak Capital Advisors, LBA Realty, Holland Partner Group, Park Silver Development, Madison Development Group, Wilshire Capital Partners, and MainStreet Property.

The practice at Buchalter also includes "bet the company" litigation. Thoreson has tried cases involving large sums, including a $97,000,000 jury verdict in federal court. He has resolved many private company disputes through negotiation, arbitration where required, and litigation, some involving assets exceeding $100,000,000, and has represented Sono Bello across the country in contract disputes, some of which remain pending and resolving all others favorably for the client.

Representative matters from this chapter include:

• J&M  Capital Group v. Jamison & McFarland, prevailing in a long standing landlord tenant dispute affirming a disputed lease termination.
• Hudson Merrill Place LLC v. Smeraldo, representing REIT Hudson Pacific Properties as landlord against an existing tenant over commercial lease obligations, and prevailing in all claims brought against it by the tenant incidental to the construction by the client of an abutting office building.
• Unico Properties v. Fitness International, a real estate contract dispute leading to a termination of the relationship and creating substantial value for the client through the process.
• CIM Group v. LA Fitness, real estate litigation across 13 separate states and defeating the tenant claims in every jurisdiction.
• Madison Development Group v. Fitness International, lease litigation involving two separate leased premises leading to favorable results for the client.
• BRE and Revantage adverse to various public entitles during COVID.
• Holland Partner Group adv. Cerner Middle East, defeating multi-million dollar claims brought against it arising out of real estate development activities in downtown Vancouver, Washington.
• Miles Sand & Gravel v. Pierce County and Brookfield, involving condemnation and public/private contractual claims resulting in a very favorable result for Miles after substantial litigation.
• Private company disputes involving assets exceeding $200,000,000.
• A series of orders in the past two years leading to a contempt order against a municipality-appointed hearing examiner, with an order of jail time until the land use decision was rendered, described in the firm's account as likely the first of its kind in Skagit County or anywhere in the state of Washington.

Brad Thoreson's 2027 Best Lawyers "Lawyer of the Year" Honor and Recent Recognition

Brad Thoreson earned the Best Lawyers in America "Lawyer of the Year" distinction for 2027 in Litigation - Real Estate, an honor given to one attorney in each practice area and metropolitan area based on peer-review ratings. On October 8, 2026, he was featured in a Q&A published in the Best Lawyers section of the Puget Sound Business Journal, titled "Q&A: Brad Thoreson Named Seattle 'Lawyer of the Year' for Real Estate Litigation," in which he discussed the recognition and the other Buchalter attorneys named to The Best Lawyers in America 2027.

The surrounding record is dated and specific: Legal 500 U.S. Elite, Real Estate, 2026; Best Lawyers in America in Commercial Litigation, Litigation - Real Estate and Real Estate Law for 2024-2027 and various prior years; America's Top 100 Bet-the-Company Litigators for 2019-2024 in Business Litigation and Real Estate Law; the Washington Super Lawyers list from 2003 to 2021; America's Top 50 Lawyers, Top 1% on the America's Most Honored Lawyers list, 2013-2024; an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell; an AVVO 100 perfect score; and nomination as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation from 2014 to date.

Brad Thoreson's Teaching, Speaking, and Board Service Beyond the Courtroom

Brad Thoreson developed and taught a Harvard Masters course on "Leading the Law Firm of the Future, Legal/Management" from April 2022 to November 2022. He also serves as adjunct faculty at Seattle Pacific University, teaching the MBA graduate Legal Environment of Business class.

On the speaking side, Thoreson has presented at over 50 CLE’s for lawyers on real estate litigation topics, was recognized as presenter of the year in 2001 for his topic, Commercial Landlord/Tenant litigation in the New Millinium, moderated an October 27, 2021 Bisnow panel on growth in Bellevue and how the city would accommodate 25,000 new Amazon jobs and the 75,000 jobs that come with them, with panelists including the Regional VP of Hines and the owner of Bellevue Square.

His board service includes the Board of Trustees of Seattle Pacific University, the Board of Governors of the Washington Athletic Club, election to the Board of Trustees of the 101 Club from 2019 to 2023 and Past President, and service on the County Board of Directors of the Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, eventually becoming its first two year Board Chair. Further detail on his practice appears on Brad Thoreson's Haute Lawyer profile.