Shane P. Coleman

Biographical Information

Attorney Shane P. Coleman (Shane) was born in St. Paul, Minnesota and was raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. He began his legal career in the insurance business as in-house counsel for a national excess and surplus lines insurance company which provided insurance for hard-to-find, high risk business and activities. At the insurance company he was exposed to and defended the company against a wide variety of personal injury claims. Specifically, he negotiated and settled claims ranging from simple car accidents and slip and falls to wrongful death claims arising from various incidents. Not only did Shane gain experience defending the insurer, he gained an understanding of what it takes to settle a claim from the injured's position.

After gaining experience as a lawyer in the insurance field and negotiating personal injury claims, Shane accepted an in-house position managing litigation for a national mortgage servicer. In his role as an attorney for the servicing company he managed and negotiated claims and lawsuits covering all aspects of consumer lending law including claims for violation of the Truth-in-Lending Act, the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, Fair Credit Reporting Act, Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, Equal Credit Opportunity Act and various state and federal consumer protection acts. In addition, Shane helped create and implement policies and procedures to both keep the company in compliance with the strictly regulated mortgage industry and to prepare it for litigation. On such policy and procedure was the company document retention policy.

In 2008, Shane relocated to Spokane, Washington to be closer to family and to accept an attorney position with Witherspoon Kelley, the oldest law firm in Washington and the largest in Eastern Washington. His Spokane law practice built upon his experience in consumer lending and expanded into commercial lending. In addition to individuals, his primary clients were some of the largest regional banks in the area. In his role as Spokane attorney for these banks he negotiated work-outs of troubled debts/assets, drafted a variety of documents and agreements (including, among other things, loan agreements and settlement agreements), sought collection of amounts owed to the banks/creditors, and proceeded with foreclosures, replevins and garnishments when necessary. Shane also acted as the banks' lawyer in bankruptcies in the United States District Courts for Eastern and Western Districts of Washington.

In October 2010, Shane decided to start his own Spokane law practice. He has taken his experience representing the "big guys" and is putting it to work being a Spokane attorney for the "little guys," including smaller entities and individuals. His desire is to continue providing quality service to smaller banks and credit unions in Spokane without them needing to spend the "big firm" money and also put his knowledge of consumer lending, bankruptcy and personal injury to practice by helping those in Spokane who have been injured or are in a difficult situation with their finances. Because he knows how the insurance companies and banks think, he's a Spokane attorney that provides a valuable perspective to these individuals and businesses.

In addition to the practice areas above, Shane received an advanced degree in Taxation (an LL.M) from the University of Washington School of Law. In obtaining this degree, he gained the knowledge and experience to assist Spokane individuals and families prepare wills and trusts, powers of attorney and to better understand the probate process; Shane obtained his tax degree because he desired to help individuals prepare for what can be a difficult time in life. Because of this desire to help individuals and families, his new Spokane law practice will include Estate Planning, Wills and Probate.