Stan Perkins to receive Legal Innovation Award

For his commitment to helping new lawyers get solo practices off the ground, Dean Standish “Stan” Perkins will be honored with the Legal Innovation Award from the Washington State Bar Association.

The WSBA selected Perkins for the award for his “commitment to improving access to justice, pioneering an innovative low bono incubator, and enriching the legal profession and those who work within it.”

Perkins was a driving force behind the Low Bono Incubator Program at his alma mater, Seattle University School of Law, where he provides funding to the Access to Justice Institute and mentorship to recent SU Law grads who are starting their own practices to serve clients of moderate means.

The program began with four incubatees in 2013, and this year, there are 11 participants who get to meet regularly with Perkins, attend seminars, and benefit from his successful practice and significant experience in personal injury law.

A skilled attorney with more than 30 years of experience, Perkins has successfully tried, arbitrated, and settled thousands of personal injury cases since 1986, helping his clients recover millions of dollars.

He empowers his clients, helping good people who have been injured find justice and regain their lives.

Perkins is gratified by the WSBA recognition, but his real satisfaction comes in helping lawyers who are just beginning their careers.

“I’ve always been grateful to the experienced lawyers who helped me when I was just starting out,” Perkins said. “This is coming full circle for me now to help these industrious young lawyers achieve their goals.”

Many of the attorneys who have been selected for the competitive incubator program say they would not have successful practices without his support, and their gratitude was reflected in the nominations he received for the award.

It recognizes legal professionals, law firms, courts, law schools, individuals, or organizations who demonstrate leadership in promoting innovation in the practice of law. Perkins will receive the award at the WSBA Apex Awards Dinner Sept. 28.

He also serves as an adjunct professor at SU School of Law and regularly makes presentations to students, alumni, and fellow attorneys through programs run by the law school’s Access to Justice Institute. He was recently named one of the Top Ten Lawyers by the American Justice Institute.