Attorney
Randall leads the firm’s Land Use practice group. He works closely with clients and their consultants to acquire, develop, permit, use, and resolve disputes involving real property. Randall uses the skills he’s developed over his 20 years of practice to find efficient and practical solutions to disputes. When disputes cannot be resolved through negotiation, Randall litigates matters to resolution.
Randall also drafts covenants and easements to coordinate uses, maintenance and management between multiple property owners, including drafting conditions, covenants and restrictions (CC&Rs) for master planned communities and subdivisions.
Randall is the Chair of Cairncross & Hempelmann’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Group. The TOD Group helps clients build residential and commercial buildings near the growing number of high-capacity transit stations throughout the Puget Sound region. These TOD projects minimize the number of cars on our crowded roadways, maximize the return on our regional transit investments, and improve quality of life by providing housing and services for people where jobs, parks, and public spaces are located. The TOD Group understands the fundamental barriers and opportunities involved in transit-oriented development, and has the expertise in the areas of land use, real estate acquisition and sale, finance, and litigation to help clients make their transit-oriented development projects a reality.
Introduction
Randall leads the firm’s Land Use practice group. He works closely with clients and their consultants to acquire, develop, permit, use, and resolve disputes involving real property. Randall uses the skills he’s developed over his 20 years of practice to find efficient and practical solutions to disputes. When disputes cannot be resolved through negotiation, Randall litigates matters to resolution.
Randall also drafts covenants and easements to coordinate uses, maintenance and management between multiple property owners, including drafting conditions, covenants and restrictions (CC&Rs) for master planned communities and subdivisions.
Randall is the Chair of Cairncross & Hempelmann’s Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) Group. The TOD Group helps clients build residential and commercial buildings near the growing number of high-capacity transit stations throughout the Puget Sound region. These TOD projects minimize the number of cars on our crowded roadways, maximize the return on our regional transit investments, and improve quality of life by providing housing and services for people where jobs, parks, and public spaces are located. The TOD Group understands the fundamental barriers and opportunities involved in transit-oriented development, and has the expertise in the areas of land use, real estate acquisition and sale, finance, and litigation to help clients make their transit-oriented development projects a reality.
Experience & Results
- Successfully defended construction permit against appeal asserting that artificial pond on property should be a regulated wetland (Madison Estates Investments Limited Partnership v. Madison Estates Lot 5 Investments LLC (Aug. 12, 2024))
- Successfully defended aquatic landowners before the Washington Supreme Court in action by King County asserting claims to private owners’ aquatic lands based on former railroad and current public trail easement (King County v. Abernathy (Jan. 25, 2024))
- Successfully negotiated acquisition of air rights to increase development potential in downtown Seattle
- Successfully negotiated agreement on behalf of private owner with Sound Transit, securing owner’s redevelopment right after Sound Transit’s use of property ends
- Successfully challenged zoning and development code interpretations in several jurisdictions, leading to increased development potential for private properties
- Successfully defended controversial 100+ lot subdivision in administrative and superior court proceedings
- Successfully negotiated multi-party agreement involving development projects in the City of Bainbridge Island
- Successfully negotiated settlement agreement with neighborhood historic society regarding preservation of historic building while maximizing development potential for underlying property
- Successfully helped coordinate a change to State condominium statute to facilitate the sale and conveyance of 7-acre property to Seattle Children’s Hospital
- Successfully co-defended special use permit for gravel mine despite interference by county officials and helped secure a $12 million verdict against county
- Successfully transferred development rights between parcels of land in King County and within the City of Seattle
Education
- University of Washington (B.A., 2001)
- University of Washington School of Law (J.D., 2006)
- Associate Editor-in-Chief, Washington Law Review
- Magister, Phi Delta Phi
- Legal Writing Teaching Fellow
Admissions
- Washington
- Oregon
- US District Court, Western District of Washington
Honors & Recognition
- Ranked in Washington State by Chambers USA in the area of Real Estate: Zoning/Land Use since 2022
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Real Estate Law since 2018
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Environmental Law since 2021
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America® in Land Use and Zoning Law since 2021
- Named on the Washington Super Lawyers list by Super Lawyers® Magazine since 2022
- Named on the Washington Rising Stars list by Super Lawyers® Magazine
- Named on the Top 10 Washington Attorneys list in Zoning/Land Use by Business Today 2023
Professional & Community Involvement
- Puget Sound Regional Council, Transit-Oriented Development Committee (2015-present)
- Urban Land Institute
- Urban Land Institute Northwest, Transit Oriented Design Product Council
- National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP)
- Property Tour Committee (2014)
- Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
- Drama Dock, Board of Directors
Publications/Speaking Engagements
- Moderator, “Development, Construction & Design Trends,” Marcus & Millichap/IPA Multifamily Forum Pacific Northwest, Seattle, WA (October 13, 2022)
- Moderator, “Developing From the Ground Up,” Bisnow Seattle Transit-Oriented Development (July 19, 2022)
- Moderator, “Developers/Owners/Investors Panel,” InterFace Seattle Multifamily Conference (March 23, 2022)
- Moderator, “Reinventing Communities and Finding Opportunity in the North: What’s Next for Everett?,” Bisnow Future of North Sound & Everett Digital Summit (April 14, 2021)
- Moderator, “The South Sound and Future Communities: OZs & TOD,” Bisnow Future of South Sound & Tacoma Digital Summit (February 11, 2021)
- Moderator, “Seattle Transit-Oriented Development Update,” Bisnow Webinar (October 8, 2020)
- Moderator, Developer panel at “Bringing the Region Together: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT),” Puget Sound Regional Council (October 4, 2019)
- Presenter, “Achieving Great TOD Communities,” Dome District Fall Meeting (2018)
- Presenter, “Transit Oriented Development – Challenges and Opportunities,” Urban Land Institute, Multifamily Product Council (2015)
- Presenter, “Transit Oriented Development Opportunities in the City of Shoreline,” In-House Presentation (2012)
- Presenter, “Ethics: Special Issues for Lawyers Involved Appearing Before Local Officials and Agencies in Permitting Processes,” Law Seminars International, Advanced Workshop (2008)
Personal
- Third grade basketball coach (2023)
- Interests include playing basketball, backpacking, cooking, beer brewing, gardening and cinema