Steffanie Fain

Steffanie Fain is Managing Partner of Coopersmith Law + Strategy, advising clients on a wide range of health care, corporate governance, and employment, and business strategy matters.

Steffanie is a collaborative problem solver with deep corporate governance and board leadership experience. She is serving her fifth term as President of the Board of Trustees for Harborview Medical Center, a comprehensive healthcare facility dedicated to providing specialized care for a broad spectrum of patients, including the most vulnerable residents of King County, Washington.  Owned by King County and operated by University of Washington (UW) Medicine, Harborview is the county’s public health hospital and is the only Level I adult and pediatric trauma and verified burn center serving Washington, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho.  

A breast cancer survivor, Steffanie is deeply committed to ensuring equitable access to healthcare, recognizing firsthand how critical it is for individuals and families.  Steffanie was appointed to the Harborview Board in 2015 to represent South King County residents and has led the Harborview Board’s focus on reducing barriers to healthcare access.  Steffanie also serves as chair of the Joint Conference and Executive Committees and previously chaired the Finance, Strategic Planning, and Governance Committees.

Steffanie is also a member of the UW Medicine Advisory Board, which advises the Board of Regents, UW President, and the CEO of UW Medicine, on all matters relating to UW Medicine, especially with respect to strategy, finance, and system-wide integration of all entities and affiliates of UW Medicine.  

In her legal practice, Steffanie assists employers and employees with federal, state, and local leave laws and regulations, as well as wrongful termination, discrimination, harassment, retaliation, breach of contract, and discipline issues.  Steffanie helped numerous employers evaluate and implement workplace policies to address evolving proclamations, orders, and laws related to COVID, such as vaccination, mask, and work-from-home policies.  Steffanie has negotiated favorable employee separations and severance agreements for clients and conducted workplace investigations relating to discrimination, sexual harassment, and retaliation claims, resulting in safer workplaces. She serves as outside general counsel for several fast-growing companies, managing risks, ensuring compliance with local, state, and federal laws, and providing advice regarding a wide variety of business issues. 

Steffanie is experienced in all aspects of the litigation process, at both the trial court and appellate court levels, including case strategy, risk evaluation, discovery, and trial.  Prior to joining CLS, Steffanie was a partner at Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP, an AmLaw 100 law firm with over 1,000 attorneys.  Steffanie chaired the Seattle office’s Commercial Litigation Group, leading a team of attorneys handling a heavy commercial and complex civil litigation caseload, including breach of contract, negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, product liability, class action, Washington Public Records Act, Fair Debt Collections Practices Act, Deed of Trust Act, and Consumer Protection Act claims, among others.  Steffanie was also an attorney at a boutique Seattle law firm, assisting clients with a wide range of real estate, business transactions, employment, and complex commercial litigation matters. 

Steffanie is admitted to practice in Washington State and has received recognition as a “Rising Star” between 2017 and 2020, and as a “Super Lawyer” since 2021. 

Steffanie earned her J.D. with honors from Seattle University, serving as judicial extern at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, and her B.A. in Classical Civilization with honors from Macalester College.  Steffanie has a Certificate in Contract Design and Management from the University of Washington and studied at the University of St. Andrews, Scotland’s oldest university.

Steffanie also previously served on the board of trustees for Trillium Employment Services, a nonprofit organization committed to integrating people with intellectual disabilities into the workforce, as a founding member of MultiCare’s South King Health Foundation, and as a spokesperson for Under Armour’s nationwide breast cancer awareness campaign in 2009.

Steffanie is a long-time active member in her South King County community as a volunteer PTSA member at her children’s public school, and as a coach and volunteer on her kids’ basketball, soccer, and baseball, swim teams.