Steffanie Fain

Steffanie M. Fain is Managing Partner of Coopersmith Law + Strategy and a strategic advisor on health care law and equity, corporate governance, employment, and business strategy.

Steffanie is a collaborative problem solver with deep corporate governance and board leadership experience. Steffanie is the 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.  Steffanie was appointed to the Board in 2015 to focus on reducing barriers to health care access.  Steffanie also serves as chair of the Joint Conference and Executive Committees and previously chaired the Finance and Governance Committees.

Steffanie is 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 employment 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 HR issues, with a focus on avoiding employment litigation. 

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” in 2021. 

Steffanie earned her J.D. with honors from Seattle University 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.