Upon being admitted to practice law in 1963, Daniel Benjamin Ritter commenced his career as an associate with the firm now named Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Seattle, where, after six years as an associate, he became a partner, serving as such for 37 years until 2006. After departing from his role as partner, he continued to serve of counsel until his full retirement in 2009. Over the course of his career, Mr. Ritter has often successfully argued before the Washington Supreme Court, and has done so starting one week after he had passed the Washington Bar examination. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, with honors, from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Washington Law School. He was inducted into the Order of the Coif and served as an editor of the University of Washington Law Review.
While serving Davis Wright Tremaine, Mr. Ritter focused on tax law, pension and profit-sharing law, corporation law, and finance and banking law, especially the Uniform Commercial Code. For several years during his tenure, he represented the Washington Bankers Association, and further worked on both national and international financial transactions. In this role, he drafted and negotiated documents, and participated in, often presiding over, the closings of many transactions.
Admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States in 2007, Mr. Ritter has been active with numerous legal organizations, having served on the Washington State Statute Law Committee, as chairman of the business law section of the King County Bar Association and as chairman of the business law section of the Washington State Bar Association. Furthermore, he sat on myriad committees of the University of Washington Law School over the many decades of his career. Mr. Ritter has co-authored a number of texts, such as the “Washington Community Property Desk Book,” and the “Washington Commercial Law Desk Book” and its revised edition. He served as editor-in-chief of the Washington Revised Article 9 Deskbook in 2003.
Civically engaged as well, Mr. Ritter has been affiliated with his local church as a member of the church choir, and has further lent his expertise to the boards of Early Music Seattle and Cathedral Associates. Moreover, he is a past member of the Seattle chapter of the American Lung Association. He served in the United States Army in 1957, and in the United States Army Reserve from 1957 until 1962.
As a testament to his success, Mr. Ritter was named to Best Lawyers in America in banking and finance law and corporate law. He has further been highlighted in several Who’s Who publications, including Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law and Who’s Who in the World.
