Lane Powell and attorneys Callie Castillo and Neil Evans were featured in the Law.com article, “How a Select Few Mid-Market Firms Beat Big Law in the Race for Government Talent.” The article highlights how mid-size firms that can offer a better lifestyle, a wider variety of satisfying work, a collaborative office, and the chance to help ex-government lawyers grow, stand a much better chance at attracting top government talent looking to enter into private practice.
“Lane Powell is another Northwest firm that has great success in attracting government talent.
In Jul. 2018, Neil Evans joined Lane Powell in Portland, Ore., after serving as an assistant U.S. attorney in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for 30 years.
Evans said after 30 years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office, by 2017 he was looking for a new challenge.
‘I loved my time as an AUSA but was ready to challenge myself in new ways,’ he said.
But what he wasn’t interested in was going to a large firm where he might be limited in the work he could do and in less control of building his own practice.
At Lane Powell, Evans has been able to work on a wide variety of matters—from health care to cannabis, to corporate securities and corporate litigation, state enforcement actions and bankruptcy, as well as the white-collar investigations and the litigation strategy and negotiations he craves.
Evans said he never considered Big Law because he was looking for a collegiate atmosphere where he could make a difference to the firm and its clients.
As an AUSA, Evans had also sat across the table from Lane Powell lawyers and liked what he saw.
He also knew a former colleague who had went to the firm—a year before Evans moved, Justin Okun also joined Lane Powell in Seattle after three years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los “Angeles. Okun has since moved on but Evans said knowing the quality of Lane Powell lawyers was a big draw for him.
Callie Castillo joined Lane Powell as a shareholder in November 2019, direct from twelve years at the Washington State Office of the Attorney General. In 2004, Castillo was a legal clerk in the White House Executive Office of the President, and then moved on to become a legal fellow for the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee before returning to the Pacific Northwest.
For Castillo, a litigator, Lane Powell offered the chance to continue taking on challenging cases in a wide variety of legal areas, while also being able to devote the time she wanted to family and interests.
‘I had an excellent career at the Washington State Attorney General’s office and had reached what I considered the peak. I worked long hours, but I also had balance,’ said Castillo. ‘I did not want to start my private practice career over again in terms of developing clients, finding work and not being able to see my family.’
Castillo said she ‘could not be happier’ with her choice of Lane Powell over Big Law.
‘It has checked every single box I was looking for when I decided to leave public service for the private sector,’ she said. ‘It’s collaborative, I have very quickly integrated into the team, we share work in the kind of practice that I want to do, while still being able to balance my time as I want.’"