Seattle Lawyer Lowers the Bar

Veterans Advocates Call for National Boycotts & Demand Disbarments at Evictions Law Firm

Seattle, WA –  August 5^th, 2019 was only one court day after the tragic suicide of the 38-year-old head attorney for a Seattle-based veteran’s advocacy group that had actively worked to remove former U.S. Attorney for the Western District Annette Hayes.

Yet at 9:05 a.m. in room w-325 of Seattle’s King County Courthouse, Seattle evictions attorney Evan Loeffler stood in front of the judge’s bench, face-to-face with King County, WA Court Commissioner Henry Judson demanding the court refuse to postpone the case even one hour. In doing so, Evan Loeffler demanded the court deny the right to counsel for key members of a veterans advocacy group Loeffler is alleged to be illegally trying to evict, according to extensive documents in the court record.

If Loeffler appeared to display an attitude of invincibility, it may have resulted from Melinda and Evan Loeffler’s lucrative career evicting thousands of unrepresented people – including defenseless veterans, widows, orphans, the disabled and terminally ill. The Loefflers are expected to gain national infamy within the legal profession for their efforts to fight postponing the case due to the suicide, according to the Seattle-based veterans advocacy group with a national mandate who refer to Loeffler’s action as an historic benchmark in legal practice.

“We researched the issue of an attorney dying in the middle of a case, and we couldn’t find a single example of any party objecting to a postponement. Not one, ever. Based on our research, what the Loefflers tried to do appears to be unprecedented in the history of the legal profession in the United States,” said a paralegal for the veterans group. “We are working with several veterans’ groups and several national media channels to expose what would seem to be among the lowest points in the history of the practice of law.”

Although the Loefflers have an ethical duty to make a good faith effort to resolve the property title dispute for the benefit of the Loeffler’s client, the veterans group emphatically state that the Loefflers have been unwilling to even discuss any manner of settlement, and appear to have acted contrary to their clients’, the Kangs, interest in violation of the practice rules of the Washington State Bar Association – at a cost to the Kangs estimated by the veterans group in excess of $50,000 and rising.

One fact that does not appear in the court record is if the Loefflers have explained to their clients, the Kangs, the Loefflers’ past differences with a key member of the veterans group. In 2014, Evan Loeffler’s personal client, William “Luke” Lukoskie, the self-proclaimed tofu tycoon based on Vashon Island, WA illegally nearly doubled the rent of a terminal cancer patient for having a live-in caregiver, which is rent-exempt under law. Lukoskie then threatened to shoot her professionally trained service dog, according to multiple legal declarations in the 2014 King County, WA court record. With full access to all of these facts, Evan Loeffler agreed to evict the cancer patient contrary to his legal rights.

The family member who had fought the eviction – one of the same veterans advocates the Loefflers are now alleged to be illegally attempting to evict – made clear in the court record evidence of Lukoskies’ predatory practices, including consistently renting his several properties to vulnerable women whom he then harassed and surveilled, sexual harassment of employees, opioid use, human trafficking, FDA violations at Lukoskies’ tofu manufacturing plant, tax evasion, and other criminal activity. Regardless of the law or the facts presented in the court record, Evan Loeffler aggressively litigated against the dying cancer patient and his family who died within days of the eviction.

According to witnesses, Loeffler was allegedly hysterical about both the evidence entered into the court record about his widely reviled client Lukoskie, and the several law enforcement investigations of Lukoskie that followed. According to allegations of the veterans group, the Loeffler’s ongoing eviction efforts are at their clients’, the Kangs, expense, who may now be paying a potentially run-on bill for the Loefflers’ personal revenge. It is unclear if the Loefflers have disclosed this conflict to their clients, the Kangs, who have not been available for comment.

“Evan Loeffler’s actions are in serious violation of the practice rules of the Washington State Bar and uniquely unprofessional. We intend to hold he and the staff of his law firm accountable and are organizing a national effort within the veteran’s community to call for a boycott of his client’s businesses as well as the organizations Loeffler’s affiliated with. We are coordinating efforts to disbar him and his staff attorneys involved in illegal conduct,” said one of the paralegals for the veterans group. “We ask that anyone with a business or social relationship with Melinda and Evan Loeffler please consider the actions against of the Loefflers’ law firm against veteran advocates, vulnerable people, and their practices. We are asking anyone with knowledge of any of the Loefflers’ or their law firm’s illegal or unethical practices to contact us. They may remain anonymous if they prefer.”

Regardless of their daily contributions to Seattle’s homeless crisis, the Loefflers would like you to know what great folks they are. On their law firm’s website, Evan Loeffler boasts of his Porsche, his fashion guidelines, and his sailing hobby. Ironically, Evan and Melinda Loeffler, who make a fortune evicting the defenseless, appear to want you to believe they are advocates for the homeless.

According to the dedicated web page for the self-defined philanthropists on Social Venture Partners/SVP, Melinda Loeffler is on the Community Outreach Committee for the nonprofit Washington Multi-Family Housing Association (WMFHA), and Evan is a member of the WMFHA Government Affairs Committee, involved in lobbying efforts to make eviction laws more aggressive. And he’s a Seafair Clown.

Evan Loeffler’s clowning extends to his humor articles, depending on one’s definition of humor. Posted on his law firm’s website, topics include his opinion that his abuse of a child was amusing; a description of his apparently obsessive-compulsive collections practices; his opinion of law enforcement officers as “donut engorged;” and references to his own clients as “morons,” “retards,” and “imbeciles.” Notwithstanding the fact that many of his own clients are gay, Loeffler’s humor articles include both direct and thinly veiled homophobic references.

Perhaps most telling about the direction of Evan Loeffler’s moral compass, and the philosophical and psychological foundation of the Loefflers’ allegedly intoxicated abuse of power emboldened by decades of regularly litigating unopposed against thousands of vulnerable people from whom they make a killing evicting, may be found in Evan Loeffler’s own description of his experience hunting:

Suddenly, I wasn’t a young lawyer blundering through the woods but a hunter. Waves of testosterone coursed through my body as I took aim at this obviously distraught, defenseless, fuzzy animal…I pulled the trigger.

Evan Loeffler’s humor would unlikely be a surprise to the distraught and defenseless victims of the Loefflers’ eviction practices that make them homeless. Loeffler just pulls the trigger. Nor is his humor a surprise to housing advocate attorneys who regularly see Loeffler in court. The references “sadistic,” and “arrogant” were used consistently, as well as “the most abrasive [and/or] unprofessional attorney [they] have encountered in [their] careers.” Insiders testify that the entire Loeffler law firm is alleged to act strictly at the direction of Loeffler in lockstep with his ethical and moral example, potentially exposing clients and his own legal staff to significant liability.

Melinda and Evan Loeffler’s eviction practice is not limited to the thousands of people they evict through their Seattle, WA law firm supported by staffers Jeana K. Poloni, Brant M. Olson and Carinne E. Jaeger in addition to Melinda and Evan Loeffler. The Loefflers also broadcast their eviction tactics to Washington State’s legal profession through “how-to” online seminars with Lorman Education Services, in addition to live presentations and publications in affiliation with the King County and Washington State Bar Associations.

Contrary to their public relations efforts and apparent attempts to purchase social capital, Melinda and Evan Loeffler’s actions may provide more clarity as to their contributions to society. The Loefflers are alleged to have illegally and repeatedly attacked members of the Seattle veterans group, misrepresented key facts of the case, and ignored federal laws, according to allegations by members of the veterans group in court documents.

The late attorney for the veterans group who committed suicide was one of the occupants of the disputed property whom the Loefflers were trying to evict. As mentioned, the following court day after the suicide the Loefflers immediately attempted to demand the court deny any delay of the hearing and thus deny legal representation to the rest of the veteran advocates. The Loefflers continue to attempt to illegally evict the remainder of the veteran advocates to this day according to current court records.

Members of the veterans group are now actively seeking the disbarment of Loeffler and his legal staff – multiple complaints are being filed with the Washington State Bar Association. In addition, separate legal actions are being brought against the Loefflers and their client Kang for damages resulting from Loeffler’s practice violations and misrepresentations alleged by members of the veteran’s group in the court filings, according to their representatives.

Loeffler’s clients in the disputed property occupied by the veterans group are Rajinder S. Kang and his husband. Based in Canada, the Kangs appear to be somewhat less transparent in their practices than the Loefflers. Raj Kang works in customer service as a truck rental clerk at Ryder’s Oakville, Ontario branch near Toronto. On the surface, Mr. Kang appears to have transformed his job with the Ryder Truck Rental office into the purchase of several million dollars of Seattle-area properties – personally, not through a business.

Exactly what role if any the Loefflers and their legal staff may have played in the flow of millions of mysterious dollars flowing over the border from Canada is yet unclear. More clear is the fact that Loeffler & Co are aggressively working to facilitate the Kangs’ business interests, together with the Kangs’ Renton, WA-based realtor, Phillip Rodocker of John L. Scott who has aided the Kangs in the purchase of several properties in the Seattle area.

As the causes of homelessness are being endlessly discussed around the greater Seattle area with countless white papers being circulated, committee meetings about committee meetings, and endless hand-wringing, Melinda and Evan Loeffler will be driving their Porsche all the way to the bank and sailing off into the sunset as one of the state’s greatest profiteers of homelessness.

As unfortunate as the Loefflers’ actions against the veterans advocates are in this ongoing case, the big questions now being asked are: why are King County courts allowing the Loefflers’ extensively documented alleged illegal actions and defiance of federal law to go unchecked, how many innocent, defenseless people have Melinda and Evan Loeffler, together with their staff attorneys, stripped of their legal rights and made homeless, and most of all, why do the Washington State Bar Association’s Hearing Officers allow these people to continue to practice law?

Also called into question are Loeffler’s affiliations – why are the King County, WA, Washington State, and American Bars publishing Loeffler’s materials? How credible are the attorney ratings by AVVO and Martindale-Hubbard?

What is the basis for Washington Law and Politics Magazine’s “Washington Super lawyer” designation, as well as Seattle Metropolitan Magazine’s “Top 100 Lawyers rating?” Exactly what have they reviewed or checked?

Evan Loeffler may be a Seafair Clown, but when it comes to adding to Seattle’s legions of homeless – regardless of the methods, it appears – Melinda and Evan Loeffler are not clowning around.

For their part, the Director of the veterans group’s only comment is the same quote that may be found on their website: “The limits of tyrants are defined by the endurance of those whom they attempt to oppress.”

If you want to join them in their efforts to endure, they may be reached by email at [email protected], or through their website.

This is the first installment in a year-long investigative series titled “Your Courts, Their Fraud:” Next in the Series – Part Two: King County, WA Commissioner Henry Judson’s invisible role in homelessness and guardianship/probate fraud.

Top image: Melinda and Evan Loeffler at their Seattle Eviction Law Practice