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Brian Fahling has recently joined the Tacey Goss Law Firm. Mr. Fahling has deep experience in many areas of the law. He has handled matters involving complex civil and constitutional tort litigation, civil conspiracy and legal malpractice, and defense of private corporations and municipalities. He served as a deputy prosecuting attorney with the Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office for five years and then went on to a national litigation and appellate practice for 14 years with the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy (CLP) where he served as senior trial attorney and senior policy analyst . As senior policy analyst, Mr.Fahling was the CLP’s liaison to Congress and state legislatures on matters of public policy.
Mr. Fahling has been lead counsel in more than three hundred trials and appeals. He was lead counsel in the successful defense of several corporations in a $300 million dollar lawsuit and he has represented United States senators and congressmen, and the states of Mississippi and Alabama, in amicus briefs to the United States Supreme Court. He has taught trial and appellate practice courses nationally and internationally. He also serves as Judge Pro Tem and Commissioner Pro Tem for Snohomish County Superior Court.
Mr. Fahling is admitted to the United States Supreme Court, eleven U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal, nine federal district courts and he has been admitted pro hac vice to many other federal and state courts across the nation.
Brian is a graduate of the University of Wyoming and Regent University School of Law.
Admitted to Practice
• United States Supreme Court
• 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, 11th and DC U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal
• U.S. District Court for Western District of Washington
• U.S. District Court for Eastern, Western and Northern Districts of Texas
• U.S. District Court for Colorado
• U.S. District Court for Arizona
• U.S. District Court for Central District of Illinois
• U.S. District Court for Eastern and Western Districts of Wisconsin
• Washington State Bar
Lead Counsel Experience (partial listing)
• Lead counsel in case successfully challenging ordinances on First Amendment grounds. Also obtained attorney’s fees. Pine v. City of West Palm Beach (No. 9:04-cv-80123-WJZ)(S.D.Fla. 2007).
• Lead counsel for plaintiff claiming damages for vexatious litigation and civil conspiracy. Large settlement obtained on eve of trial. DePrimo v. Chiarelli, 2006 WL 3500895, D.Conn., November 30, 2006 (NO. 306 CV 500 JBA).
• Lead counsel in successfully challenging city’s violation of plaintiffs’ First Amendment rights. Obtained consent decree which included damages for plaintiffs, attorney’s fees, and requirement that City provide First Amendment training on an annual basis to all police officers and other city employees. Reyes v. City of Chula Vista (No. 3:05-cv-02309-H-LSP)(S.D.Cal. 2006).
• As counsel of record, authored amicus brief to U.S. Supreme Court (in support of Child Interned Protection Act) on behalf of Senator Trent Lott and three House members. U.S. v. American Library Assoc., 539 U.S. 194 (2003).
• Lead counsel in successful defense of Kiowa County School District RE-2 against motion for TRO and preliminary injunction. Shields, et al v. Kiowa County Sch. Dist. RE-2 (No. 1:02-cv-00972-MSK-CBS)(D.Colo. 2003).
• Lead counsel in successful lawsuit alleging RLUIPA violation; obtained consent decree granting requested relief, damages, and attorney’s fees. Victory Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church v. Henry County, Georgia (No. 1:03-cv-02449-MHS)(N.D.Ga. 2003).
• Lead counsel in case successfully challenging two Florida statutes as unconstitutional. Also obtained attorney’s fees. Bischoff v. Florida, 242 F.Supp.2d 1226, 1239 (M.D.Fla. 2003).
• Lead defense counsel for TakeBackMaryland.org in challenge to placing referendum on ballot in November 2002 general election. Gelman v. John T. Willis, (Circuit Court Anne Arundel County, Md. 2002)(Civil No. C2001-73430).
• Special Counsel to Mississippi and Louisiana, representing the two states in amicus brief to United States Supreme Court in case of Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000).
• Lead counsel in successful defense of employer and other corporate entities sued for $300 million in state court. Obtained preliminary and permanent injunctive relief in federal court against further prosecution of the state action. Blackerby, et al v. Green County, Comm., et al (No. 7:99-cv-02347-ELN)(N.D. Ala 1999).
• Lead counsel in case successfully securing in settlement a change in zoning law to permit churches to locate in Fountain Valley, California, where zoning laws had been used to keep new churches out. Shalom Alliance, et al v. City of Fountain Valley, et al (No. 8:99-cv-00899-GLT-EE)(C.D.Cal. 1999).
• Lead counsel in successful defense of clients against lawsuit filed by State of Connecticut and the United States. With two colleagues, conducted more than 100 depositions in Connecticut in a six-month period. U.S. v. Scott, 958 F.Supp. 761 (D.Conn. 1997).
Presentations (partial listing)
Mr. Fahling is a sought-after speaker, writer and media commentator on constitutional and other legal issues.
Artistry & Advocacy in Litigation: Creating a Fresco, not a Fiasco, Webinar sponsored by WSBA, June 9, 2009.
Separation of Church and State: Myths and Truths, Southeastern Oklahoma State University, Lecture, February 2006
• The Changing Status of Privacy Rights, University of Richmond School of Law, Panelist, March 2006
• The Constitutionality of Gay Marriage, Seattle Pacific University, Debate, November 2004
• Application of Natural Law Principles in a Constitutional Framework, Liberty University School of Law, CLE Lecture, October 2004
• The Advisability of a Constitutional Amendment to Ban Same-Sex Marriage, University of Mississippi School of Law, Panelist, April 2004
• Artistry and Advocacy in Section 1983 Litigation, National Litigation Academy, Maui, Hawaii, Lecture, July 2001
• Condom Distribution and Sex Education in Public Schools, Justice Talking, National Public Radio, Debate, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, June 2000
• The Jurisprudence of Chief Justice John Marshall, Blackstone Fellowship, Scottsdale, Arizona, Lecture, August 2001
• Constitutionality of Filtering the Internet in Public Schools and Libraries, Testimony before Pennsylvania House Judiciary Subcommittee, March 2000
• Home Run Motions and Keys to Effective Oral Argument, National Litigation Academy, Cancun, Mexico, Lecture, June 2000
• Motions Practice in Section 1983 Litigation, National Litigation Academy, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Lecture, July 1999
Publications (partial listing)
• Protecting civil liberties through eavesdropping? Detroit Free Press, January 15, 2006 • To Some, Evolution’s a Point of Faith, Minneapolis Star Tribune, October 5, 2005 • Arlen Specter’s Legislative Supremacy Doctrine, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, August 14, 2005 • Is Encouraging Critical Thinking Unconstitutional? The Union Leader, Manchester, New Hampshire, January 22, 2005 • The Possibilities of Cooperation in a Divided Culture, Catholic Exchange, Feb. 18, 2004, http://www.catholicexchange.com/2004/02/18/87219/. • The Natural Order of Life: Why the Federal Marriage Amendment is necessary: • Partial Birth Abortion Is Legal Infanticide, Should Abortion Rights Be Restricted? (Ed. Auriana Ojeda) (2003)
Media Experience
Guest Commentator: CBS, CNN, FNC, MSNBC, BBC, NPR, Voice of America, local/regional television and radio stations, and guest columns in major newspapers.
Personal
Mr. Fahling was born in Taipei, Taiwan, lived in Germany for five years and then moved to Jackson Hole, Wyoming where he spent his winters skiing the slopes of Jackson Hole Ski Resort. His wife, Suzie (Vaux), was born and raised in Kirkland. They have seven boys and one girl.
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Brian Fahling