Brett Applegate

Brett Applegate is counsel with Snell & Wilmer in Portland and Seattle and a member of the firm’s Litigation, Investigations, and Trials Practice Group. She represents businesses, financial institutions, individuals, and parties involved in real estate transactions. Her practice includes litigation, appeals and critical motions, and financial services litigation. She has a particular focus on drafting and presenting complex motions in Oregon and Washington state and federal courts while pursuing practical, cost-conscious solutions for clients facing significant disputes.

Brett earned a J.D., summa cum laude, from Lewis & Clark Law School, where she graduated first in her class and served as an article editor for the Lewis & Clark Law Review. She received an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and a B.A. in English and Creative Writing, summa cum laude with honors, from the University of Arizona. Her academic background supports the research, writing, and oral advocacy central to her litigation practice.

Brett is admitted in Oregon and Washington and before the Supreme Courts of both states, the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and federal district courts in Oregon and Washington. Her practice covers disputes involving businesses, financial institutions, individuals, and real estate-related parties. She has a particular focus on complex motion practice, which requires careful factual development, persuasive briefing, procedural strategy, and effective presentation in trial and appellate settings.

Brett Applegate brings strong writing credentials and a practical litigation approach to contested matters across Oregon and Washington. Her work spans trial litigation, appeals, critical motions, and financial services disputes, while her client base includes institutions, companies, individuals, and parties to real estate transactions. Her combination of high-level legal writing, multijurisdictional court admissions, and dispute-resolution experience supports clients confronting complex procedural and substantive issues in state and federal courts.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Snell & Wilmer L.L.P.
• Member, Oregon State Bar
• Member, Washington State Bar Association
• Co-Chair, Oregon Women Lawyers Working Parents Committee (2024-Present)
• Member, Owen M. Panner American Inn of Court (2020-2021)
• Member, Multnomah Bar Association Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee
• Member, Multnomah Bar Association YLS Service to the Public Committee
• Mentor, Lewis and Clark Law School (2014-Present)
• Volunteer Cat Caregiver, Animal Aid (2012-2016)

Licensed State

• Oregon
• Washington

Education

• Lewis & Clark Law School
  Juris Doctor (JD) Summa Cum Laude
• The University of Arizona
  M.F.A., Creative Writing
• The University of Arizona
  Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English and Creative Writing Summa Cum Laude

Awards & Badges