Dawn Farina

Dawn Farina is a criminal defense attorney and partner at Puget Law Group. She brings more than three decades of trial experience to criminal defense matters. Her background as a former prosecutor helps her identify weaknesses in prosecution strategies and use that knowledge to support her clients.

Dawn earned a Bachelor of Science from Washington State University in 1985. She later earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Puget Sound School of Law in 1988. Her legal education prepared her for a long career handling complex criminal cases and courtroom litigation.

Dawn began her legal career as a public defender before joining the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office. She spent 29 years there, working first as a trial attorney and later advancing to Chief of Staff. During her time there, she supervised leadership teams and oversaw thousands of criminal cases yearly.

Dawn’s criminal case experience includes aggravated murder, child sexual assault, rape, domestic violence, burglary, theft, and DUI matters. Dawn also has extensive knowledge of forensic evidence and defenses involving self-defense, mental disease, DNA, and cell phone evidence in criminal investigations and courtroom proceedings.

Dawn later joined the City of Fife as City Prosecutor, where she created a new prosecution program for the municipal court system. Her responsibilities included jury trials, plea negotiations, case review, charging decisions, and appeals. She also trained and advised law enforcement on investigations and police procedures for decades.

Dawn Farina joined Puget Law Group in 2024 as Senior Attorney and became a partner in 2025. She is also a former President of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association and has received awards for public service, legal leadership, and support for legal aid and law enforcement training programs.

Law Office Affiliations

• Attorney, Puget Law Group
• President, ​Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association

Licensed State

• Washington

Education

• University of Puget Sound School of Law
  Juris Doctor (JD)
• Washington State University
  Bachelor of Science (BS)

Awards & Badges