Executive Profile
Gregor Hensrude serves as Managing Shareholder of Klinedinst’s Seattle office. He focuses his practice on the representation of companies and professionals. For corporate clients, Mr. Hensrude serves as a front-line resource for making smart business decisions incorporating liability concerns with traditional business models. For professionals and companies, Mr. Hensrude serves as an experienced litigator and trial lawyer.
Mr. Hensrude’s transactional practice includes standard services like negotiating contracts and managing intellectual property, but also includes major acquisitions, working with administrative agencies, and how-to advice on employment, financing, real estate, and antitrust issues. As examples of that diversity, Mr. Hensrude has successfully extricated a founder from a company in a collegial way during challenging circumstances, negotiated the purchase of a multi-million-dollar patent portfolio, and set up a pricing policy for a manufacturer to comply with antitrust law. Mr. Hensrude’s clients are generally closely held companies that have exited the start-up phase but are still growing rapidly.
Like the scope of his services on the counseling side, Mr. Hensrude prides himself on being a “cradle to grave” litigator. He has personally completed every aspect of litigation from filing a complaint or answer to litigating before courts of appeal but generally manages small teams to win cases through all of those means. Mr. Hensrude has tried cases to judges and juries in state and federal courts and has argued many appeals before state and federal courts of appeal. He has litigated over one hundred legal malpractice actions, as well as defended many claims against other kinds of professionals, including architects, civil engineers, real estate brokers, accountants, and those in the financial services industry. Mr. Hensrude has also litigated intellectual property disputes, real estate matters, breach of contract claims, employment-related cases, and many other kinds of business disputes. Those matters have ranged from small collections claims up to class actions and claims involving tens of millions of dollars in alleged damages. While Mr. Hensrude most often ends up on the defense side, where he has obtained judgments on behalf of clients in many cases, he has also litigated corporations’ affirmative claims to jury verdict and seven figure settlements.
The recipient of Martindale’s highest AV®-Preeminent™ rating, Mr. Hensrude is active in the community, having previously served on the Board of Directors for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Skagit-Island County Chapter. He is also an active member of the King County Bar Association (KBCA) and a member of the Oregon State Bar.
Education
- Western Washington University (B.A., 2000)
- University of Washington School of Law (J.D., 2003)
Awards, Professional and Community Involvement
Professional and Community Affiliations
- Oregon State Bar
- University of Washington Alumni Association
- Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) former Board of Directors
- Whidbey Island Bicycle Club, Member, former Board of Directors
- King County Bar Association (KCBA)
- District of Columbia Bar
- transcenDANCE Youth Arts Project, former Board of Directors
- Washington State Bar Association
Recognition and Awards
- Recognized in Legal 500’s City Elite Series for Commercial Disputes (2026)
- AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell
- Recognized in Washington Super Lawyers for Prof. Liability: Defense, Super Lawyer (2025-2026)
News, Media and Speaking Engagements
Publications and Speaking Engagements
- Speaker, “High Time We Discussed ‘Legal’ Marijuana (and how employers should respond),” Skagit Island Human Resource Management Association (January 2019)
- Speaker, “Leave, Please: Practical Tips for Dealing with the Current and Forthcoming Leave-Related Laws in Washington,” Skagit Island Human Resource Management Association (June 2018)
- Speaker, “The Anatomy of a Lawsuit, and How to Avoid Learning Firsthand,” Skagit Island Human Resource Management Association (April 2017)
- “But What If the Judge Is Wrong?” The Daily Transcript (November 2015)
- “Does the Rise in Appellate Affirmation Rates in California Provide Insight in to Changes in the Modern Justice System?“ PLUS Journal (October 2015)
- “Tips for Avoiding Legal Malpractice Claims,” North County Bar Association (May 2008)
- “Awakening Hong Kong’s Sleeping Lion: A Case for Increased Use of O 62 r 8 11,” 11 Pac. Rim L. & Pol’y J. 371 (2002)
Related News
- Attorneys and Other Agents Can Be Held Liable for Retaliation Pursuant to the Fair Labor Standards Act
- Klinedinst Shareholder Gregor A. Hensrude Appointed to SIHRMA Board of Directors
- Klinedinst Begins New Chapter in Pacific Northwest with Seattle Opening
- San Diego Jury Rules That Email Exchange Over Possible Patent Purchase Did Not Constitute Valid Purchase Agreement (March 23, 2011)
