No one person has all the good ideas. From among our full-time staff and contracted professionals, presented here, we select Your Defense Team, the team to meet the needs of your case.
David S. Marshall
David Marshall has been committed for 15 years to providing the best possible defense to 
persons accused of child abuse. He is based in Seattle but has defended child abuse cases as far away as Iowa. Most of his cases come to him by referral from other lawyers.
For his clients David has won many acquittals at trial and many dismissals without trial. His clients' gratitude has touched him deeply.
David decided to focus on child abuse defense as a result of a case that came to him in 1995. He spent nearly a year developing the defense of a young man charged with molesting two young girls. Evidence against the man seemed overwhelming at times, but David's investigation eventually showed the charges rested on bad interviewing and lying. A jury acquitted the man on all four counts, sparing him a likely 20-year prison sentence.
That trial showed David an innocent person could easily be convicted, and have his life ruined, when falsely accused of child abuse. It also showed David his particular strengths match the particular demands of child abuse cases. He has focused on child abuse cases ever since.
By invitation from bar associations, David often lectures lawyers on how to win child abuse cases. He has also been appointed by the state governor and legislature to task forces dealing with child abuse issues in the justice system.
As part of his commitment to child abuse defense, David routinely studies fresh developments in law, psychology, and medicine that relate to child abuse cases. He shares some of the highlights by posting them here. Another way he keeps up to date is through his charter membership in the National Child Abuse Defense and Resource Center.
David earned his bachelor's degree at Cornell University and his law degree at Boalt Hall, the law school of the University of California at Berkeley. At the beginning of his career, he served several years as a deputy prosecuting attorney.
David has top ranking at Avvo. He has been recognized by Seattle Met magazine as a top lawyer and three times by Washington Law and Politics magazine as a "Super Lawyer." He has been awarded an AV® Preeminent™ rating by Martindale-Hubbell. This rating is given to attorneys who demonstrate the highest ethical standards and professional ability.
David's commitment to justice has been honored, too. He was one of the lawyers who received the National Law Journal's Pro Bono Award for 2000, for freeing persons wrongly imprisoned in the Wenatchee, Washington "child sex abuse ring" scandal. He has also been honored by the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and the Southern Center for Human Rights, based in Atlanta.
David is also a father, a Sunday school teacher, and a former youth soccer coach.
Ray McFarland
Ray McFarland has tried more than 100 felony criminal cases. Some of his most satisfying cases, though, have been ones in which he achieved his client's objectives without a trial.
After receiving his law degree from the University of Washington in 1981, Ray served as bailiff to a distinguished trial judge. There he learned much about trying cases from watching the work of excellent trial lawyers.
Ray then spent seven years as a deputy to King County (Seattle) Prosecuting Attorney Norm Maleng. He prosecuted all types of criminal cases, including aggravated murder, serious violent assaults, and adult and child sexual assaults. That experience equipped him well to assess and try difficult cases, and to know how to work with police, prosecutors, and judges. As a deputy prosecutor he saw how the system works from "the inside." This has proven invaluable to him in representing the accused in the nearly two decades since.
Ray has represented clients of many nationalities and ethnic backgrounds, including Arab, Caribbean, Chinese, East African, Filipino, Greek, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Pacific Islander, Palestinian, Romanian, Russian, Sikh, Turk and Ukrainian. He speaks Spanish, has extensive experience in Mexico and Latin America, and has represented many Hispanic persons.
Ray has accepted invitations to lecture other lawyers at continuing legal education programs. He has made presentations in paralegal training programs and has lectured at the University of Washington's Private Investigation Certification Program.
Ray has also testified before the Washington Legislature on criminal justice issues.
Kristina Selset
Kristina Selset has fought for the accused for more than fifteen years, winning many acquittals from juries. 
An honors graduate in English at the University of Washington, Kristina is also a powerful writer. She has crafted many compelling arguments for courts from the trial level to the Washington Supreme Court.
Early in her career, Kristina was selected as a "Rising Star" in a poll of Washington lawyers. More recently, she has been elected and has served as a Governor of the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. She has represented that organization to the Washington State Bar Association.
Kristina's understanding of the dynamics of child abuse cases benefits from her experience as both a mother and a stepmother.
Kristina recognizes that a strong attorney-client relationship is the foundation on which the most powerful advocacy is built. She excels at building those relationships:
I believe that one of the most valuable aspects to this work is the connection I forge with each client. Many of my clients find themselves caught up in the criminal justice system because of personal relationships gone awry or family relationships plagued by difficulties. I take seriously my role as a professional who listens to, counsels, and then fights for her clients.
Tom Colwell
Tom Colwell has great intuition. That underlies the work he will do on your defense team. 
Tom is deeply involved in our planning for and conducting voir dire (the questioning of potential jurors) and in the decisions we make to exclude particular persons from the jury. Careful analysis guides our planning for voir dire, but intuition will always be important in deciding whom to exclude from a jury. Tom's intuition has served our clients very well.
Tom also helps in developing the theory of the case. Because Tom is not a lawyer and spends much of his work life in arenas far from the law, his perspective differs from those of our lawyers. Together we come up with the best theory of the case, and with themes that will resonate with the jury.
During trial itself, Tom sits at counsel table to observe the battle. Since he is not personally grappling with the witnesses, the prosecutor, or the judge, he can take the wide view of the courtroom—including the jury box—and see things not visible to the combatants. Tom's sharp observation and intuition help us modify our battle plans to suit changing circumstances.
Tom is a graduate of Yale University and an accomplished astronomer and musician. He has sung at the White House.
Glenn MacGilvra
Glenn MacGilvra is the man behind the curtain at the Law Offices of David S. Marshall. 
Glenn researches the law and writes legal briefs and other papers for our clients. And he does it superbly. Glenn has opened paths for the accused that had seemed closed until he went to work.
Glenn's background is the kind you might expect in a keen thinker and persuasive legal writer—history degree from Princeton University, law degree from Boalt Hall at the University of California at Berkeley, law clerk at the Minnesota Supreme Court and then at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco. Glenn has also taught legal research, analysis, and writing at Boalt Hall.
Most of our clients never meet Glenn. But their cases are stronger because of his work.
Tracey McDonald
Tracey McDonald is the legal assistant to David Marshall. She has worked with him for almost all of the past 25 years. 
She earned a paralegal degree from Edmonds Community College.
A new caller will likely first tell Tracey what he or she needs. Tracey then writes David a memo describing the caller's situation. She highlights for David looming deadlines and anything else that needs quick attention.
We rely with confidence on Tracey's superb organizational skills and coolness under pressure. Her resourcefulness and seasoned judgment also make her a great person to "mind the store" when our lawyers are in court or in the field.