About

Rita Amer

Rita F. Amer, J.D., M.A. graduated magna cum laude from Seattle University Law School in the top 10% of her class. While in law school, Ms. Amer focused on commercial law. She was research assistant to Professor Thomas Holdych, researching in the area of UCC implied warranties and implied indemnity and was a teaching assistant in Criminal Law. Ms. Amer had the good fortune to extern at the Washington Supreme Court in the chambers of The Honorable Charles Johnson, at King County Superior Court in the chambers of the The Honorable Richard F. McDermott, and at the King County Prosecutor’s Office. Additionally, Ms. Amer worked as a contract researcher for Jon Zulauf of Zulauf and Chambliss. Also during law school, Ms. Amer worked as a Westlaw representative.

After law school, Ms. Amer worked as a contract attorney for several well-respected law firms, including Gordon Edmunds Elder, The Law Offices of Jean Jorgensen, and McLaughlin and Associates. Ms. Amer was delighted to join the Law Office of Saphronia Young where she has the opportunity to work with one of the finest construction law attorneys in Washington. Ms. Amer is a member of the Washington Bar Association, the King County Bar Association, and the Washington State Association for Justice.

Prior to entering the legal profession, Ms. Amer taught Dance, Dance History, and Labanotation at the University of Washington, The University of Akron and The Kent State University. She was certified dance reconstructor and Labanotion teacher. During her dance career, Ms. Amer published scholarly articles in The Dance Notation Journal and worked nationally as dance reconstructor.

Practice areas: Commercial law, Probate, Employment law

Saphronia Young

Ms. Young has been litigating since earning her J.D. from the University of Missouri School of Law at Kansas City in 1992. She has gained general civil litigation experience in four different jurisdictions; Missouri, Kansas, Alaska, and Washington. She also practiced pro hac vice for two years in New Jersey, focusing on lien litigation. Her overall practice has centered around construction, fidelity and surety bonds, business litigation and employment law. Ms. Young has significant experience with contract negotiation, mediation, arbitration, bench and jury trials, board hearings, and appeals, at both the state and federal levels. Ms. Young represents clients from every spectrum and perspective, including employers and employees, bond claimants and sureties, owners and general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, claimants and insurance carriers, architects, engineers, and injured persons. Her experience in multi-party, complex litigation has given her the capability to manage all phases of contract transactional work and litigation, including familiarity with federal government bid, bond, TINA and other contracting regulations. She began her own firm in 2005, and currently provides services to clients drafting and reviewing contracts, drafting and reviewing employee policy manuals, negotiating change orders, and managing construction defect and business litigation. Her training as a mediator lends a philosophy favoring settlement, when possible. Her experience with the costs and time burdens of litigation upon clients also encourages settlement, but with the realistic assessment that clients must ultimately decide for themselves the best approach to take with the case.

Licenses: Licensed in Missouri (1993); Kansas (1993); Alaska (1997); Federal Court of Claims (1998); and Washington (2001).

Certifications: Certified Mediator with the King Counter InterLocal conflict resolution program (2009); Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service training (40 hours) September, 2005; American Arbitration Association mediator training (40 hours) completed May, 2005.
Washington State does not recognize the certification of specialties in the
practice of law. Any certificates, awards, or recognitions referenced on
this site are not required in order to practice law in the State of
Washington.