Yakima, WA

Terry P. Abeyta

Although practicing in the most conservative area of the state, Terry P. Abeyta has earned recognition as one of the top plaintiff’s personal injury attorneys in Washington. He recovered $6.9 million on a bleacher fall case (the largest settlement in the history of Yakima County), $6.25 million on a car-truck crash (the largest settlement in the history of Franklin County), $4.1 million on a car crash case (the largest settlement in the history of Kittitas County), $3.5 million on a school playground case, the highest settlements in the history of Grant County ($2.5 million), Klickitat County ($2.5 million) and Stevens County ($1.3 million). In addition, Terry achieved the largest recovery on an uninsured motorist case in Yakima County history, the largest jury verdict on a cervical soft-tissue case in Yakima County, and obtained a $700,000 settlement for the children of a 39-year-old Native American man who committed suicide in the Yakima Tribal Jail. Terry has tried 50 jury trials and arbitrated hundreds of cases. Terry was the first plaintiff’s attorney from Central Washington chosen for The Best Lawyers in America, the first in Central Washington named to the Super Lawyer list, has been named a Super Lawyer every year since 1999, and has been named to Lawdragon’s 500 Leading Plaintiffs’ Lawyers in America. The National Association of Distinguished Counsel has included Terry in their Nation’s Top One Percent of Attorneys list. From 2022-2024, Terry was named Plaintiff’s Personal Injury Lawyer of the Year for Central Washington by The Best Lawyers in America. Terry is a member of Damages Attorney Round Table, a small, exclusive invitation-only group of the top personal injury lawyers in Washington state. He is past president of the Washington Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, has served in many leadership roles for the Washington State Association for Justice, and is a past president of the Yakima County Bar Association. He has received WSAJ’s Alvin Anderson award for outstanding contribution to building WSAJ’s Eagle membership. Terry was born and raised in Yakima, Washington. He graduated at the top of his class from Yakima Valley College, at the top of his class from Whitman College, and in the top 15 percent of his class at University of Washington School of Law. He worked his way through college as a newspaper reporter for the Yakima-Herald Republic, Walla Walla Union-Bulletin (owned by the Seattle Times), and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. In his non-lawyer life, Terry enjoys spending time with his family, playing tennis, working out, playing guitar, listening to music, hiking, gardening, and trying to keep up with the activities of his eight grandchildren. He’s blessed that all of them live in Yakima.

Kirk Bernard

Kirk Bernard is the founder of Bernard Law Group and an award-winning personal injury lawyer. He has been a civil litigator in Washington and California for over 30 years, specializing in personal injury cases. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of California at Santa Barbara and became licensed in 1981. He is recognized for his significant settlements and verdicts, community involvement, and was named Washington's 2023 Attorney of the Year by Top 100 Registry.

Gabriel S. Galanda

Gabe is an Indigenous rights attorney and the managing lawyer at Galanda Broadman. His practice focuses on complex, multi-party litigation and crisis management, representing Indigenous nations, businesses and citizens. He has been named to Best Lawyers in America in the fields of Native American Law and Gaming Law from 2007 to 2026, and dubbed a Super Lawyer by his peers from 2013 to 2025. Gabe is skilled at defending Indigenous nations and business against legal attack by governmental or private parties, as well advocating for the human rights of Indigenous American citizens. He advocates against tribal disenrollment and citizenship rights violations, as well as other domestic Indigenous human rights abuse, including law enforcement violence. He also assists Indigenous clients with transactions and strategy related to various economic diversification initiatives. The American Bar Association awarded Gabe the Spirit of Excellence Award in 2022 and named him a Difference Maker in 2012. The Washington State Bar Association honored him with the Excellence in Diversity Award for his "significant contribution to diversity in the legal profession" in 2014. For his staunch disenrollment advocacy, the University Arizona College of Law awarded him the Professional Achievement Award, and Western Washington University named him a Distinguished Alumnus, in 2018. The University Arizona College of Law also named Gabe its 2022-23 Alumnus of the Year. Indian Country Today honored Gabe as one of “five people are rocking the world with their forward thinking, innovation and commitment to social justice” in 2013, and as one of "Fifty Faces of Indian Country" in 2017. In 2009, the National Center for American Indian Enterprise Development honored him as Native American 40 Under 40. He has also received the Native Justice Award from the Northwest Indian Bar Association. Gabe writes frequently about Tribal Treaty and sovereignty rights and Indigenous human rights issues, having been published over 100 times in such other national periodicals as National Law Journal, Business Law Today, and Gaming Law Review & Economics. Most notably, he co-authored a law review article titled, “Curing the Tribal Disenrollment Epidemic: In Search of a Remedy,” which published by Arizona Law Review in 2015. He also often lectures about Indigenous human rights issues at universities and law schools, having talked at Harvard University and Yale, Cornell, Berkeley, Arizona, and Kansas law schools. Since 2023, Gabe has published a series of scholarly essays about existential challenges facing Indigenous peoples: In the Spirit of Vine Deloria, Jr.: Indigenous Kinship Renewal and Relational Sovereignty; The Federal Indian Blood Quantum Fiction; Durability and Duress: Inter-Tribal Kinship and Indian Gaming Capitalism; Into The Void: Indigenous American Civil Rights; The Original Peoples Deserve Freedom. His anti-disenrollment advocacy and scholarship have been included in several books, including David and Shelly Wilkinses’ “Dismembered” (2017); David Treuer’s “The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee” (2019); Carrie Schuettpelz’s “The Indian Card” (2024); and Dina Gilio-Whitaker's "Who Gets to Be Indian?” and Joseph Lee’s “Nothing More of this Land” (2025). Gabe is a frequent media commentator as well, having been interviewed and quoted by mainstream and international news outlets such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The Guardian, and Le Monde. In his "spare" time, Gabe founded and now operates Huy, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing religious, cultural and other rehabilitative opportunities for Indigenous prisoners. Serving as Chairman of the Huy Board of Advisors, he has lead the organization’s amicus curiae efforts before the U.S. Supreme Court and federal and state appellate courts across the country as well as the group’s human rights advocacy efforts before the United Nations. Gabe belongs to the Round Valley Indian Tribes of California, descending from the Nomlaki and Concow Peoples.

R. Joseph Sexton

Joe’s practice focuses on complex civil litigation defending indigenous rights and litigating tribal environmental and cultural resources disputes in federal, tribal, state, and administrative forums. He has litigated indigenous civil rights matters on behalf of individuals and represents tribal governments outside of the courtroom in economic development and natural resources matters. Joe has also successfully represented individuals in catastrophic injury and wrongful death cases against private parties and governments. He has argued before the Washington State Supreme Court and the Washington Court of Appeals, and he has litigated in Washington State, Oregon, and United States District Courts in both states, and he has represented clients before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. He was named a Rising Star for the years 2016-2018 by Super Lawyers® magazine. Before joining Galanda Broadman, Joe worked in-house for a tribal government. His legal advocacy there resulted in the development of tribal government programs, including a first-of-its-kind tribal vehicle licensing program and associated tribal code revisions. He also successfully fought in courts and administrative forums to protect his client’s tribal sovereignty, the rights of Tribal citizens, and threatened cultural resources. In addition, he negotiated contracts and worked to close the purchase and sale of businesses and lands. His experiences before practicing law-including service in the United States Marine Corps and working on human rights issues in Bosnia and Herzegovina-equipped Joe to thrive in diverse communities, work efficiently and effectively under pressure, relentlessly pursue his clients’ objectives, and serve American indigenous communities.

Robert C. Tenney

Mr. Tenney is a founding member of Meyer, Fluegge & Tenney, P.S. With 40 years of private practice, he concentrated on civil trial work, primarily for the defense, and has extensive arbitration and mediation experience. He has been peer selected as an Advocate in the American Board of Trial Advocates and a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers (2010-2017). He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell and has been selected to the Washington Super Lawyers List from 2003 and 2005-2020.

John Kapuza

Meet John Kapuza, co-founder of Kapuza Lighty, PLLC - Accident Injury Lawyers in Yakima, Washington. With over 28 years of experience in personal injury law, John has become well-known in the legal community and is recognized as one of the best lawyers in Central Washington. John is licensed to practice in both Washington and Oregon. His tireless dedication and unwavering commitment to his clients have resulted in an impressive track record of successful cases that have brought justice to injured individuals throughout the state of Washington. John has made it his mission to help injured people who have been wronged. John earned his dual major in History and Political Science from The State University of New York at Buffalo in 1992 before graduating Cum Laude in the top of his class at Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1995. His recent results speak for themselves, including cases where he has won $2.5 million for a man suffering orthopedic injuries in a car accident, $2 million for a man suffering a head injury in a forklift accident, $1.5 million for a man suffering a head injury in a motorcycle accident, and $1 million for a man suffering hip injuries in a semi-truck accident. As a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and listed member of The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100, John is recognized as one of the premier lawyers in Washington state. He has also received numerous awards and recognitions, such as being named a “Super Lawyer” by Washington Law & Politics magazine since 2019 and receiving the top rating of “AV Preeminent” from Martindale-Hubbell for outstanding legal ability. Recently, John was selected by his peers nationally to be included in the 30th edition of The Best Lawyers in America. John is known for his tireless commitment to fairness and firmness in negotiations to ensure his clients receive the compensation they deserve while always maintaining the highest ethical standards. When John is not busy winning cases for his clients, you can usually find him fishing the waters of Washington, brewing craft beer, woodworking, learning to play guitar, or packing his bags for another adventure with his wife, Lisa. John’s passion for helping people extends beyond the legal field, as he and his wife are both active in their community. Lisa is the Executive Director of Wellness House, a non-profit organization helping cancer patients and their families around Yakima, Washington. John and Lisa have been involved with multiple local causes including the Yakima Red Cross, YWCA, Yakima’s Capitol Theatre, and United Way of Central Washington. Contact John Kapuza if you or a loved one has suffered a personal injury. John and his team at Kapuza Lighty are ready to answer your questions and help you through this stressful time.

Bill Pickett

Since 1997, Bill has been a licensed attorney practicing in personal injury, wrongful death, civil rights (police misconduct), and medical malpractice matters. He is a 20-year member of the bar, born and raised in Yakima, and proud to serve this community as a solo practitioner focused on trial advocacy in matters of personal injury, wrongful death, civil rights, police misconduct, and medical malpractice. He also teaches mock trial in local high schools and is an adjunct faculty member in the LL.M Trial Advocacy Degree Program for Temple University School of Law. He has served as WSBA President (2018-2019) and Board of Governors (2015-2018).