Ms. Swain’s Bio

Krista White Swain has been practicing criminal law since 1996. Currently, she practices mostly in the area of prosecution, serving the cities of Enumclaw, Puyallup, Milton and Ruston, while maintaining a small defense contract with the City of Pacific. In addition, she serves as a Pro Tem Judge in King County District Court and Issaquah Municipal Court. Having worked in virtually every part of the courtroom, she carries a holistic perspective toward each case she handles. By being able to see how a prosecutor, a defense attorney and a judge approach a case, she can better assess a case and predict a probable result.

Ms. Swain graduated from California Western School of Law near the top of her class. Prior to law school, she attended the University of Washington, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature.

Born and raised in the Puget Sound area, Ms. Swain currently resides in Enumclaw with her husband and two children.

Ms. Swain's Experience

Ms. Swain began her trial experience while still in law school. During her first year, she placed third in her class in oral argument. In her second and third year she was on the school's trial team, traveling around the country, competing against other law schools in mock trials.

During her third year, she clerked at both an insurance defense law firm as well as the San Diego Public Defender Juvenile Division, working on juvenile felony cases.

Upon graduation, Ms. Swain began her trial experience in the Bellevue District Court as a public defender. After trying several cases to verdict before juries, she formed a partnership with another trial attorney and began a private practice, while maintaining her support to the area of public defense. She has been a sole practitioner since 2000.

Although criminal defense was her first specialty, Ms. Swain began working as a prosecutor in 2002, beginning at the City of Des Moines. Currently, she is a prosecutor for the cities of Puyallup, Milton and Ruston. She also regularly sits as a Pro Tem Judge in the King County District Courts. Her well-rounded experience provides a unique perspective most attorneys are lacking – a truly objective view of how a court approaches a case from all sides. This enables her to advise her clients with a truly honest and balanced approach, giving her clients a realistic view of the probable resolution in a case.

Ms. Swain has appeared on the record in most of the courts in the Puget Sound area. As a result, she is familiar with the prosecutors, judges and other defense attorneys who appear in each court. By her familiarity with these courts, she can better anticipate rulings a judge may make and objections the prosecutor will posit. This results in fewer hearings to set and an enhanced ability to predict how rulings will come down on each issue.