“We’ll take on any challenge.”
Two months before trial, three lawyers who had never worked together took on a case to protect the rights of foster children in Alaska.
Parachuting into a case two months before trial. In Alaska. Working with colleagues you’ve never worked with before. Finding out on the eve of trial your role will be much larger and more challenging than you expected. It sounds like an anxiety dream. For WTO lawyers, it was fun.
In 2022, A Better Childhood (ABC), a national nonprofit that files impact litigation to protect the civil rights of foster children, sued the Alaska Office of Children’s Services (OCS) in federal court in Alaska, seeking to reform the foster care system and prevent abuses. OCS resisted a settlement, and a trial became inevitable.
“The department’s position was basically, ‘Alaska is different and we don’t want to be told what to do,’” said associate Colleen Koch, who worked on the trial with partners Kevin Homiak and Galen Bellamy.
Preparing for Trial
As the August 2025 trial date approached, ABC realized that they needed trial experts and the law firm they had been working with would not be available to help them. They reached out to Kevin, with whom they are working on foster care litigation against the state of Louisiana, and he quickly secured approval from firm leadership to join the case.
“There aren’t many firms that would send three lawyers to Alaska for a three-week pro bono trial on short notice, but this firm has always made the same commitment to pro bono work as it does to paying work,” said Kevin, the firm’s Pro Bono Chair whose practice specializes in legal malpractice defense and appeals.
He recruited Galen Bellamy, a class action specialist, and Colleen, whose focus is healthcare professional liability. The three had never worked together. For them, that was not a problem, it was a plus.
“From early on, we are encouraged to say ‘yes’ to any interesting or challenging opportunities,” said Galen, “especially if doing so means we can work with and learn from lawyers we haven’t worked with before. And this case was certainly interesting and challenging. The class action cases I usually defend are important, but measuring their impact can be abstract. Here, the potential impact was immediate and tangible: the members of this class and the selfless foster parents who cared for them needed help and needed someone to fight for them.”
As trial approached, the team focused on motions practice, pre-trial filings and preparing fact witnesses – former foster children and parents – while lawyers from ABC provided their subject matter expertise.
“We’re known as a firm that co-counsels well” said Kevin. “We don’t bring egos, we don’t throw elbows, we just work together to do what’s best for the client.”
Raising Each Other’s Games
Colleen thought her role would be to provide support and do direct examination on a couple of easy witnesses. She didn’t find out until the eve of trial that she would have a much bigger role, including cross-examining a senior OCS executive. “I’m sure my eyes got big when I learned that, but Kevin just said, ‘you’ve got this’ – which is something we hear a lot from partners – and I did.”
“This case captured the essence of what makes this firm special,” said Galen. “The skill level and commitment of the team. The fact that Colleen, the most junior member, had the largest role at trial. The fact that firm management never balked at the expense we incurred. And while it was stressful, it was also a blast. It’s an example of why we all became lawyers, and why we gravitated to this firm.”
Each lawyer learned from the others. “Colleen was so fearless,” Galen continued, “and took on everything – even unpleasant surprises – with an infectious enthusiasm. And Kevin has an amazing, creative ability to figure out how to tell a story in a convincing way. He’s fearless, too – and great at pivoting when there are surprises and not worrying about them.”
“Kevin helped improve my performance because of his trial experience,” said Colleen. “It’s part of our culture that no one is too high or too low to give or receive feedback, and it’s always done in a positive, constructive way, even in a vulnerable situation where we had never worked together. It’s about making the work the best it can be.”
“This experience showed how we’ll take on any challenge,” said Kevin. “Whether we’re trying a case for a paying client or a pro bono client, you’ll see the same grit, fearlessness, and relentless commitment to excellence from our team.”
