Local law firm expanding

RITZVILLE – Carpenter, McGuire & DeWulf, PS. attorneys at law with full time offices in Davenport, Odessa, Ritzville and Colfax, recently changed its name to McGuire, DeWulf, Kragt & Johnson, P.S.

“John Kragt and Matthew Johnson have both grown up in our firm, and we felt they earned putting their names on the door,” senior partner Rusty McGuire said. “Ken Carpenter retired a little over a year ago, and we felt now was as good a time as any to make the change.”

Johnson, a Colfax native, joined the firm in 2014 after graduating law school from the University of St. Louis. He works out of the Colfax office.

Kragt, a Ritzville native, works out of the Ritzville office. He joined the firm in 2011, after graduating law school from Gonzaga University.

The firm plans to update its signage and website, but all contact information will stay in place, with no interruption to its client base.

The firm also announced they are pleased to take on a new law associate. Emily Smith, 22, is a Yakima native who graduated from the University of Idaho School of Law. She will be working primarily out of the Davenport office, and will travel and work with all of the other offices.

Smith, who grew up on a family farm outside of Yakima, said she was inspired to study law after watching her parents struggle with legal issues throughout their farming careers.

“Ag is one of those areas that affects everyone,” she noted. “Everyone has to eat and ag law touches all areas of law.”