One Spokane-based law firm is moving to a new office in downtown Spokane while a separate law firm from Western Washington has a newly opened office in Spokane Valley, and leaders at both organizations say they're looking to continue growing in Spokane County.

In downtown Spokane, 12-year-old Spokane law firm Piskel Yahne Kovarik PLLC is preparing to move offices in April to The M building, at 612 W. Main, from the Fidelity Building, at 522 W. Riverside, says Ryan Yahne, a founding partner .

"Our lease was coming up to expire at the Fidelity Building next year, and we were looking to move to a space where we could all be on the same floor," says Yahne. 

Piskel Yahne Kovarik will move to about 10,000 square feet in the M Building, where a $1.2 million tenant improvement project is underway, he says. The firm occupies 7,500 square feet of space on two floors at its current location in the Fidelity Building.

FV Contracting LLC, of Mead, is the contractor on the tenant improvement project, and Boyd Lusarreta, of MMEC Architecture & Interiors LLC, of Spokane, is the project architect, according to permit information on file with the city of Spokane.

Renovations will create an updated office space with modern aesthetics and will include more than 15 individual offices to accommodate the firm's growing staff. Yahne adds that the company currently is hiring for several positions.

He says Piskel Yahne Kovarik has a staff of 22, including 12 lawyers, who will have access to a rooftop patio and a gym, and improved access to nearby restaurants and retailers.

"We're committed to staying downtown," he says. "We think it's a good central location to be around our clients and other law firms, and we really wanted to stay in the central business district."

In Spokane Valley, Jeffery Whalley, owner of University Place, Washington-based Whalley Law PLLC, has starting accepting new clients here at its family law practice in a recently remodeled office at 1319 N. Argonne Road.

After a two-year search for an office in Eastern Washington that was halted due to the pandemic, Whalley says he purchased the 2,800-square-foot office building in November 2022. In June 2023, the firm opened the site for business after a $50,000 tenant improvement project to update paint, drywall, and flooring was completed, he says.

"This Valley office will be a central office for Spokane County," says Whalley. "Ultimately, I'd like to open another office in downtown Spokane, closer to the courthouse."

Whalley Law was established in 2011 and has five employees in Spokane Valley, and a total staff of 12 including its Western Washington office.