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Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Pallavi Mehta Wahi joined Arnold & Porter to lead its Seattle office and Western U.S. strategic growth after more than 18 years at K&L Gates, where she held senior leadership roles. The office, announced in July 2025, grew to 41 attorneys and staff by July 2026, according to the firm’s account of a Puget Sound Business Journal interview. Wahi’s approach to generative AI is similarly clear: firms can adopt new tools, but lawyers must remain the authors and accountable reviewers of their work.
Why Wahi moved to Arnold & Porter
Wahi is a partner in Arnold & Porter’s Litigation group, head of its Seattle office, Chair of Western U.S. Strategic Growth, and head of the firm’s India practice, according to the firm’s biography. Before joining, she spent more than 18 years at K&L Gates, where her senior roles included co-U.S. managing partner, Seattle office head, and co-chair of its India practice.
Her move brought an established Seattle leader to a firm making a strategic West Coast expansion. At the office launch, Arnold & Porter framed Seattle as a base for serving clients in the region’s innovation, regulation, and global commerce ecosystem. Wahi pointed to the firm’s regulatory capabilities: “Arnold and Porter has a very deep regulatory bench, and that is really what makes them so much of a differentiator in the market.”
How Arnold & Porter’s Seattle office has grown
Arnold & Porter announced its Seattle office on July 28, 2025. The four-partner launch group included Wahi, Annette E. Becker, and Patrick Madden in Seattle, with Rosemary Alito joining the firm in Newark. The initial practice coverage included commercial litigation, healthcare and corporate transactions, employment and class actions, technology, and related transactional work.
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At launch, the firm said it aimed to add at least 60 lawyers in Seattle within two years. That was a stated goal, not a reported current headcount. In its July 2026 account of a Puget Sound Business Journal interview, Arnold & Porter said the office had grown from its July 2025 launch to 41 attorneys and staff.
| Milestone | Reported figure or status |
|---|---|
| Launch, July 2025 | Four-partner launch group; at least 60 lawyers within two years was the firm’s announced hiring goal (Arnold & Porter launch announcement). |
| Reported staffing, July 2026 | 41 attorneys and staff, in the firm’s account of the Puget Sound Business Journal interview (Arnold & Porter summary). |
| Office space | Initial lease of 15,000 square feet, expanded to 25,000; a 39,000-square-foot location was planned for the end of 2026, according to the firm’s July 2026 account (Arnold & Porter summary). |
| Later move plan | Arnold & Porter described the move to a new 39,000-square-foot office as upcoming in December 2026 (firm announcement). |
As of October 8, 2026, the December move remained planned rather than completed. Arnold & Porter also said Law360 named the Seattle office a 2026 regional powerhouse in Washington. Those details describe the firm’s reported growth; the hiring target should not be mistaken for proof that the office has reached 60 lawyers.
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Wahi tied the planned downtown presence to client and community relationships. In the firm’s summary of the July 2026 interview, she said, “We are Seattle residents, and we are business owners in the city, and we really want to support the growth, resurgence, and invigoration of the downtown corridor,” adding, “We want to be where our clients are.”
What Wahi says about AI in legal work
A December 2025 GeekWire interview described Arnold & Porter’s use of generative AI in document review, legal research, collaboration, litigation preparation, transactional diligence, and regulatory review. The interview named Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic Claude Enterprise, ChatGPT Enterprise, and in-house models. These examples describe the firm’s reported tools and workflows; they are not a comparative assessment of the products.
Wahi said the firm was “very open to accepting and moving forward with new technology,” including pilots intended to support client work. Her boundary is responsibility for the final legal product: “You should not be filing briefs or doing anything which is generated by AI. You are the author — and the minute you forget that … is when trouble comes.” That is Wahi’s reported guidance in the interview, not a statement of law or evidence of a firm-wide written policy.
Arnold & Porter added a later sign of firm-level AI investment in July 2026, when it announced Roger Maeda as its first Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer. The firm said Maeda would lead its dedicated AI team and guide the strategy for building, testing, and deploying AI tools in support of client work. The leadership appointment and Wahi’s comments point to two distinct parts of adoption: developing and testing tools at the firm level, and keeping lawyers responsible for how work is used and delivered.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why civic leadership is part of Wahi’s story
Wahi came to Seattle as an immigrant about 25 years before the GeekWire interview, without a local network, and built her legal career and civic presence there. The interview connected her service to organizations including the Seattle Chamber, Federal Reserve Bank, Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Rep, and King County Bar Foundation, among others. It also reported that she took part in a dance competition to raise money for Plymouth Housing. These are examples of her involvement over time, not a claim that every role is current.
She described community engagement as part of professional responsibility: “As a lawyer, I do believe I have a role to be a community leader, to really try and show up in ways that can help.” She also said, “We need to show up for more than doing our jobs. We need to show up for each other in ways that make sense to ourselves.” The firm biography separately notes her service on the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s board, the Chamber of Commerce, and nonprofit boards.
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Wahi’s account of leadership is rooted in Seattle as much as in law firm management. “This city makes you bigger than you are. I truly believe that the reason for the success of many in this city is because of Seattle,” she told GeekWire.
What the expansion says about the firm’s strategy
Arnold & Porter described the Seattle opening as part of its West Coast expansion, drawing on the firm’s regulatory capabilities and a practice mix spanning litigation and transactions. In its July 2025 announcement, the firm said it had more than 1,000 lawyers in 16 offices worldwide and over 40 practice areas; those are firm-published scale figures, not independently audited counts. The Seattle office’s launch roster and later reported staffing show how the expansion developed, while the scheduled move reflects a stated next step rather than a completed one.
For Wahi, the leadership remit extends beyond one office: she heads Seattle, chairs Western U.S. Strategic Growth, and leads the India practice. Her transition therefore combines local office-building and broader firm growth, with AI adoption treated as useful only when paired with lawyer judgment and ownership.
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