40 Under 40: Mary Rathbone

If you need an attorney in the Columbia Basin, Erin Fletcher recommends choosing Mary Rathbone with the Moberg Law Firm in Ephrata. 

“Mary successfully runs her own law firm that is known as one of the best trial law firms in the state of Washington. Not only does she run an incredible company but she is also continually working to elevate those around her and boost the city that she loves so much and is deeply rooted in,” Fletcher said. 

Rathbone, a partner with the firm her father founded, is a third-generation attorney, she said. Her father is an attorney and her grandfather was a lawyer in the area going back to the 1950s. Her father, at one point, was a judge, so law came to her as a tradition and she said she just took to it naturally. 

“It’s one of those things I always kind of knew I would do,” Rathbone said. “What I didn’t know, though, is that I would do it here in Grant County, but as I have practiced here and lived here my whole life, except for when I went to college, I’m seeing the importance of coming back to your community to give back, especially in an area like this one.” 

Rathbone said rural communities are often underserved from a legal perspective with not enough attorneys available to meet the needs of residents. That makes places like the Columbia Basin “legal deserts” that need law firms committed to staying local, rather than eliminating a needed service. 

Her background as a hometown attorney is something she’s grown to appreciate. 

“One thing I didn’t appreciate when I was younger, but certainly I appreciate now is the legacy of continuing something that has roots and has rooted,” Rathbone said. “... I really believe in giving back and ensuring that your community has access to justice.” 

In addition to her time helping the firm’s clients, Rathbone is a Soroptimist – a member of Soroptimist International whose members work to economically empower women and children. She also serves as a governor for the Washington Bar Association for the district that serves Ephrata and is involved in the local chamber of commerce. 

Rathbone is also a mother of a 10-year-old boy and an eight-year-old daughter whom she is raising with her husband, Sam Rathbone.

As she moves forward, Rathbone said she’d like to work on the Columbia Basin’s justice system literacy in some way so that people at least know where to get started when legal issues arise.