Justin Aanenson
Founder & Owner, Truce® Law
Why I built Truce
I registered Truce® Law with the state of Washington on Valentine’s Day, 2018. I’d be lying if I said the date was an accident — I have a business degree, and details matter.
The firm I built that day had been forming in my head for a long time. My grandfather was a defense attorney in Helena, Montana, and I grew up listening to his courtroom stories. Some of my earliest ideas about what lawyering could look like at its best came from him, well before I ever filled out a law school application.
The path I took
I earned a business degree from the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, with concentrations in finance and marketing, then went to law school at Seattle University, where I was admitted as a Washington State Scholar — a scholarship awarded to the top 1% of the applicant pool. During law school I also studied international law at Temple’s Rome summer program.
That business background shapes how Truce operates in ways clients feel directly — how costs are explained in plain English, how case updates are written so a client can understand where things stand, how we weigh the long-term outcome of a family’s situation rather than just the next filing. A business degree trains you to ask what people actually need and build toward that answer. That question drives every system Truce has built.
Building toward something
Between contract positions at Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs group, I opened Washington Debt Free — a bankruptcy firm with a business partner — and we closed it after a few months when it became clear we weren’t aligned as owners. In the years that followed I returned to Microsoft CELA, worked in communications for a nonprofit, and co-founded a legal tech startup before founding Truce in 2018.
Those experiences were an education in what it takes to build something with other people — what shared values actually look like in practice versus what they look like on paper. It shapes how Truce hires and how we define the culture we’re building.
Becoming an attorney, then choosing not to be one
When my last case closed in August 2025, I stepped out of legal work entirely.
A good client deserves an attorney whose whole attention is on their case. A 30-person firm deserves a founder whose whole attention is on the firm. In 2025, I chose the latter.
I’ve hired attorneys better than I am at the legal work, several with decades of experience in Washington family courts. What I spend my days on now is the parts of the firm clients feel but rarely see: how the team is hired and trained, how cases are staffed, how technology supports the work, and how we make sure the first phone call and the final agreement both reflect what Truce was built to be.
What I’m building
In practice, that means being the most reasonable people in the room when everything around a case wants to escalate. It means treating everyone involved — including the other side — as a person. It means reducing the burden on families already carrying too much, not adding to it.
Today Truce is a team of more than thirty serving clients across most of Western Washington — King, Pierce, Snohomish, Skagit, Mason, Lewis, Thurston, Clark, and Cowlitz counties — with offices in Seattle, Tacoma, Olympia, and Vancouver.
A bit about me
My first job, at fifteen, was as a caddy at Aldarra Golf Club the year it opened. I scored a perfect score on the written test and stayed at the top of the caddy pool through high school. I’ve been chasing a par round ever since.
A couple weeks ago I shot a 75. John Harbaugh once told Mike Macdonald that if your golf game is too good, you’re probably not working hard enough. By that logic, I’m right where I should be.
Outside of work you’ll find me fly fishing on Washington’s rivers, at Café Mox playing Commander with my Izzet deck, reading fantasy novels when I can, or at home learning the mandolin and violin in tandem, which is either ambitious or foolish — jury still out.
At a Glance
Education
- J.D., Seattle University School of Law (2012)
- Admitted as Washington State Scholar — top 1% of applicant pool (2009)
- Study Abroad: International Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law — Rome (2010)
- B.B.A., Finance & Marketing, University of Washington Foster School of Business (2008)
- Certificate, Popular Fiction Writing, University of Washington (2016)
Bar Admission
- Washington State Bar Association (2012)
Recognition
- Super Lawyers Rising Stars, Washington — 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
- Pro Bono Publico Service Commendation, Washington State Bar Association (2020
- Law Firm 500 Honoree, #12 (2025)
Mediation & Collaborative Law
- Certified Mediator, Volunteers of America Western Washington
- Basic Professional Mediation Training (2019)
- Collaborative Law Basic Training (2019)
Continuing Business Education
- Become Bankable (2025
- Lead the Damn Team: Leadership & Management Workshop (2025)
- Prepare to Buy or Sell Your Law Firm (2025)
- Onboarding for Success (2024)
- How to Design Profitable Staff Compensation (2024)
- How To Build a Million Dollar Referral Machine for Your Law Firm (2024)
- Build & Direct Your Superstar Supporting Cast (2024)
- Business Plan Workshop (2023)
- Master Business Course: Scaling Up (2023)
- SKUTopia: The Case of the Disappearing Margin (2023)
- Connecting Across Lines of Difference: A DEI Workshop (2023)
Mediation & Collaborative Law
- Certified Mediator, Volunteers of America Western Washington
- Basic Professional Mediation Training (2019)
- Collaborative Law Basic Training (2019)
Past Volunteer & Community
- Snohomish County Dispute Resolution Center, Volunteer Mediator