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Virtual data rooms in Washington

Virtual data rooms for Washington firms

Washington has 5,670 real estate offices, 3,377 accounting and tax firms, 3,489 law offices and 2,774 securities and investment firms with paid employees. Its breach notice rule runs on thirty days. ShareAndGo is a virtual data room for the documents these firms share during deals, audits and legal matters.

The firms that share confidential documents in Washington

County Business Patterns counted 202,177 employer establishments in Washington in 2023. Measured per person against the 50 states and DC, Washington ranks 8th for offices of real estate agents and brokers, at 72.2 per 100,000, 16th for accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms, at 43.0, and 23rd for securities and investment firms, at 35.3. Its 3,489 law offices, 44.4 per 100,000, rank 23rd.

These are mostly small businesses. 2,445 of the state's law offices and 2,248 of its securities and investment firms have fewer than five employees.

  • Offices of lawyers: 3,489
  • Accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services: 3,377
  • Securities and investment firms: 2,774
  • Corporate and regional managing offices: 893
  • Offices of real estate agents and brokers: 5,670

Where those firms are

The Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA metro has 2,146 of Washington's 3,489 law offices, 62 percent, and our Seattle page goes through its figures in detail. Spokane-Spokane Valley follows with 293 and Olympia-Lacey-Tumwater with 129.

By county, King County leads with 1,589 law offices, ahead of Pierce County (326), Spokane County (283) and Snohomish County (231). Those four hold 70 percent of the state's total.

What sets Seattle apart

Against the national mix, Seattle runs heaviest in publishing, including software publishing: 815 establishments, 1.9 times the share you would see across the country; beverage manufacturing (255, 1.5 times) and internet and other information services (268, 1.5 times) come next.

How Washington compares

The Census Bureau estimated Washington's population at 7,958,180 in July 2024, up 3.3 percent from the April 2020 base of 7,707,586.

On law offices per 100,000 residents, Washington sits next to Missouri at 44.4 and Idaho at 44.2, against 44.4 here. Across the 50 states and DC the combined rate is 49.1.

Small offices make up 70 percent of the state's law offices, against 72 percent across the 50 states and DC.

Washington's thirty-day breach clock

Washington's breach notice rules are in RCW 19.255.005 (definitions) and RCW 19.255.010 (the duty), cited as Wash. Rev. Code §§ 19.255.005, 19.255.010.

Residents must be told "in the most expedient time possible, without unreasonable delay, and no more than thirty calendar days after the breach was discovered."

A business that must notify "more than five hundred Washington residents as a result of a single breach shall notify the attorney general of the breach no more than thirty days after the breach was discovered."

Both run from discovery, so they end on the same day.

Secured data and the harm exception

Notice is owed when "the personal information was not secured." Secured "means encrypted in a manner that meets or exceeds the national institute of standards and technology standard" or otherwise rendered unreadable.

"Notice is not required if the breach of the security of the system is not reasonably likely to subject consumers to a risk of harm."

Our Washington breach notification page sets out the data elements and the rule in full, and says which text we checked. This is general information, not legal advice.

What a ShareAndGo room gives a Washington team

Seattle and Spokane teams that send files carrying full birth dates to counterparties can run that exchange through one room.

For documents you share through ShareAndGo, the activity log records every view and download, and watermarked view-only pages carry the reader's email address and the date.

The watermark is a per-room setting, on by default. Counterparties confirm their email with a six-digit code and need no account, groups see only their folders, and the chained activity log exports as CSV.

The courts and regulators behind Washington paperwork

Federal cases from Seattle are heard in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. CPAs practicing in Washington are licensed by the Washington State Board of Accountancy.

At state level, securities offerings and investment advisers in Washington come under the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Division of Securities.

Washington FAQ

How many law offices are there in Washington?
County Business Patterns 2023 counted 3,489 offices of lawyers with paid employees in Washington, 2,445 of them with fewer than five employees. King County has the most, 1,589.
Is a full date of birth personal information here?
Yes. Full date of birth is one of the listed elements.
When does the attorney general hear about a breach?
When more than 500 Washington residents are notified as a result of a single breach, within 30 days of discovery.
Do people I share documents with need an account?
No. Readers confirm their email with a six-digit code, with no account to create.

Washington metros

Seattle, WA

Data rooms for Seattle's 2,146 law offices and 1,900 accounting, tax, bookkeeping and payroll firms, with audit trails and view-only access.

Related

Washington data breach notification law

About the figures on our location pages