Benita E. Kibonge

Full Profile

Benita E. Kibonge is a litigation associate in Clyde & Co’s Seattle office. She focuses her practice on complex commercial and insurance coverage disputes, representing corporations, businesses, insurers, and professionals in high-stakes matters involving commercial contracts, business torts, insurance coverage and bad faith, and other significant business risks. Her experience spans a broad range of insurance lines and emerging risks, including cyber and data privacy, D&O liability, errors and omissions, commercial general liability, environmental exposures, and property and business interruption.

Prior to joining Clyde & Co, Benita practiced at national and regional law firms, representing corporations, healthcare institutions, businesses, and professionals in complex commercial and civil litigation. Her experience includes high-value disputes involving commercial contracts, business torts, healthcare liability, intellectual property, and employment matters. She has obtained favorable rulings in litigation involving multimillion-dollar claims and contested questions of statutory privilege and discovery. Benita brings an international perspective to her practice, having received her legal education in the United States, India, and Nigeria.

Outside of her client work, Benita is actively involved in the legal profession and her community. She serves on the Washington State Bar Association’s Pro Bono and Judicial Recommendation Committees and is a board member of the Sage and Enamel Foundation. Her pro bono practice includes housing and immigration matters, as well as work supporting access to legal services. Benita also writes on issues affecting the legal profession.

Admissions

• District of Columbia
• Washington
• US District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Washington
• Nigeria

Education

• J.D., University of Iowa College of Law, 2022
• L.L.M., University of Illinois College of Law, 2020
• L.L.M., summa cum laude, Alliance University, 2017
• B.A./L.L.B., cum laude, Karnataka State Law University, 2016

Memberships

• Washington State Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar Association
• Nigerian Bar Association
• Loren Miller Bar Association (LMBA)
• Washington Defense Trial Lawyers (WDTL)
• Member, Pro Bono and Public Service Committee, WSBA
• Member, Judicial Recommendation Committee, WSBA
• Board Member, Sage and Enamel Foundation

Experience

Presentations

• Intellectual Property Tutor, “Infusion Lawyers,” Lagos, 2018 – 2024.

Publications

• “The First Firm Effect: Why Early Practice Environment Matters,” American Bar Association, October 16, 2026; Reprinted by Washington State Bar News, December, 2026.
• “Appeals are not Do-Overs”, SSRN, November 6, 2024.
• “How Courts Analyze Duty and Foreseeability in Third-Party Crime Cases", SSRN, November 6, 2025.