About Cheryl L Van
Cheryl L Van Ackeren earned an S.J.D. from Seattle University School of Law in 2013. The doctoral degree followed years of study and research, and it sits at the center of her academic record. That credential informs how she approaches complex legal questions and the written work she produces.
Her early legal positions put her in courts and community clinics. In 2011 she served as a legal intern and then an associate at Swift & McDonald, P.S., where she assisted on litigation and client counseling. The following year she worked as a legal clerk in the Northwest Justice Project’s Veterans Division. There she handled research, case preparation and client intake for veterans seeking benefits and related relief.
In 2014 she began working at Van Ackeren, P.S. as a lawyer. That move marked a shift into a more autonomous practice role, where she carried responsibility for case strategy and client representation. Her time across small firm practice and nonprofit clinics gave her a practical sense of both litigation pressures and the everyday demands of client service.
Van Ackeren is admitted to practice in Washington and in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. She also holds current memberships in the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association and in Legal Assistance to Military Personal (Washington). Those affiliations keep her connected to regional legal networks and to organizations that serve military members and veterans.
Her work history and memberships point to steady involvement with veterans and military-related matters, and with cases that implicate federal claims. The S.J.D. contributes a research orientation to her practice; it also supports technical legal writing and the analysis required in complex federal matters. Colleagues describe her as deliberate in litigation planning and attentive to the documentation that federal procedures often demand.
She has combined clinic experience, small-firm litigation and federal-court practice into a single practice profile. That mix allows her to move between advocacy for individual clients and handling claims that require attention to administrative record-building and appeals. She remains active in local bar activities and in military-assistance circles.
Her current work is carried out through Van Ackeren, P.S., and involves representation in matters arising under Washington law as well as proceedings before the U.S. Court of Federal Claims.
