Re: A Matter
of Degrees
In the Bulletin’s November 2004 article about
attorneys with advanced science degrees, the only Ph.D. patent
attorneys mentioned were from Seattle. This tends to perpetuate
the unfortunate misimpression that Oregonians must go out
of state to find the kind of expertise demanded by many Oregon
technology clients.
The Klarquist Sparkman firm alone has seven Ph.D. patent attorneys in its Portland office. Other intellectual property specialty firms in Oregon have Ph.D. patent attorneys as well.
The article also presented the viewpoint that clients prefer to work with general practice firms instead of intellectual property specialty firms. The steady growth of the specialty firms such as ours (we have 47 attorneys in our Portland office) belies any such trend. Clients want to work with local specialty firms that have the breadth and depth of expertise that they need.
Although some general practice firms have opened small patent departments in recent years, many clients still appreciate the ease of working with a single firm (such as ours) that has patent attorneys and patent agents all in one place with doctorates in molecular biology, immunology, genetics, neuroscience, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, medicine, plant biology, physiology, microbiology and physics.
The Portland patent specialty firms attract major clients from all over the country who take advantage of their unusually high level of technical and legal expertise. The Bulletin readers should be pleased to know that they don’t have to go elsewhere to find such talent.
William D.
Noonan, M.D.
Portland
Hurrah for
Tent Show
The tent show pictures in the November Bulletin brought
back memories from my first annual meeting in 1965 at Gearhart.
One of the highlights was the tent show in which the cast
was dominated by senior members of the bar.
The tent show pictures this year suggest that the cast is again dominated by senior members of the bar including old friends and colleagues, John Osburn, Mick Gillette, Ed Peterson, Skip Durham and Dennis Rawlinson. Good for the "old guys!"
James W. Durham
Past president, Oregon State Bar
Media, Penn.
Keep History
Alive
Berkeley Crookham’s article, "Living History" (December
2004), presenting a biographical sketch of Judge Charles
S. Crookham, was one of the best biographical pieces I
have seen in many years in the bar Bulletin. It
provided a wide range of information and gave the readers
insight into the late great jurist.
I encourage you to present more such articles. May I suggest that each bar Bulletin edition should include a biographical sketch about a current sitting judge, and another about a senior or retired judge or an obituary piece about a recently deceased judge?
My own preference is to see these kinds of articles while the judge is still alive to help lawyers keep track of the living history among us.
Kevin L. Mannix
Salem
Errata
An article in the December 2004 Bulletin, "Putting
It Together," misidentified the attorney representation
in a case involving the Vernonia School District’s mandatory
drug testing requirement for athletes. Attorney Tom Christ
represented student athlete James Acton and his parents
against the school district. Christ provided his services
pro bono at the request of the ACLU. Tim Volpert, who was
featured in the article, represented the Vernonia School
District. Volpert says the case inspired him to begin volunteering
to talk with students about the Constitution and the Bill
of Rights as part of the Classroom Law Project and events
such as Law Day. His pro bono service included speaking
with students in middle and high schools, colleges and
law schools about the constitutionality of school drug
testing, among other issues. Volpert continues to work
with students as the volunteer leader of Grant High School’s
Constitution Team. The article also misspelled the firm
name of Tonkon Torp. The Bulletin regrets the errors.