Paul H. Burton is returning to the law after a successful hiatus in the fast-paced world of the Internet, forming Vision Mechanix to provide productivity and effectiveness consulting for lawyers and law firms. The firms mission is to increase billable hours, improve attorney retention and develop greater practice satisfaction for its clients. Further information can be found at www.visionmechanix.com or by contacting Burton at (971) 223-3663.
Dan Van Vactor has relocated his law office to 15 S.W. Colorado, Suite 100, Bend, OR 97702. The phone number (541) 389-6700 and fax number (541) 382-2439, and mailing address at P.O. Box 1524, Bend, OR 97709, remain the same.
Jordan Schrader added two new attorneys in April and also placed one of its real estate attorneys as in-house counsel for one of its clients. Justin D. Gericke has joined the practices dirt law group (real estate, environmental, land use and construction law). He has more than five years experience in environmental and natural resources law, handling cases involving real property, water and land use and federal reclamation issues. Gericke received his law degree from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College, where he also earned a certificate in environmental and natural resources law. Gericke is a member of the Oregon Business Association and the Committee on the Environment and Economy. Peter O. Watts, a fifth-generation Oregonian, has joined the firms business and dirt law practice groups. He earned his J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law, and an advanced degree in taxation from the University of Washington School of Law. Watts served as the law schools student senator for three years and two terms as University of Oregons senate president. Previously, Watts worked as a litigation associate with a Portland firm. He is an active member of the OSBs Labor and Employment, Taxation and Family Law sections. Also at Jordan Schrader, real estate attorney Kevin Reive has been placed as in-house counsel for the firms client, D.R. Horton. The firm looks forward to continuing to work with Reive in his new capacity.
Real estate attorney Donald Russo joins Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt as a shareholder in the Vancouver, Wash. office. Russo was most recently a partner at the Vancouver law firm of Blair, Schaefer, Hutchison & Wolfe. He has a broad range of experience in the areas of commercial property purchase and sale agreements, and in the representation of landlords and tenants in all aspects of commercial leasing. Russo is a member of the Washington and Oregon state bars. He was also an adjunct faculty member at Clark College and currently assists high school students in mock trial competitions.
Effective April 1, John Folawn and George Kirklin announce the opening of their new firm, Kirklin Folawn, Trial Lawyers. Both are leaving Lane Powell Spears Lubersky; Folawn as partner and Kirklin as counsel to the firm. Kirklin Folawns practice will be limited to complex cases involving securities, intellectual property, lender liability, business torts, contracts, finance, accounting and auditing, personal injury, professional liability, commercial litigation and will contests. More information about the new firm can be found online at www.kirklinfolawn.com.
Jerry N. Gauche has been named Senior vice president, sales and marketing for National Oilwell Varco (NOV), an S&P 500 company formed by the merger of National Oilwell and Varco International, engaged in the provision of equipment, supply chain management and tubular inspection services to the upstream oil and gas business worldwide.
Sally Carter has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the labor and employment section of the general counsel division of the Oregon Department of Justice. Carter received her J.D. from Boston College Law School. She served in the Peace Corps in Malawi before attending law school. After law school graduation, she was a judicial law clerk for the Immigration Court of the U.S. Department of Justice and an assistant district attorney in El Paso, Texas.
Michael Andrea has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the torts section of the trial division of the Oregon Department of Justice. Andrea received a J.D. from the University of Oregon, where he was managing editor of Oregon Law Review. After law school graduation, he was a judicial clerk for the Oregon Court of Appeals and then in private practice in Washington, D.C.
Constantin Severe has joined the Multnomah County section of the Metropolitan Public Defender. Severe attended Vanderbilt University Law School in Tennessee, receiving his J.D. in 2002. He was admitted to the OSB in 2003. Prior to joining the Metropolitan Public Defender Severe worked as a clerk for Judge David Gernant.
Ryan Scott has been appointed chief of the major felony section of the Metropolitan Public Defender. Scott joined the Metropolitan Public Defender in 1997, first working in the Washington County Office.
Litigation attorney Madeleine Campbell has been named a partner at Dunn Carney Allen Higgins & Tongue. Campbell will focus on complex civil and commercial litigation, insurance coverage disputes, professional liability cases and business litigation, as part of the firms litigation practice group. Campbell earned her her LLB from University of British Columbia in 1979.
Stacey K. Lowe has joined Southwestern Oregon Public Defenders as a staff attorney. She earned her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2004 and her B.A. in both environmental studies and in journalism communications from the University of Oregon in 1999.
Ater Wynne has added a new attorney in its Portland office. Akana Ma is of counsel to the global trade & intellectual property group. He provides practical, creative solutions for business and legal issues involving foreign legal systems, different cultures and business. His practice includes: international joint ventures; licensing and protection of technology, trademarks, software and other intellectual property; and import and export law.
Martin, Bischoff, Templeton, Langslet & Hoffman announce that Justin M. Thorp has become a partner in the firm. Thorp is a 1997 graduate of University of Oregon Law School. He will continue to concentrate his practice in the areas of civil litigation, product liability, insurance defense and appellate work. The firm also welcomes Camille Tourje, a 2001 graduate of Case Western Reserve University, Stephen P. Yoshida, a 2004 graduate of University of Oregon and Ismail Pekin, a 2003 graduate of University of Kansas, as associates of the firm.
Cheryl Pellegrini has been appointed as attorney in charge of the organized crime section of the criminal justice division of the Oregon Department of Justice. Pellegrini joined the Department of Justice and its financial fraud/consumer protection section in 1995, after seven years as a deputy district attorney of Klamath County, including two years as chief deputy. In 1998, Pellegrini became attorney in charge of the business activities section of the general counsel division. In 1999 Pellegrini was named attorney in charge of the financial fraud/consumer protection section.
Steven Leskin announces the relocation of his practice to 1400 S.W. Montgomery St., Portland, OR 97201; phone: (503) 227-3222. Leskin continues to represent personal injury, domestic relations and Social Security disability clients.
Sally Kimsey has been appointed as a senior assistant attorney general in the tax and finance section of the general counsel division of the Oregon Department of Justice. Kimsey received her J.D. from Willamette University. She has been a clerk for the Oregon Tax Court, senior financial analyst for the city of Portland and a magistrate for the Oregon Tax Court.
Monica Kirk has accepted a temporary appointment with the National Policy Consensus Center (NPCC) at Portland State Universitys Hatfield School of Government. Kirk will return to her position as special counsel, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 10s Portland office at the completion of her one year assignment. She can be reached at: kirk.monica@epa.gov.
Richard A. Sly has recently moved to new offices in the Congress Center. The new address is 1001 S.W. Fifth Ave., Suite 310, Portland OR 97204. The practice emphasis will continue to be the Social Security disability (SSD/SSI) representation of physically and psychologically impaired children and adults, as further described at www.richardsly.com.
Holland & Knight announces that Mark von Bergen, executive partner of the firms Portland office, has been elected to serve on the firms directors committee. Von Bergen is a partner in the firms business law section and practices in the areas of business and securities, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and venture capital. He is a frequent lecturer and author in the areas of business and securities law. He earned his A.B. from Princeton University and his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Robert Hutchings has accepted a position in Eugene with the Public Defender Services of Lane County, Inc. Hutchings earned his degree from Willamette in 1999, and then entered private practice in Salem, focusing on criminal and juvenile law. Prior to law school Hutchings lived and worked in Eugene as a certified alcohol and drug counselor. He can be contacted at 1145 Oak St., Eugene, OR 97401; phone: (541) 484 2611, ext 127; e-mail: rhutchings@lanepds.org.
Bill Henderson has relocated his office to the Sellwood neighborhood of Southeast Portland. His practice will include estate planning and elder law. He can be reached at (503) 239-1535.
Stephen H. Carpenter has been appointed an assistant attorney general for the state of Washington. He will focus on the prosecution of medical malpractice cases on behalf of the government compliance and enforcement division. The 1995 U.O. law school graduate was formerly a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Army Judge Advocate Corps stationed in Germany.
Tonya Alexander (formerly Atwell) announces the June 1 opening of her new family law practice located at the Crown Plaza, Suite 920, 1500 S.W. First Ave., Portland, OR 97201. She remains a member of Marandas, Perdue, Marandas, Alexander & Durham, as she builds an independent practice limited to domestic relations cases.
Tonkon Torp has expanded its intellectual property practice with the addition of Christopher M. Bikus as of counsel. Formerly a shareholder with the Omaha, Neb., firm of McGrath, North, Mullin & Kratz, Bikus will continue his domestic and international trademark portfolio prosecution and licensing practice at Tonkon Torp. Bikuss practice at McGrath North included managing foreign and domestic trademark portfolios for several Fortune 500 companies based in Nebraska, including one of the largest food companies in the world. He earned his J.D. at the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1996 and his B.A. at Augustana College in 1991. A Cornhusker fan, Bikus is currently evaluating whether to support the Beavers, Ducks or Vikings.
Robert Hamilton rejoined the Metropolitan Public Defender on May 2, and will be working in the Washington County office. Hamilton received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin and graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2001. He worked as a certified law student for the Metropolitan Public Defender from 2000 to 2001 and briefly as a staff attorney in 2003. Just prior to rejoining the Metropolitan Public Defender, Hamilton worked for Goldberg, Mechanic, Stuart & Gibson.
Sandra Hansberger has been named executive director of the Campaign for Equal Justice and the Oregon Access to Justice Endowment Fund. A clinical law professor at Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College since 1988, Hansberger has had a rich and varied career teaching and supervising law students at Lewis & Clarks low-income legal clinic. She has served on many boards and committees, including the Oregon Legal Services Board of Directors, the Low Income Legal Services Committee of the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Women Lawyers and the Oregon Law Commission.
Patent attorney Steven Prewitt has joined Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt as an associate in the firms Portland office, adding to the firms expertise serving life science and technology clients. Prewitt joins Schwabes nanotechnology and microtechnology law practice group. Another recent addition to this 20-lawyer practice group, Andrew Barofsky, joined in September 2004.
Thwing & Thwing announces its relocation on May 27 to the Forum Building, 777 High Street, Suite 130, Eugene, OR 97401; phone: (541) 683-1134; fax: (541) 736-0006; thwing-thwing@ordata.com.