| Oregon State Bar Bulletin — JANUARY 2008 |
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Paul J. Kelly, Jr., of counsel to Garvey Schubert Barer, was appointed by Gov. Ted Kulongoski to a four-year term on the Oregon State Board of Higher Education, effective Oct. 1, 2007.
Natalia Yegorova, an attorney at Black Helterline, was elected to the board of advisors of the World Affairs Council of Oregon. The council’s mission is to exercise leadership in global thinking and to engage Oregon with the world through a variety of business, cultural, academic and policy programs. The role of the advisors is to assist with council strategic planning, fundraising and outreach to the community.
Cindy Cumfer is announces that her book, Separate Peoples, One Land: The Minds of the Cherokees, Blacks, and Whites on the Tennessee Frontier, was recently published by the University of North Carolina Press. Cumfer was awarded a Ph.D. in history from UCLA in 2001. Her book examines the ideas and cultural logic of the three groups of people that met in frontier Tennessee and even includes some legal history. Her law practice focuses exclusively on nonprofit organizations.
Stoel Rives principal Barbara Brainard has been appointed to the board of Resource Media, a nonprofit communications shop. (Resource Media provides strategic communications and media outreach services to support campaigns, organizations and individuals working to protect the environment and improve public health.) Brainard is also a board member for the Volunteers of America, a chairperson for the Oregon Alumni Admission Committee for Middlebury College and a chair of the Oregon/S.W. Washington Industry Liaison Group.
Perkins Coie Portland partner James Van Nostrand has received the Energy Bar Association’s (EBA) State Regulatory Practitioner of the Year award. The award recognizes lawyers who have made a significant contribution to the practice of law related to regulation of energy companies at the state level. Van Nostrand focuses his practice on electricity and gas regulation, utility mergers and acquisitions, and administrative law.
At the end of October, Luella E. Nelson traveled to Beijing at the request of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and the Chinese Ministry of Personnel, to conduct a two-day symposium on arbitration for Chinese personnel arbitrators. This was one of a series of cooperative activities between the two countries under a two-year letter of understanding, intended to promote mutual understanding and expertise in alternative methods of personel dispute resolution and personel conflict prevention. Nelson is a full-time arbitrator and mediator, concentrating on labor and employment disputes.
Anna Danielle Aglipay has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the general counsel division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Aglipay received her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School. Prior to joining the department, Aglipay clerked for the Portland city attorney’s office as well as for Lewis & Clark Law School for an international environmental law project.
Diane Lloyd has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the general counsel division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Lloyd received her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School. Prior to joining the department, Lloyd clerked for the Portland city attorney’s office, the Oregon Law Center and a private firm.
Patricia Gonzalez has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the family law section of the civil enforcement division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Gonzalez received her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. Previously, Gonzalez clerked for the Lane County Circuit Court, the Lane County district attorney’s office and DOJ’s family law section.
James Murphy has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the general counsel division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Murphy received his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School. Previously, Murphy clerked for the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. Department of the Interior, as well as private firms.
Paul Reim has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the criminal and civil rights section of the trial division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Reim received his J.D. from the University of Oregon. Previously, Reim has been an attorney in private practice.
Kristin May has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the general counsel division with the Oregon Department of Justice. May received her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School. She joined the department in April of 2007 in the natural resources section after working with a private law firm in Lake Oswego.
Vincent Salvi has been appointed as a senior assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the general counsel division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Salvi received his J.D. from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. Previously, he spent 12 years as an attorney in Portland.
Mark Schumock has been appointed as a senior assistant attorney general in the natural resources section of the general counsel division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Schumock received his J.D. from the University of Oregon. He joined the department in 2006, in the natural resources section after spending five years working for the state of Washington.
Ann Boss has been appointed as a senior assistant attorney general in the appellate division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Boss received her J.D. from University of Houston Law Center. Boss re-joins the department after a year as legislative counsel. She previously worked in the general counsel division.
Calvin (Cal) Souther has been appointed as an assistant attorney general in the commercial, condemnation and environmental litigation section of the trial division with the Oregon Department of Justice. Souther received his J.D. from Willamette University College of Law. He has spent the last 7.5 years in private practice.
Billie J. Eidson announces the opening of her new solo practice in Portland. Formerly with the law offices of Judy Snyder, Eidson’s practice remains focused on representing individuals in civil litigation matters in both state and federal court — civil rights violations, serious personal injury claims, wrongful death actions, child and adult sex abuse claims and employment matters. She welcomes new clients at 1450 Standard Plaza, 1100 S.W. Sixth Ave., Portland, OR 97024. Phone: (503) 546-2525; fax: (503) 218-5400; e-mail: billie@billiejeidsonpc.com or website: www.billiejeidsonpc.com.
Steve Bloom, former Pendleton lawyer and U.S. magistrate judge for Eastern Oregon, has returned from Armenia where he worked with the Peace Corps. He was assigned to the Armenian Constitutional Rights Protective Centre, where he worked on amending the Armenian Constitution and on human rights. Thereafter, he worked with ABA/CEELI on judicial reform, introducing and implementing case law precedent into Armenia’s judicial system. He was the primary author of a 200-page case law manual, which he then used to teach all of Armenia’s 185 judges on how precedent works and how to write judicial opinions. He also worked on a new code of judicial conduct and taught ethics seminars to the judges. Bloom has now re-located to Portland and joined USA&M, looking to develop a statewide arbitration and mediation practice. He can be reached at (503) 701-0655 or at sbloom3@hotmail.com.
Tonkon Torp has hired Inga Deckert as an associate in its government relations and public policy practice group. For the past six years, Deckert worked in the office of the state treasurer as director of legislative and public affairs. She served as the treasurer’s legislative liaison and provided advice on the management of state-owned lands and land board issues. She also created and implemented Reading is an Investment, a literacy and financial education program now in place in every public elementary school in Oregon.
Lane Powell announces that Lorne O. Dauenhauer has been elected to shareholder. Dauenhauer practices exclusively in the areas of employee benefits, ERISA and executive compensation. He received his J.D. from the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College.
Scott O. Carter and Sarah V. Potter have combined to form Carter & Potter, a general practice law firm in Klamath Falls. Carter, a 1995 graduate of Willamette University College of Law, concentrates his practice on family law, civil litigation and criminal defense. Potter, a 2002 graduate of the University of Colorado at Boulder School of Law, focuses on full-service estate planning, probate, business law and real estate. Carter & Potter is located at 431 Main Street, Klamath Falls, OR 97601. Additional information about the firm can be found at www.carterandpotter.com.
Tamson Leachman has joined Dunn Carney Allen Higgins & Tongue as of counsel. Leachman devotes her practice to representing employers in all areas of employment and labor law. She provides advice and counsel to employers regarding the employment relationship, with an emphasis on prevention through compliance. Leachman received her J.D. from University of Idaho College of Law in 1993.
Family law firm Yates, Matthews & Eaton has announced that attorney Marshal Spector has become of counsel to the firm. Spector, who also limits his practice to family law, comes to Yates, Matthews after nearly 18 years with Portland-based Gevurtz Menashe. His arrival at Yates, Matthews marks a reunion with shareholders Michael Yates, Jeffrey Matthews and Kristin Eaton.
The state of Oregon Employment Relations Board announces the appointment of two board members and one administrative law judge. Vickie Cowan has been appointed as the management member of the board. Cowan worked for the last 10 years as an administrative law judge for the board. Susan Rossiter has been appointed as the board’s public member. Rossiter has previously worked as an ALJ for both the board and the Office of Administrative Hearings with the state of Oregon. Previously, she worked for Immigration Counseling Service as executive director and senior Attorney. Wendy L. Greenwald has been appointed as an administrative law judge to the board. She served as the board’s state conciliator for the last 10 years, before moving to her current position.
Morgan Smith has joined the Oregon School Boards Association. He assists members with pre-loss and Title IX issues and assists fellow OSBA lawyers with litigation on behalf of OSBA member K-12 school, education service district and community college boards. Smith has worked for City County Insurance Services in Salem and interned at the Oregon Department of Justice Trial Division, in 2003.
Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt recently announced the addition of Ray Benner to the firm’s Portland office. Benner focuses his practice in employee benefits law, specializing in qualified retirement plans. Prior to joining Schwabe, Benner was an attorney with the Portland firm of Benner & Assoc. He has practiced law for 41 years, specializing in the complexities of qualified retirement plans, and has written numerous articles for professional and legal publications. He also co-authored Qualified Retirement Plans, published by the National Law Publishing Corp. In addition, Benner lectures and has taught courses in the qualified retirement plan for several organizations. Benner is a member of the Western Pension Benefits Conference and the ABA Section on Taxation. He is also an adjunct member of the Employee Benefits Committee of the ABA.
Kevin E. Regan has joined the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. He is a trial attorney in the environment and natural resources division, natural resources section. He recently completed a two-year clerkship with U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez in the Southern District of Florida in Miami.
Bryan W. Gruetter has opened The Law Offices of Bryan W. Gruetter, at the Deschutes Ridge Office Complex: 960 S.W. Disk Drive, Suite 101, Bend, OR 97702; phone (541) 585-1140. He will continue to focus on civil litigation, with a special emphasis on serious personal injury, wrongful death, insurance claims and fire law throughout Oregon. He was a partner at the former Bend branch of Dunn, Carney and most recently a shareholder/director at Hurley, Re & Gruetter. Gruetter is a former president of the J.R. Campbell American Inns of Court, former chair of OSB’s Ethics Committee and former member of the board of governors for OADC. He was also founding member of the OSB New Lawyers Division. He currently serves as secretary for OSB’s ADR Committee, on the 9th Circuit Court Lawyer Representative Committee and on the St. Charles Hospital Institutional Review Committee.
Kristin Hazard Hamilton has
joined Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf as an associate.
Her practice will focus on complex business litigation. She has
served as a judicial law clerk for the Oregon Court of Appeals
and the U.S. District Court of Oregon, most recently for U.S. Magistrate
Judge Donald C. Ashmanskas. Earlier, she practiced commercial litigation
at a large Portland firm and worked in-house for a major insurance
company. Hamilton obtained a certificate in environmental law from
Lewis & Clark Law School and served on the editorial board
of the Environmental Law Review. Before she was a lawyer,
Hamilton
worked as a project manager and geologist for an environmental
consulting firm in California.
Littler Mendelson announces the arrival of its newest shareholder, Douglas S. Parker, to its Portland office. Parker comes from Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Preston Gates Ellis, where he was a partner and chair of the firm’s West Coast labor and employment practice. He represents Oregon and Alaska employers in state and federal trial and appellate courts in a broad variety of employment claims and handles union/management issues for employers. Parker is past chair of the Employment Law Section of the Alaska Bar Association and a member of the Alaska Bar Association, the ABA, the Federal Bar Association and the American Employment Law Council.
Samuels Yoelin Kantor Seymour & Spinrad announces that Greg Ferney has joined the Portland law firm. Ferney will assist individuals and businesses in the areas of estate, tax, business, trust and real estate law. He is a member of the Oregon, Washington and Idaho state bars. He obtained his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law in 2001, and his LL.M. in taxation from the University of Washington School of Law in 2006. Ferney is fluent in Russian and works with members of the Russian community on a wide variety of legal matters.
Corvallis lawyer and long-time political activist Blair Bobier has joined The Reynolds Law Firm. Bobier will continue his work providing representation for community groups, charter schools and non-profit organizations. Bobier served as the media director for the Green Party’s 2004 presidential campaign and played an instrumental role in initiating the unprecedented statewide recount of presidential ballots in Ohio that year. In 1998, Bobier was nominated as the first gubernatorial candidate of the Pacific Green Party of Oregon. The Reynolds Law Firm is located at 225 S.W. Fourth St., Corvallis. The phone number is (541) 738-1800; the website is at www.reynoldslaw.us.
The Law Offices of Ron D. Ferguson has relocated to 4004 Kruse Way Place, Lake Oswego, OR 97035; telephone: (503) 496-5535; fax: (503) 496-5510; e-mail: ferg8555@gmail.com.
Berkeley "Bud" Lent, a former legislator, circuit court judge and Oregon Supreme Court justice, died of a heart attack Nov. 11, 2007, in his home in Las Vegas. He was 86.
Lent served as a state legislator from 1957 to 1971, and on the Oregon Supreme Court from 1977 to 1988, a period that witnessed rulings on the rights of women, criminal suspects and free speech.
Lent was born in Sept. 22, 1921, in Los Angeles. At a young age, he and his family relocated to Southeast Portland’s Lents neighborhood (named after an ancestor who came across the Oregon Trail), where he grew up and attended schools. After graduating from Franklin High School, he moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Occidental College from 1944 to 1945. Also in 1944, he married Dorothy Welch. Lent joined the U.S. Navy that year. Lent later returned to Portland and attended Reed College, graduating in 1948.
He then went on to law school at Willamette University College of Law, where he earned his J.D. in 1950, serving as class president in his final year. After law school, Lent moved to San Francisco and worked for Bancroft-Whitney Law Publishing Co., as an editor. He returned to Portland to work for the Bonneville Power Administration as a staff attorney. After practicing law in Coos Bay, Lent returned again to Portland and began working at the law firm of Peterson & Pozzi beginning in 1953.
Lent began a three-decade career in public service in 1956 with his election to the Oregon House. He served from 1963 to 1967, when he moved to the Senate.
Gov. Tom McCall appointed him as a Multnomah County circuit judge in 1971. Lent lost a bid for the Oregon Supreme Court to incumbent William McAllister in 1974, but went on to win an open position on the court in 1976.
Oregon voters decided in May 1982 that the justices should continue the system of appointing the chief justice, rejecting an argument by the governor that he appoint the chief justice. Arno Denecke of Salem then retired as chief justice from the court in mid-1982, and the other justices chose Lent as chief justice. Lent was chief justice until September 1983, when Edwin Peterson of Salem took over, but Lent stayed on the court until his retirement at the end of 1988.
Lent served on the state supreme court during what proved to be a historic time: Justice Hans Linde was championing the concept that the Oregon Constitution provides greater rights than the U.S. Constitution. Rulings during this time established state rights of speech and expression that are far more expansive than federal provisions. Among other cases, Lent joined a 1982 decision authored by Justice Betty Roberts that guaranteed equal rights for women.
U.S. District Court Judge James Redden, a 45-year friend of Bud Lent, starting back when they served together in the Oregon House of Representatives, recalls Lent as "…a brilliant individual, a great trial lawyer, judge, legislator, appellate judge — and a friend of anyone who knew him."
Lent and his first wife divorced in 1961. He married
Joan Burnett in 1968. In addition to his wife, survivors include
four daughters, two sons, a brother, 13 grandchildren and nine
great-grand children.
John "Jack" Frederick Jr. Weisser, a retired Portland attorney, died Oct. 25, 2007, at the age of 77, due to a malignant brain tumor.
Weisser was born in Salem on July 1, 1930. He graduated from Bend High School in 1948, attended Willamette University, transferred to the University of Oregon and received a B.S. in 1952. He obtained his J.D. in 1955 from Willamette College of Law, then served in the U.S. Army for two years. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1955, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1964 and the Texas State Bar in 1987.
Weisser practiced law in Springfield, Ore., was an assistant attorney general for the Bureau of Labor, and later, for the Oregon Public Utility Commission. In early 1965, he accepted a position as general attorney for Union Pacific Railroad, where he worked in the Portland regional headquarters. During this time, he was also an interstate commerce practitioner and a lecturer on transportation regulations at Portland State University. In 1971, one of his cases was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court and he had the honor of sitting at counsel table during oral argument.
In 1986, when the railroad’s Portland office closed, Weisser transferred to Houston, Texas, as an assistant general solicitor. He took early retirement in 1988 and returned to Oregon. Shortly thereafter, he accepted a position as administrative law judge for the Public Utility Commission in Salem, until fully retiring in 1992.
Serving as an emeritus member from 1993 to 2006,
Weisser performed pro bono work for the Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service.
He mentored Willamette law students and served on the Heritage
Committee. He spent six years on the Salem Public Library Foundation
board of directors, and served as president for
two years.
He is survived by his wife of 53 years, Dorothy Weisser,
a daughter and a son (OSB member Herb Weisser), grandchildren,
and nieces and nephews.
Edwin N. Storz, a member of the Oregon bar since 1976 and the Washington bar since 1984, died May 20, 2007, at the age of 57. Ed had recently been diagnosed with stage IV esophageal cancer and passed away after a determined battle with the disease at the Veteran’s Hospital in Portland.
He was born in Bangkok, Thailand, the son of Seventh-day Adventist missionaries. After growing up in both Vietnam and the Philippines, his family moved to Oregon.
He served as a medic during the Vietnam War. Upon the end of this service, he returned to Oregon, graduating from the University of Oregon and then Willamette University School of Law in 1976.
Upon graduation he moved his family to Hermiston, where he took up practice until pursuing an LLM in business and tax from McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento. Upon graduation, he returned to Hermiston until his move to Vancouver, Wash., where he largely practiced as a sole general practitioner until his death.
He is survived by his mother, daughter and four sons. One of his sons, Christopher, attends Lewis & Clark Law School and was to join his father’s practice upon graduation and bar admittance.