| Oregon State Bar Bulletin — JULY 2011 |
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In a creative twist to Law Day (May 1), 25 Josephine County lawyers joined with the Grants Pass Coalition for Kids Money $marts! program to offer 15 workshops on basic financial questions, along with free legal advice. Workshops featured child support enforcement, divorce and debt, bankruptcy, foreclosure, expungement and consumer debt collection, among other topics. Volunteers included the Hon. Gerald Neufeld, Kim Jordan, Lynn Myrick, Amanda Thorpe, Richard Adams, Claudia Brown, Michael Sanchez, Garren Pedemonte, Patrick Kelly, John Reade, Eric Dahlin, Janay Haas, Jack Davis, Mark Lansing, Walter Cauble, Jason Hayward, Frank Rote, Ronald Versteeg, Rebecca Peterson, Christopher Mecca, Heather Holt, Benjamin Freudenberg, Willard Ransom, Kendall Ferguson and Sara Robinson-Glasser.
William J. Keeler has released a book on estate planning and trust litigation. The book, Strategies for Trusts and Estates in California: Leading Lawyers on Drafting Documents, Understanding Client Concerns, and Navigating Recent Decisions (Inside the Minds), is designed as a resource for attorneys, but is also useful to anyone in the general public who has an interest in the planning of an estate. Keeler is a co-author of the book, along with two other known authorities on estate planning. It is available for purchase online at west.thomson.com.
Perkins Coie has been named one of the 2011 Top Ten Family Friendly Firms by Yale Law Women, the third time in the past four years that firm has been so honored. The list celebrates firms that are leaders in promoting work-life balance for attorneys. For nine consecutive years, the firm has been on Fortune magazine’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” The firm was also recognized by Working Mother magazine and Flex Time Lawyers as one of the “Best Law Firms for Women” in 2008 and 2009.
Susan Hammer recently received the first Susan Hammer Award for Transformational Leadership Award from Planned Parenthood Columbia-Willamette. Hammer served as chair of the organization’s board during a time when the organization grew from five to nine health care centers. She also chaired its “Let’s Build” capital campaign, raising $12.5 million for a new regional service center on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., in Portland.
Thomas H. Tongue of Dunn, Carney, Allan, Higgins & Tongue, received the Oregon Area Jewish Committee’s 2011 Judge Learned Hand Lifetime Achievement Award at a luncheon in his honor June 22. Tongue is president-elect of the American College of Trial Lawyers and has been included on the Best Lawyers in America list since 2005. He has also been recognized as a top litigator in Oregon in the Chambers and Partners USA survey of leading business lawyers. He is a former president of the Multnomah Bar Association and a recipient of the bar’s prestigious Professionalism Award.
Darius Hartwell of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt was presented with the Emerging Leadership Award at the 2011 Judge Learned Hand Luncheon, hosted by the Oregon Area Jewish Committee on June 22. Hartwell has been recognized as a Rising Star by Thomson-Reuters and Law & Politics magazine in the field of business and corporate law. He was a 2010 recipient of Portland Business Journal’s “Forty Under 40” award. He serves on the board of the Portland Farmers Market, and has provided pro bono legal services to economically disadvantaged local entrepreneurs through the Lewis & Clark Small Business Legal Clinic.
John Bonine, environmental law professor at Oregon University School of Law, recently was announced as the 2011 recipient of the university’s Wayne Westling Award for University Leadership and Service. He was honored at an awards ceremony May 25 in Eugene. This is an especially meaningful honor for Bonine: Westling was a member of the Oregon law faculty from 1979 to 2001; Bonine joined the faculty in 1978. Bonine is credited with creating or cofounding the world’s first environmental law clinic (now the Western Environmental Law Center), the Public Interest Environmental Law Conferences (PIELC), Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) and the Oregon-Lviv University Partnership. Earlier this year, the law school announced the establishment of the Professor John Bonine Environmental Protection Scholarship, to be awarded to individuals with a “demonstrated passion for protecting our planet.” The scholarship will be used to assist students with all standard educational expenses.
Ron (Rongwei) Cai — partner-in-charge and chief representative of Davis Wright Tremaine’s Shanghai, China office — has been appointed to serve as arbitrator for China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), one of the most active international business arbitration bodies in the world. Cai, who has been working at the firm’s Shanghai office for the past 10 years, concentrates his practice on foreign investment in China, handling general business and corporate matters for multinational companies doing business there. He brings more than 20 years of experience assisting clients in U.S.-China business projects. Cai also serves as a mediator for the U.S.-China Business Mediation Center, which consists of 24 dispute resolution experts — 12 from the United States, and the other 12 from China.
Garvey Schubert Barer owner Christine P. Brown has been recognized as a Five Star Wealth Manager for 2011 by Portland Monthly, based on client satisfaction study conducted by QMI Research. Brown has more than 30 years of experience advising clients on estate planning, taxation, probate, trust administration and business succession. She is member of the firm’s executive committee and has served as managing director of the firm’s Portland office. She also is a board member for the Estate Planning Council of Portland and past chair of the OSB Estate Planning and Administration Section.
Jeanne Loftis of Bullivant Houser Bailey was recently elected president of the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel. She continues as the editor of the OADC newsletter.
David Bartz Jr., president and shareholder of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, received the Liberty and Hope Award from the Oregon League of Minority Voters (OLMV) at a dinner May 21. Paul Allen, owner of the Portland Trail Blazers, also received the prestigious award. The award is the OLMV’s highest honor and recognizes those who have taken extraordinary steps in elevating the economic, social, educational and political aspirations of minorities in Oregon. Bartz has a long history of supporting diversity in the legal profession. He has served on the Oregon Department of Justice Access to Justice Committee and was recently reappointed to the OSB Affirmative Action Committee. In 2008, he was honored by Oregon Women Lawyers for his work in promoting women and minorities in the legal profession. Also in 2008, the World Arts Foundation presented Bartz with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his work to advance the success of minority attorneys. Bartz focuses his practice on the litigation of environmental and construction issues.
For the second consecutive year, Lane Powell Shareholder David E. Van’t Hof has been named a Pivotal Leader, a community-nominated and peer-selected network of the top prospective clean-technology business leaders with ties to the Northwest. Van’t Hof is a member of the firm’s practice groups for renewable energy, clean tech and sustainability and climate change. He has worked in sustainability and clean technology throughout his career. As the sustainability policy adviser to former Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski, he led the state’s participation in the Western Climate Initiative and in developing the state’s nationally recognized climate change and renewable energy policies. Van’t Hof is also a frequent author and speaker on renewable energy, sustainability and green-building.
The Multnomah Bar Association has selected Multnomah County District Attorney Michael Schrunk as the recipient of the 2011 MBA Professionalism Award. He received the honor at the association’s annual dinner and judges’ reception May 17 in Portland. Schrunk has been the Multnomah County District Attorney since 1981. He was nominated for the MBA Professionalism Award by attorneys and judges from across the spectrum, including current and former deputy district attorneys, criminal defense lawyers and judges from the county’s criminal and civil bench. They cited his collaborative and inclusive style and commented that he devotes an enormous amount of his time and energy to ensuring that his office works hard, ethically and professionally, to meet the community’s expectations. Noted for being thoughtful and straightforward in his dealings with the court, lawyers and the public safety system, the nominators described how he works to improve the legal system and models the expectations he sets for his office to “do the right thing.”
George A. Riemer, former deputy executive director and general counsel of the Oregon State Bar, has been appointed one of the inaugural members of the Arizona Supreme Court’s new Attorney Regulation Advisory Committee. The committee is charged with reviewing the rules governing attorney examination, admissions, reinstatement and the disability and disciplinary process and making recommendations to the state’s supreme court on how the rules of the attorney regulation system can be revised to reinforce lawyer competence and professionalism, and strengthen the court’s oversight of the regulation and practice of law in Arizona. A copy of the Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice’s order can be found at www.azcourts.gov/Portals/22/admorder/Orders11/2011-44.pdf.
Tonkon Torp business attorney Christine Uri has been named to the board of advisers of the Oregon Women’s History Consortium, which leads the centennial celebration of women’s suffrage and promotes women’s history. Uri provided pro bono legal services in the nonprofit organization’s formation. Uri has particular expertise in legal compliance, risk management and the execution of strategic transactions. She regularly represents lenders and borrowers in commercial finance transactions, and counsels franchisors and franchisees on issues related to the franchise relationship. Uri is involved in several civic endeavors that promote the development and education of women and girls. She also serves as secretary of the board of Girls Inc. of Northwest Oregon. Uri is a graduate of the 2009 class of Leadership Portland, a Portland Business Alliance program that develops the next generation of community leaders.
The Coos County Bar Association at its winter meeting selected its new officers for the 2011-12 year. David Dorsey is the new president, John Meynink is the vice president and Dave Tilton is the new secretary/treasurer.
Debbe J. von Blumenstein has opened a second office, located at 525 Ferry St. S.E., Suite 304B, in Salem; it will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and by appointment on other days. The Dallas office will continue to operate at 154 S.W. Oak St.
Tax and business attorney Lisa C. Findlay has joined the tax and benefits group of Garvey Schubert Barer as an associate. Previously with Lane Powell, she focuses and advises clients on tax and business and other legal aspects of cross-border business operations and investment transactions. She also worked previously at KPMG, where she advised multinational clients on international tax issues.
Mark von Bergen has been elected to a third three-year term as a member of Holland & Knight’s directors committee. He has been executive partner of the Portland office since joining the firm in 2001. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America and Chambers USA guides.
Andrea Hawkins Sloan has been appointed judge of the Portland Immigration Court. From 1998 until her appointment last October, she worked for the Office of Administrative Hearings in Salem in various capacities, including administrative law judge, interim chief administrative law judge and executive/deputy chief administrative law judge. From 1987 to 1991, she was a deputy district attorney in Humboldt County, Calif. Sloan is a member of the Oregon and California bars.
Irene A. Scruggs has joined the Public Power Council as a staff attorney. In her new role, Scruggs will represent consumer-owned utilities of the Pacific Northwest in various regional forums. A 2006 graduate of the Lewis & Clark law school, Scruggs has held positions as a litigation associate at Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue and Smith, Freed & Eberhard.
David D. VanSpey- broeck has joined Sussman Shank as a partner in the firm’s litigation pra- ctice groupVanSpey- broeck brings more than 22 years of experience and will continue to focus his practice on complex litigation, commercial disputes and insurance coverage. His experience includes representing businesses in contractual disputes, securities fraud cases, litigation, intellectual property suits and insurance coverage litigation. Prior to joining the firm, VanSpeybroeck was a shareholder with Bullivant Houser Bailey.
Labor and employment law firm Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson has moved from the 1000 Broadway Building to the 200 S.W. Market Building in downtown Portland, the first existing multi-tenanted office building in America to receive the LEED Gold rating from the U.S. Green Building Council. (The building now holds the highest possible sustainability rating, LEED Platinum, obtained in 2010.) As the primary occupant of the building’s top floor, Bullard was able to maximize 11,938 square feet with a layout that includes more shared areas for collaboration, as well as smaller offices. The move to a more efficient space is just the latest milestone in the firm’s efforts to reduce its environmental footprint. Read more about the firm’s green efforts at www.bullardlaw.com/Press/151/Details/.The firm’s new address, effective May 31, is: Bullard Law, 200 S.W. Market Street, Suite 1900, Portland, OR 97201. All other contact information remains the same.
Jonathan A. Bennett has been elected managing partner of Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue, succeeding Robert L. Allen, who served in the position for 17 years. Bennett started his legal career at Dunn Carney in 1986 and focuses primarily on real estate and business law representing developers, architects and engineers. He has served on the firm’s executive committee for the last seven years and is the leader of the real estate practice group. Allen will continue to serve clients, focusing his practice on business counseling and litigation, as well as white-collar criminal defense.
Jessica Hamilton joined the Port of Portland as assistant general counsel, focusing on environmental issues. She was previously an associate in the Portland office of Perkins Coie in the environment, energy and resources practice group. Her experience includes representing clients in environmental litigation and before regulatory agencies on contaminated site issues involving CERCLA and state superfund laws, the Clean Water Act and other environmental laws. Active in the community, she serves on the boards of Portland Center Stage, St. Andrew Legal Clinic, SOLV and Women in Environment (WIE).
Alan Rappleyea has been appointed county counsel by the Washington County Board of Commissioners. He was employed by Washington County once before, until he left his position in 2003 to become Beaverton’s city attorney. He succeeds former county counsel Dan Olsen, who has retired. Rappleyea will oversee a staff of attorneys providing legal advice to Washington County government and affiliated agencies, representing then in civil litigation and administrative and enforcement proceedings.
Business attorneys Todd A. Mitchell and John C. Ramig have joined Ater Wynne as partners in the firm’s Portland office. Both have extensive experience in entity formation, corporate finance and international transactions. Mitchell is a partner in the firm’s business, intellectual property, global trade and corporate finance groups. He focuses his practice on the representation of private companies in a variety of industry sectors including coffee, apparel, restaurant and clean energy development, as well as the professional and business-to-business service firms that work with those industries. He regularly counsels clients with respect to entity formation, brand management and enforcement, mergers and acquisitions, distribution and licensing and corporate finance. Ramig is a partner in the firm’s global trade, business, emerging business and family-owned business groups. He works with clients on general business and corporate matters including entity formation, acquisition or sale of companies and corporate financings. He provides expert services relating to the design and implementation of international corporate structures that maximize operational and tax efficiencies. Ramig has expertise in international business transactions, including the structuring of international sourcing and manufacturing operations, as well as international distribution and manufacturing agreements with Asian suppliers.
OSB member Molly Siebert Eckman is one of 17 associates at Cozen O’Connor to be named a member of the firm. She is a member in the global insurance group and practices out of the Seattle office. Her practice is concentrated in insurance coverage and defense. She has represented insurers in a wide variety of coverage matters, including first-party and third-party coverage litigation, and has represented businesses and individuals in general litigation matters, including employment discrimination, premises liability and breach of contract. Eckman is a 2004 graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, where she was associate editor-in-chief of the Pacific Rim Law & Policy Journal.
Taylor Murdoch has joined Leahy, Van Vactor & Cox in Springfield as an associate attorney. For the past three years, he has clerked for the firm, handling research and motion drafting for matters involving local government law, real estate litigation, contract disputes, land use and criminal prosecution. Murdoch graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in May 2010. During law school, he worked as a legislative assistant to Attorney General John Kroger, and he led the law school’s participation in preparing tax returns for low income individuals. Prior to law school, he served in the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in New Orleans, where he helped defend indigent clients.
Brian Hickman has become a partner of Gordon & Polscer. The 2002 graduate of Thomas Jefferson School of Law focuses his practice on prelitigation insurance coverage advice and active litigation of coverage disputes, with a particular emphasis on general liability, construction defect and bad faith claims. He joined the firm in 2008.
Paul Mockford has joined Gordon & Polscer as an associate. He is a 2010 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law and previously worked as a contract attorney for Parsons, Farnell & Grein and in the Multnomah County district attorney’s office. His practice will focus on insurance coverage and litigation.
Liani Reeves has been appointed as general counsel to Gov. John A. Kitzhaber. Reeves most recently held the position of deputy chief trial counsel at the Oregon Department of Justice. She also has served as an assistant attorney general handling torts and employment litigation and as a staff attorney for the National Crime Victim Law Institute. Reeves is a graduate Willamette University College of Law.
Steven R. Powers has been appointed as deputy general counsel and public safety adviser to Gov. John A. Kitzhaber. Powers most recently was a deputy district attorney at the Multnomah County district attorney’s office. He has also held the positions of chair of the Oregon Board of Parole and Post-Prison Supervision and assistant attorney general at the Oregon Department of Justice appellate division. Powers received his law degree from Willamette University College of Law.
Erin S. Nelson has joined Bodyfelt Mount. Nelson was previously an associate at Bullivant Houser Bailey and served as a law clerk to Judge Marshall Amiton. She will continue her litigation practice emphasizing personal injury, liquor liability, product liability and insurance coverage. Nelson currently serves on the advisory board for the African American Chamber of Commerce and the OSB Affirmative Action Committee.
Nicole Hancock has been named a new partner at Stoel Rives. The Willamette University law graduate is based in the Boise office, where she is a member of the firm’s litigation group and trial section. Hancock provides legal services to agricultural businesses that include seed companies, produce companies, agricultural processing companies, agriculture cooperatives and corporate farming operations. She has experience with litigation matters, commercial contracts, product liability lawsuits, wine and beer franchise disputes, trade secret violations, unfair practices claims, consumer protection and corporate torts. Hancock is admitted to practice in Idaho, Oregon and Washington.
Jonathan D. Mishkin has opened up his own law practice, specializing in tax controversy, estate planning and closely held business advice. He was formerly of counsel with Harrang Long Gary Rudnick and an associate with Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston, Texas. Mishkin continues to serve as an adjunct professor of law at the University of Oregon, where he will teach tax practice and procedure.
Eugene law firm Watkinson, Laird, Rubenstein, Baldwin & Burgess announces that Jaclyn K. Semple has been elected shareholder and that Jane M. Yates has joined the firm as an associate. Semple is a member of the firm’s health law practice group, where she focuses on compliance and contracting issues. She also specializes in employment law, advising employers on personnel and policy issues. Prior to joining the firm in 2007, Semple’s area of practice was civil litigation with an emphasis on employment discrimination claims. Yates is a member of the firm’s business law and real estate law group. In addition to her general business practice, Yates also advises clients on trademark and other intellectual issues.
The labor and employment practice group at Tonkon Torp has added three attorneys. Veteran employment law litigator Clay D. Creps joins the firm as a partner. Creps previously chaired the employment practice group at Bullivant Houser Bailey in Portland. His 25-year career has focused on representing businesses on a variety of employment law issues, with special focus on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) trial work. A Harvard Law School graduate, Creps has been recognized for the past five years as a leader in employment law by Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business and as an Oregon Super Lawyer. Creps’ colleague, Krista N. Hardwick, also joins the firm. She represents companies in labor matters before the National Labor Relations Board and the Oregon Employment Relations Board. Hardwick also defends employers against wage and hour, discrimination, harassment and other employment-related claims filed in federal and state courts. She earned her degree from Willamette University College of Law in 2005. Before law school, she was a fraud investigator. Also joining is Colin Love-Geiger, a 2009 graduate of University of Oregon School of Law. Love-Geiger has just completed a judicial clerkship with the Hon. Dennis Hubel of the U.S. District Court. Previously he clerked for the Judge Garr King, also in the U.S. District Court, and was a judicial extern to Justice Virginia Linder of the Oregon Supreme Court. Love-Geiger worked as a legal assistant and law clerk before entering law school.
Chernoff Vilhauer announces that as of April 1, Chuck McClung is senior counsel to the firm and Don Haslett (pictured) is the firm’s managing partner. McClung’s new position comes after serving as the firm’s managing partner for more than 25 years. His practice will continue to encompass all areas of intellectual property, with an emphasis on patent and trademark prosecution. Haslett joined the firm in 1977 and has been a partner since 1984. His practice involves all areas of intellectual property, specializing in domestic and foreign patent prosecution. His varied clientele includes Gunderson, Inc., Sam Medical Products and Leatherman Tool Group. (Editor’s note: This item is a corrected version of an announcement published last month, which contained an editing error.)
Roy Bashaw of Ashland died March 20, 2011 of an acute cerebral hemorrhage. He was 86.
E. Roy Bashaw was born in Medford, Ore., on April 8, 1924. Before college, Bashaw was commissioned as a naval reserve officer and saw active duty in World War II, serving as a naval communications officer from 1943 to 1946. After receiving his bachelor of arts degree from UCLA in 1946, Bashaw attended the University of Oregon Law School, earning his J.D. in 1949.
Bashaw practiced law for more than 57 years. Apart from several stints in private practice, he served as a city attorney for numerous Oregon municipalities, including Bandon, Central Point, Jacksonville, Medford, Phoenix, Port Orford and Talent, as well as serving five years as counsel for Jackson County. Additionally Bashaw served for several years as a judge of the Jackson County District Court. He served as a presiding member of the Oregon State Bar’s Disciplinary Board trial panel for four years, and he served on the Medford and Ashland charter review committees. Both before and after his retirement, Bashaw provided pro bono legal services for those who could not otherwise afford them. In 2000, he received the award for “Legal Aid Volunteer of the Decade,” of which he was extremely proud. Bashaw often spoke of his belief in the necessity of equal justice for all under the law.
In high school he played the trombone and sang in school operettas, talents he later displayed for years in a lively German band of Medford’s Lions Club. He sang basso with much gusto with the Siskiyou Singers, the Southern Oregon Repertory Singers, the Rogue Valley Community Opera and barber shop quartets. He also was a “regular” singing Handel’s “Messiah” with the community choir in Medford. He sang in the choir of the First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, in addition to serving as an elder and treasurer for the church.
For 30 years, Bashaw was a member of the Lions International Club and was a charter member of the Bandon Lions Club and president (1961) of the Medford Lions Club.
Bashaw is survived by his wife, Lucy Madden Bashaw, of Ashland; a son and a daughter, a granddaughter and many nieces and nephews.
Retired corporate lawyer Dick Biggs died March 23, 2011. He was 85.
Richard Lee Biggs was born Feb. 28, 1926, on his grandfather’s farm in Nampa, Idaho. At age 9, he started his own vegetable garden. Then, wherever Biggs lived, his green thumb created wonderful gardens.
Biggs served as a yeoman in the U.S. Navy in the South Pacific and as a court reporter for court martial trials in Shanghai. He realized his dream of college through the G.I. Bill and graduated from Reed College and then Northwest College of Law. He stayed connected to Reed serving on the alumni board as a member and president during the 1960s and as an alumni trustee on Reed’s board of trustees in the ’70s.
His career included corporate law at Martin, Bischoff, Templeton & Biggs and also at Lindsay, Hart, Neil & Weigler. He spent his last years as a sole practitioner. His last 15 years he happily provided legal aid to needy seniors through the Legal Aid of Oregon Senior Law Project where he was noted to be among their “longest serving and most valued lawyers.”
While in college, Biggs married June Anderson. They had three children and later divorced. In 1971 Biggs married Joan Wong and became a stepfather to four.
Biggs spent his last days visiting individually with family and friends. He was not given to big hoorahs or big goodbyes. One of his last comments was simply, “It’s time to plant the carrots.”
Biggs was predeceased by his son, Rick Biggs, and stepson, Jefferson Wong. He is survived by his wife, Joan, a son, a daughter, a stepson, two stepdaughters, five grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.