| Oregon State Bar Bulletin — AUGUST 2012 |
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The Multnomah Bar Association has elected four new members to its board of directors: Darcy Michele Norville, a member of Tonkon Torp’s managing board; Steven L. Shropshire, a managing partner of Jordan Ramis; Bob Steringer,vice president of Harrang Long Gary Rudnick; and Elizabeth N. Wakefield, Metropolitan Public Defender. New MBA board officers for a one-year term, beginning July 1, are: Gregory T. Moawad, Sheila H. Potter, Richard J. Vangelisti and Steven K. Blackhurst. The following directors continue on the board: Carol J. Bernick, Cedric R. Brown, Julia M. Hagan, Helen M. Hierschbiel, Martha J. Hodgkinson, Samuel C. Kauffman and Dana L. Sullivan.
Oregon City attorney John Henry Hingson III delivered a presentation to the Arkansas Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers on “How To Cross Examine A Police Officer” at its annual meeting in Tunica, Miss., in June. He was also scheduled to deliver a presentation to the Tennessee Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Nashville, Tenn., in August. Hingson has delivered more than 100 presentations to criminal defense lawyer groups, insurance companies and bar associations from 1979 to the present.
For the fourth consecutive year, Ater Wynne has been named one of the 100 Best Green Companies to Work for in Oregon by Oregon Business Magazine. The list was determined by an anonymous employee survey in 2011 and an independent assessment of Ater Wynne’s sustainable practices. The survey included questions on the organization’s support for the following: waste reduction, reuse and recycling; renewable energy and conservation; alternative modes of transportation; use of nontoxic materials; environmental stewardship; and employee recognition and rewards for meeting or exceeding energy and waste-reduction goals.
Stoel Rives partner William Holmes has been honored with the Champion Award by Women of Wind Energy. The inaugural award was created to acknowledge individuals who significantly contribute to the advancement of women in the field of renewable energy, through mentoring and professional development. WoWE presented the award at the American Wind Energy Association’s Windpower 2012 conference in Atlanta, Georgia.
Walt Grebe, a shareholder in the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, recently received the Silver Beaver Award from the Cascade Pacific Council of the Boy Scouts of America. Recipients of the award are registered adult leaders who have made an impact on the lives of youth through service given to the council. The award is given to those who implement the scouting program and perform community service through hard work, self-sacrifice, dedication and many years of service. The Silver Beaver Award is the highest honor given by local councils of the Boy Scouts of America.
Emil R. Berg, a member of the Oregon and Idaho bars who practices in both states from his office in Boise, has completed the course in Arbitration Law and Practice presented by the Northwest Institute For Dispute Resolution, University of Idaho College of Law.
Theresa Deibele was honored as a finalist in the Portland Business Journal’s CFO of the Year (nonprofit category) event held in May. The award recognized Deibele’s work as finance director of ChristieCare from 2008 to 2011, when she helped the children’s services agency stabilize its finances and later merge with Youth Villages. In April 2012, she joined Meyer Memorial Trust as a program officer in their Responsive Grants and Program-Related Investment (PRI) program.
Schwabe, William- son & Wyattshare- holder Román D. Hernández recently received DuPont’s prestigious J. Michael Brown Award, which honors a member of DuPont’s Minority Counsel Network (MCN) who has achieved significant success in efforts to increase and promote diversity in the legal profession both within and outside of his or her respective firm or department and within and among the DuPont MCN.
The Multnomah Bar Association Young Lawyers Section recently elected new officers and board members with terms starting July 1, 2012. The new president is Duke Tufty, Davis Wright Tremaine; president-elect is Traci R. Ray, Barran Liebman; secretary, Valerie Colas, Office of Public Defense Services; and treasurer, Sarah M. Petersen, Lewis & Clark Law School. New directors are Benjamin Cox of the Benjamin Cox firm and Micah R. Steinhilb, Bodyfelt Mount. William H. Glasson, Sean C. Currie, Amy M. Hoven, and Jeanne Sinnott continue as directors. Nicholas A. Kampars of Davis Wright Tremaine serves as immediate past president.
Jeff Bird, a shareholder in the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, recently earned the prestigious Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) credential from the Exit Planning Institute, joining more than 131 other certified exit planning professionals worldwide. He was one of only 32 professional advisors to earn the CEPA credential this year. Bird is a core group member of Schwabe’s business transitions group.
Stoel Rives has received a Gold Standard Certification from the Women in Law Empowerment Forum, a leading organization for women in law dedicated exclusively to women from the Amlaw 100, Second Hundred and Fortune 1000 corporate law departments. The certification process focused on whether women were significantly represented in top leadership positions and among the top-earning attorneys. Of more than 300 law firms solicited, Stoel Rives was one of only 50 nationwide to meet the certification requirements.
The Lane County Bar Association has announced its 2012-13 board members and officers. Officers are: Hon. Valeri Love, Lane County Circuit Court, president; Megan Livermore, Gaydos, Churnside & Balthrop, vice president; Hon. Mustafa Kasubhai, Lane County Circuit Court, secretary/treasurer. Directors are: Don Corson, The Corson & Johnson Law Firm; Rebekah Hanley, assistant dean, Center for Career Planning and Professional Development, University of Oregon School of Law; K.C. Huffman, Thorp, Purdy, Jewett, Urness & Wilkinson; Karrie McIntyre, Parrish & McIntyre; Tom Moseman,Gleaves, Swearingen, Potter & Scott; and Terri Wood, Law Office of Terri Wood.
The Lane County Bar Association has announced its 2012 award recipients. The Joseph M. Kosydar Award for Professionalism was presented to Greg Hazarabedian, executive director, Public Defender Services of Lane County. The Distinguished Service Award was presented to the Hon. Mary Ann Bearden, senior judge, Lane County Circuit Court. The Andrew Clement Pro Bono Award was presented to Sheryl Balthrop, Gaydos, Churnside & Balthrop. A special award of appreciation was presented to John Gartland, Gartland, Nelson, McCleery, Wade & Walloch, for his work on the Campaign for Equal Justice.
Tonkon Torp attorney Christopher Pallanch has joined the board of directors of the Oregon chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Pallanch is a member of Tonkon Torp’s litigation and financial services practices. He focuses on resolving complex business disputes as well as representing plaintiffs and defendants in federal and state court on matters that include contractual agreements, financing arrangements and business torts.
Dennis Rawlinson, firm chair, executive committee member and partner of Miller Nash, has been named chair of the Portland Business Alliance, effective July 1. Rawlinson has 30 years of trial experience in state and federal courts in the Pacific Northwest, focusing his practice on commercial and high-stakes “bet-the-company” litigation. As Miller Nash’s first firm chair, his primary responsibility is to oversee the firm’s strategic direction and represent the firm in the business and legal communities. Rawlinson is past president of the Oregon State Bar, is a council member for the ABA Section of Litigation and received the 2011 Daily Journal of Commerce Leadership in Law award.
Lane Powell has been recognized by the OSB Sustainable Future Section as a “Partner in Sustainability.” The new program encourages law firms to adopt sustainable office practices and honors those firms that adopt an office sustainability policy and implement an internal education program. The program also includes criteria related to paper management, energy and water reduction, waste and toxics reduction, transportation energy reduction and sustainable purchasing.
Tonkon Torp attorney Jeff Keeney has been appointed to the foundation board of De La Salle North, a Catholic preparatory school in Portland. Keeney is a member of the firm’s real estate and land use practice group. He represents local, regional and national property owners and developers in a wide range of transactional matters including acquisitions, sales and project development. He also has significant experience representing alternative energy clients, including ethanol producers and wind project developers.
Lane Powell shareholder Robert G. Koury II recently joined the board of directors for the Oregon Children’s Theatre, a nonprofit, professional live theater for youth. He joins Lane Powell shareholder Jill Long, who serves as secretary on the theater’s board. Koury is co-chair of the firm’s real estate and land use group.
The U.S. District Court for Oregon added Jeff Merrick to its list of court-sponsored mediators. Merrick and other mediators agree to conduct two mediations per year without cost to the parties for four hours per case. Merrick also is mediating cases pro bono for the Clackamas County Court during its six-month pilot project for small claims. Under that program, the court directs half of small claims cases to mediation. Volunteer mediators typically mediate one case per week and then meet with each other to debrief and learn from each other’s experience. For more information, go to www.merrickmediation.com
The Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association has elected new officers for the 2012-13 membership year. They are: Lane Borg, director of Metropolitan Public Defenders, Portland, president; David T. McDonald, Portland, vice president; and Megan Jacquot, Coos Bay, secretary.
Steven Kahn, a shareholder with Kahn & Kahn, has been elected president of the board of Congregation Neveh Shalom, Oregon’s largest synagogue, with 930 member families. He and his father, Garry Kahn, practice trial law together. Their practice is devoted to representing people who are harmed by the negligence of others.
Miller Nash partner Mike Ryanhas joined the board of De Paul Treatment Centers. Ryan leads the firm’s business and mergers and acquisitions practice team. Ryan’s civic involvement includes support for the Cascade AIDS Project, the Portland Youth Philharmonic, the Willamette University Public Interest Law Program, the Campaign for Equal Justice and the I Have a Dream Foundation.
Perkins Coie Portland Managing Partner Rob Aldisert has been elected to the board of governors of the City Club of Portland. He recently chaired the club’s PERS study committee, which reviewed Oregon’s Public Employee Retirement System, and is leading the advocacy efforts for the study’s recommendations. He also serves on the board of the Classroom Law Project and is a member of the Tabor Jazz Trio, which performs at benefits for nonprofit and charitable organizations in the Portland metro area.
After 52 years of serving the Eugene community, Paul D. Clayton is retiring from the practice of law, effective July 31.
Maj. Bryan Libel, with the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate, Oregon National Guard, was recently selected to attend the U.S. Army JAG Corps School in Charlottesville, Va., to receive his LL.M. in military law. Libel has worked full-time for the Oregon Guard since 2004 and has been chief of its civil-administrative law section since 2008. Capt. David Wendell will replace Libel at OSJA during the 10-month course. Wendell has worked full time for the National Guard since 2008. He deployed to Iraq in 2009-10 and completed the graduate course himself this past May. He may be reached at david.wendell@ng.army.mil or (503) 584-3571.
Garrett Hemann Robertson in Salem has named Tammy M. Dentinger as its managing officer. Dentinger was elected to the three-year term as managing officer by its 17 shareholders. She joined the firm in 1994, became a shareh older in 1999 and has served as the head of the divorce and family law practice section since 2004. She is a fellow in the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and is a past chair of the OSB Family Law Section. She is also a past president of the Marion County Bar Association.
Jenny M. Morfhas been appointed the Multnomah County attorney. Morf joined the Office of Multnomah County Attorney in 2001 as an assistant county attorney and became deputy county attorney in 2010. As the county’s chief legal officer, she will be providing public policy and legal advice to elected and appointed officials.
Folawn, Alterman & Richardson has named Courtney Dippel a partner with the firm. A practicing lawyer by day and published author by night, she believes the best trial lawyers, like writers, are outstanding storytellers. She has a wide variety of experience in litigation matters in both state and federal courts as well as private arbitrations. Reach her at courtney@FARlawfirm.com or (503) 546-4630.
Alan Stewart has joined Hurley Re, Attorneys at Law, in Bend as a new associate. Previously, he worked as a litigation attorney for a firm in Washington, D.C., where he represented individuals, real estate groups, home builders, medical practices and various business entities. He joined the Oregon State Bar in May 2012, and is also a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia bar associations.
Lou Savage, a former Multnomah County Legal Aid Services executive director, was named Oregon insurance commissioner after serving seven months in an interim position. He was appointed to the position by the director of the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS), the division’s parent agency. Savage previously worked as senior policy adviser for the department for eight years. In his legal career, Savage has represented both consumers and businesses in the nonprofit and private sectors. He also directed then-U.S. Rep. Ron Wyden’s office in Oregon. Savage served as president of the Oregon Law Center legal services
In June, Allison R. Boomer left behind her title of magistrate pro tempore for a new title: magistrate, Oregon Tax Court. The 2009 Willamette University College of Law graduate currently is a board member of Oregon Women Lawyers and president of the Mary Leonard Law Society in Salem. In 2011, the Oregon New Lawyers Division honored her with its Public Service Award.
Litigator Emily TeplinFox has joined Markowitz, Herbold, Glade & Mehlhaf as an associate. Fox’s practice will focus on commercial litigation, with an emphasis on breach of contract, partnership disputes, securities litigation, professional malpractice and other business matters. She was previously a law clerk for Judge John R. Tunheim, U.S. District Court of Minnesota. She also clerked for Judge Diana E. Murphy of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. Fox was awarded a national Equal Justice Works fellowship at the Minnesota Disability Law Center, where she worked to protect and enforce the right to effective communication for deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the criminal justice system. Fox received the Legal Advocacy Award from Communication Services for the Deaf for her efforts.
Kieran Curley became Miller Nash managing partner in January. Previously, he was a partner in the firm’s litigation department. He has broad experience in complex commercial litigation matters, including banking, construction, corporate governance, insurance recovery, intellectual property and commercial transactions. He was recently elected to the board of directors of Jesuit Volunteer Corps Northwest.
Valerie Athena Tomasi, Kathryn P. Salyer, Richard Baroway, Jeffrey A. Martin and Eleanor A. DuBay are pleased to announce the formation of Tomasi Salyer Baroway, a law firm focused on representing financial institutions, tax exempt organizations and businesses. With more than 85 years of combined legal expertise, the new firm represents numerous financial institutions, businesses and public institutions, including Banner Bank, Bank of the West, BedMart, Cascade Aids Project, CitiBank, KeyBank, Northwest Steel & Pipe, Inc., First Community Credit Union, Pacific Pipeline, Portland Development Commission, Textron Financial Corporation, Wells Fargo Bank, Wyse Investment Services Company and Zions First National Bank. Prior to forming the firm, the lawyers practiced at Farleigh Wada Witt in Portland.
Stanley Horak and Mila Boyd announce the new partnership of Horak & Boyd, which will focus on Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 bankruptcies, plaintiff personal injury cases, estate planning and IRS disputes. The new firm also welcomes a new associate attorney, Lauren Rogers, who will be working with bankruptcy and federal tax conflict resolution.
James A. Arneson is pleased to announce the addition of Mary A. Sell as an associate attorney. Originally from Reno, Nev., Sell earned her J.D. at Lewis & Clark Law School. Previously, she was an associate at Aaby Family Law.
The Office of the Legislative Counsel announces the promotion of five attorneys. Mark Mayer, who focuses on criminal law and public utility issues, has been promoted to deputy legislative counsel. Four attorneys have been promoted to senior deputy legislative counsel: Lorey Freeman, whose expertise includes health law and public assistance programs; Hannah Lai,whose legal portfolio includes education matters; Catherine Tosswill, who specializes in income tax and excise tax law; and Douglas Tookey, who is responsible for environment and natural resources law matters.
Joseph T. Copeland, formerly of Opton & Galton, announces the opening of his new firm, Copeland Law. His address is 420 S.W. Washington St., Suite 400, Portland, OR 97204; phone: (503) 477-9834; fax: (503) 926-9223; email: joe@josephcopelandlaw.com. He continues to represent small businesses, family law clients and injury victims.
Sarah A. Filcher is now an associate attorney with Ronald R. Sticka P.C. Her primary practice area is bankruptcy law. Filcher received her J.D. from the University of Oregon School of Law. She chaired the Lane County Bar Debtor Creditor Section for the 2011-2012 term and is actively involved with the Lane County Bankruptcy Pro Bono Project. She may be reached at (541) 465-1030 or sfilcher@rsticka.com.
In recognition of the economic growth taking place in the mid-Columbia region in recent years, Portland law firm Samuels Yoelin Kantor in July opened a new office in Hood River. Located in downtown Hood River in the Heilbronner Building (116 Third St., Suite 211), this will be the firm’s second office in Oregon. Donald W. Hull, a Hood River native who joined the firm as senior counsel this year, will play a key role in getting the new office established. Hull served 22 years as circuit court judge in Hood River. Before being appointed as judge, he worked in private practice there, focusing on business and estate planning, as well as litigation. He began his law career in 1970 when he was elected district attorney for Hood River County while finishing law school at the University of Oregon. Firm partner Steven W. Seymour also has longstanding ties to the community. A municipal judge for the city of Mosier, Seymour lives in Mosier and is licensed to practice law in both Oregon and Washington. He is an expert in civil litigation, including trust and estate disputes.
Corey Tolliver has joined Folawn, Alterman & Richardson as an associate. His practice includes all aspects of litigation, from discovery and motion practice to trial and appeal. Tolliver brings his experience as a business owner to his work with clients in commercial litigation and business disputes. A primary focus of his work will be in the area of legal and professional malpractice. Reach him at corey@FARlawfirm.com or (503) 546-4620.
Jonathan Spare has joined Folawn, Alterman & Richardson as an associate attorney. With a background in information technology and computer science, his practice will include professional liability actions and business litigation. Spare received his law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School. Reach him at jonathan@FARlawfirm.com or (503) 546-4637.
Dascenzo Intellectual Property Law has promoted Ian Gates to partner. Gates has been with the firm since its founding in 2008. His practice focuses on patent and trademark procurement and client counseling, including for individual inventors, local businesses, start-ups and Fortune 100 companies. Gates began his professional career as an automotive test engineer at Freightliner in Portland, prior to receiving his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2005.
Melany Savitt has joined Tonkon Torp as an associate in the firm’s immigration practice group. A 2011 graduate of Lewis & Clark Law School, Savitt already has close to 10 years of experience in business immigration law. She was a nonimmigrant visa training coordinator and paralegal for a San Francisco immigration practice for several years before joining Tonkon Torp in 2005 as a paralegal. Her skills and interest in immigration legal matters led her to law school, and she continued working as a law clerk for a Portland immigration practice while a student.
Lauren Childers has joined Deck Monitoring in Portland as general counsel. Childers previously worked as in-house counsel for Audigy Group in Vancouver,Wash.
Rebecca Flynn, an administrator for the Wayne Morse Center for Law and Politics at the University of Oregon since January 2011, recently was named associate director, taking on more of a leadership role in planning and programs. She also will be assuming more managerial responsibilities in her new capacity. Flynn earned her J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2003, where she served as editor of the Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She has experience in clerking for a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, worked as regional director for Basic Rights Oregon and was previously an organizer for the American Civil Liberties Union, the Human Rights Campaign, Green Corps and the Endangered Species Coalition.
Kevin Davenport has moved his law office to a new location at 1400 S.W. Montgomery St., Portland. He is no longer of counsel with the Luby Law Firm. He will continue to emphasize criminal defense throughout the state of Oregon and in northern California. In addition to his criminal practice, Davenport will handle business and real estate disputes and general civil litigation. A new website has been created at www.davenportdefense.com.
Gevurtz, Menashe, Larson & Howe has added Jessica A. Flint as an associate attorney in the firm’s Portland office. Flint will focus her practice on divorce, custody/parenting time and child support, while continuing to build on her three years of experience practicing international family law. She received her J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School.
Sarah Petersen has been selected as director of alumni relations and recent graduate advising at Lewis & Clark Law School. A 2008 graduate of the law school, she has been acting as graduate adviser since November 2011 and will continue that work in addition to providing support and services to all alumni. She was previously an associate at Bullard Law.
After 30 years in the Old Post Office, the attorneys of Coughlin & Leuenberger are moving across the intersection to the Baker Tower. The new address is 1705 Main St., 4th Floor, Baker City, OR 97814; the telephone number and post office box, web and email addresses remain the same.
R. Hunter Bitner has joined Dunn Carney as of counsel. Bitner’s practice will focus on civil litigation, construction defect litigation, insurance defense and malpractice defense. Bitner previously was a partner at Hodgkinson Street in Portland.
Peter C. McKittrick and Justin D. Leonard announce the formation of McKittrick Leonard, a commercial bankruptcy and business law firm. With their 36 years of combined experience, they will continue to advise creditors, debtors and fiduciaries in the specialized area of commercial bankruptcy and insolvency law, as well as representing small businesses in litigation and transactional matters. McKittrick, formerly of Farleigh Wada Witt, also serves as a bankruptcy trustee in chapter 7 and chapter 11 cases and as a court-appointed receiver and examiner. Leonard was previously a partner at Ball Janik, where he practiced with its bankruptcy and creditor rights group. The address at the Columbia Square building is 111 S.W. Columbia St., 11th Floor, Portland, OR 97201; web: www.ml-llp.com.
Dick Barton, a well known Portland trial lawyer and former deputy district attorney for Multnomah County, died April 7, 2012, of cancer at OHSU Hospital. His death came following a four-year struggle against renal cell carcinoma. He was 71.
Richard Lee Barton was born March 30, 1941, in Norfolk, Va. In 1943, his family moved to Portland, where Barton later attended Buckman and Catlin Hills grade schools. He graduated in 1958 from Wilson High School. Barton then attended Willamette University in Salem, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He went on to Willamette University College of Law, from which he graduated 1965, with a J.D. By late September of that year he had gained admission to the Oregon State Bar and been hired by Multnomah County District Attorney George Van Hoomissen as a deputy district attorney.
Barton built a reputation for winning trials and being a tough negotiator during plea bargaining sessions. Despite having many other talented lawyers around him, he was sufficiently youthful that some of his colleagues referred to him as “the boy wonder.”
In 1972, Barton left the district attorney’s office and established a private practice, first with two or three partners, and then eventually became a sole practitioner. He did general trial work, including domestic relations and criminal defense cases, earning a reputation as a skilled trial lawyer.
Barton was president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association in the early 1980s, and he served on a number of Oregon State Bar committees.
But the committee Barton cared most about was the State Lawyers Assistance Committee, which helps lawyers impaired by alcohol or drugs find a path to recovery, and which also seeks to protect the public served by such lawyers.
Another person Barton helped was a woman soldier in the U.S. Army who was deployed to Iraq in 2003. She had lost contact with her husband and young son and was unable to get a leave to deal with the situation. Barton, a former Army reservist, learned of the case through the bar’s Military Assistance Panel. He helped track down the husband and the boy and helped gain custody rights for the mother. He also handled her divorce case. Barton was one of several Oregon lawyers cited in an OSB Bulletin article (“In the Trenches,” December 2005) as examples of lawyers working pro bono to help people through the bar panel with their legal problems.
In 2004, Barton retired, then for about two years served as a temporary circuit judge for Washington County.
Barton married Donna Lounsberry on Aug. 5, 1978 in Portland. Beginning in the early 1980s, they traveled widely until shortly after he was diagnosed with cancer. Ireland and Italy and the cities of Istanbul and Amsterdam were among his favorite spots. Besides travel, Barton’s interests included history, particularly World War II, and music.
Survivors include his wife and two sons from a previous marriage.
Randall Kester, former Oregon Supreme Court judge and retired partner in Cosgrave Vergeer Kester in Portland, died May 31, 2012 at the age of 95.
Randall B. Kester was born on Oct. 20, 1916 in Vale and grew up in Ontario, Ore. He earned his A.B. in political science from Willamette University in 1937 and his J.D. from Columbia University Law School in 1940. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar, the U.S. District Court for Oregon, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kester began practice as an associate with Maguire, Shields, Morrison & Biggs — Cosgrave Vergeer Kester’s predecessor — in 1940. He taught at the Northwestern School of Law (now part of Lewis & Clark College) from 1947 to 1956. In 1956-58, Kester served as a justice of the Oregon Supreme Court. He then became general solicitor for Union Pacific Railroad’s Northwestern district, eventually rising to senior counsel.
In 1981, he resumed full-time practice with Cosgrave, Kester, Crowe, Gidley & Lagesen, which became Cosgrave Vergeer Kester in 1990. In 2006, he transferred to active emeritus status with the Oregon State Bar.
Kester was a frequent speaker and author, writing articles for most of his life and compiling a history of the law firm and its clients dating back to 1934. He participated in and was honored by numerous professional organizations during his career, including the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers.
He was also active in the larger community, steering the Mount Hood Ski Patrol through the war years in 1944-45 and donating his time and energy to the Portland Chamber of Commerce, City Club of Portland, Oregon Ethics Commons, National Ski Patrol, Oregon Symphony Association, United Way, Willamette University, Oregon Independent Colleges Foundation, Portland Committee on Foreign Relations, Pacific Crest Trail Association and Boy Scouts of America. He enjoyed hiking, climbing, skiing, bicycling, boating, canoeing, whitewater rafting, photography, reading and writing.
Skip McKallip, died unexpectedly on June 16, 2012. He was 53.
George W. “Skip” McKallip was born Sept. 8, 1958, in Philadelphia, Pa. He graduated cum laude from Allegheny College in 1981 with a B.A. in economics, and earned his law degree with honors from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College in 1984.
He joined Sussman Shank in June 2000. He was chair of the firm’s environmental practice group and also held a position on the management committee. He practiced primarily in the area of environmental and toxic tort litigation, including asbestos, chemical exposure, mold and product liability cases. His experience also included hazardous waste cost recovery and contribution litigation, representation of businesses in regulatory clean ups and consent decrees, transactional due diligence, brownfields redevelopment, and permitting. His knowledge, experience and leadership provided an invaluable foundation to the firm’s environmental practice.
His colleagues remember him for his intellect, integrity and the skill with which he represented his clients. He earned the esteem of those who practiced with him and of those who opposed him. He was highly respected for his knowledge of the field and for his meticulous legal work. He was recognized by Best Lawyers in America, Oregon Super Lawyers and the Litigation Counsel of America.
He is survived by his wife, Kerry, a daughter and a son, his mother and two sisters.