Oregon State Bar Bulletin — JUNE 2013
Bar People
Among Ourselves
Lake Oswego lawyer Peter Glazer has been selected to serve on the board of trustees of Legacy Meridian Park Medical Foundation. He joins a 13-member board, which serves as an ambassador for the Tualatin-based medical center that serves Lake Oswego, West Linn, Tigard, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Sherwood and other communities. Glazer is a lawyer with Glazer, Maurer & Peterson, and has practiced in Lake Oswego since 1982, focusing on personal injury, auto accidents, divorce and insurance cases.
Brent Renison, partner in the immigration law boutique Parrilli Renison, became chair of the Oregon chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association, effective June 2013 for a one-year term. Renison’s practice focuses on business immigration, family immigration and litigation to secure immigrant rights, for which he has received multiple awards.
Lou Savage and Michael Mason were awarded the Henry Hewitt Access to Justice Award at the Campaign for Equal Justice’s 22nd Awards Luncheon in February. The awards, which recognize individuals who have made substantial contributions to legal aid for low-income Oregonians, were presented by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden and the award’s namesake, Henry Hewitt. Savage and Mason were cited for their two decades of commitment to access to justice; both have served as board presidents of Legal Aid Services of Oregon and the Oregon Law Center.
Andrea Barton, an associate in the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, recently joined the Junior Board of Make-A-Wish Oregon. The board is comprised of young professionals volunteering to advance the mission of Make-A-Wish Oregon, granting the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. Barton, who focuses her practice in commercial litigation, also serves on the Leadership Advisory Committee for De La Salle North Catholic High School.
Richard Baroway of Tomasi Salyer Baroway recently received an Action Award from the Cascade AIDS Project for his 25-plus years of volunteer service, including work on the Oregon AIDS Hotline and speakers bureau, as well as providing substantial pro bono legal services. He was a volunteer on the original speakers bureau and has been providing them with pro bono legal services since 1988, the value of which CAP estimates at more than $185,000.
Danielle Hunsaker of Larkins Vacura has been selected by the judges of the U.S. District Court for Oregon to serve as an attorney representative to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. Her practice includes complex commercial litigation and business torts.
Justin Emerson Kidd, an assistant attorney general for the Oregon Department of Justice, has been named Willamette University College of Law Mentor of the Year. The honor was given at the university’s annual mentorship reception in April. Kidd practices in the department’s trial division, focusing on eminent domain cases and other civil litigation.
Thomas W. Brown, chair of Cosgrave Vergeer Kester’s litigation practice group, was honored in May by the Multnomah Bar Association with the 2013 MBA Professionalism Award. The award recognizes candidates who exemplify the standards set forth in the MBA Professionalism Statement. He is the third Cosgrave firm lawyer to receive the award, joining Randall Kester and Walter Sweek. Read more about Brown’s career and achievements at www.alfainternational.com/firms/awarddetail.aspx?awardid=122.
Miller Nash partner Mary Ann Frantz has been elected to the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of Oregon and Southwest Washington. With Miller Nash since 1978, Frantz focuses on equity and debt offerings, SEC reporting compliance, public and private corporate governance issues, mergers, acquisitions, sales of businesses, shareholder meetings and proxy contests, executive compensation and business transactions.
Miller Nash partner Ronald Shellan has been elected to the board of directors of the Oregon Society of Certified Public Accountants (OSCPA) Educational Foundation. Shellan focuses on the intersection of tax law and real estate, including estate planning, tax-free exchanges, affordable housing and low-income housing tax credits, historic tax credits, real estate law, partnership and LLC law, corporate and business acquisitions, and tax law.
Paul Blaylock M.D., has retired from the active practice of law and, after 35 years, has retired from his emergency medicine practice to focus on his private medical practice emphasizing motor vehicle accident and workers compensation patients, as well as medical/legal consultation. Blaylock recently was appointed to the University of Tennessee Medical School alumni board and was honored at his U.T. undergraduate university with the naming of the student government president’s office in his name. He also was recently awarded the President’s Award by the American College of Legal Medicine, for whom he lectured in Las Vegas.
The Legal Marketing Association recently selected Stoel Rives as the first-place winner in the “Marketing on a Shoestring” category of the 2013 Your Honor Awards, a category which recognizes excellence in legal marketing work conceived and created in-house. Stoel Rives’ entry, “A Fresh Approach,” features a customized presentation addressing a target client’s desire to have legal counsel that is efficient, effective and which provides unparalleled value for service. The “fresh approach” theme was carried throughout the verbal presentations and presentation materials.
Summer Trainor announces that Miranda Summer has been appointed to the Oregon State Board of Education for a four-year term that began in March. The task of the board is to advance the quality and proficiency of Oregon students’ critical thinking skills. Along these lines, Summer says she looks forward to serving the state by tackling the achievement gap and examining the role of charter schools in Oregon. Summer is a trial attorney who practices family law and personal injury law in Portland.
Shawn M. Lindsay, counsel to the firm at Lane Powell, has passed the International Association of Privacy Professionals’ Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States exam. This certification accentuates Lindsay’s business and intellectual property law practice, in which he regularly counsels clients across multiple industries on critical privacy and security issues, including privacy policies and breach of privacy.
The Oregon Association Chiefs of Police in April honored Akin Blitz with the Karlyn Campbell Award, recognizing him for compassionate mentoring, guidance and encouragement of Oregon’s law enforcement professionals. For decades, Blitz has served as legal adviser to the association and as an effective advocate for police agencies and their leadership teams. Blitz is a shareholder and attorney at Bullard Law in Portland. He was a police officer and deputy sheriff before embarking in the practice of law.
Barbara Brainard, a partner in the Portland office of Stoel Rives, has been elected to a fourth term on the board of directors of the Oregon chapter of Volunteers of America. Today the charity has more than 900 volunteers and 300 staff members who help thousands of families in the Portland metropolitan region. Brainard, a partner in the labor and employment section of the firm’s litigation group, represents private and public employers in all aspects of employment law.
Dina Alexander of Radler, White, Parks & Alexander, has been named a fellow of the American College of Mortgage Attorneys, becoming only the fifth Oregon attorney, and one of approximately 400 attorneys nationwide, to be honored as an ACMA fellow. Alexander is a founding partner of her firm and a member of the its corporate and real estate practice groups. Since 1999, she has dedicated a substantial portion of her professional time to the area of real estate finance. She also has assisted clients with new market and historic tax credit transactions, bond financing transactions and hotel projects financed with equity raised under the EB-5 Immigration program.
Darien Loiselle, a shareholder in the Portland office of Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt, has been named the 2013 recipient of the Associated Builders and Contractors’ Kathleen Eldridge Award, recognizing his dedication to and participation in the organization. Loiselle leads a comprehensive construction practice for Schwabe’s construction and design group in the Pacific Northwest. He also served as general counsel to the Columbia River chapter of Associated General Contractors in 2010, is a board member of AGC’s Foundation Board and is the immediate past chair for the OSB Construction Law Section.
Keith Dubanevich, an attorney with Stoll Berne, has been elected president of the board of directors of Hoyt Arboretum Friends. A trial lawyer with more than 25 years of experience in more than a dozen different jurisdictions around the country, he focuses his practice on complex dispute resolution and has extensive experience handling multistate and international antitrust cases, consumer litigation and securities disputes. He was recently an associate attorney general and chief of staff at the Oregon Department of Justice, where he led the creation of a civil rights unit, managed securities litigation including multiple cases against financial services companies, was co-author of amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding the Affordable Care Act, and supervised antitrust investigations and prosecutions. Hoyt Arboretum, located in Portland’s Washington Park, is a unique collection of trees and plants from around the world, used to educate the community and conserve plant biodiversity. Learn more at www.hoytarboretum.org.
The Multnomah County Board of Commissioners and the Multnomah County Citizen Involvement Committee have honored Tonkon Torp attorney Max M. Miller Jr., with a 2013 Multnomah County Volunteer Award for his service on the Regional Arts and Culture Council. This is the second time Miller has been acknowledged for his volunteer contributions to the community; in 2011 he earned the Multnomah County Volunteer Award for service on the RACC board and the governing committee of the Right Brain Initiative. Miller is a founding member of Oregon Lawyers for a Sustainable Future and has been honored with the OSB Sustainable Leadership Award.
Lane Powell Shareholder Carolyn M. Vogt was recently elected to serve as president of the board of directors for Columbia Land Trust, a private nonprofit organization that works to conserve the signature landscapes and vital habitats of the greater Columbia River region. Vogt, a business transactions attorney with experience in renewable energy and sustainability projects, has been actively involved with Columbia Land Trust, having provided pro bono legal services and serving on the board of directors, the governance committee and as chair of its conservation committee.
Heather Guthrie, attorney at Dunn Carney, has been named to the 2013 Five Star Professional List in Estate Planning in Portland, the third year she has been so honored. She was evaluated against criteria such as client retention rates, client assets administered and a favorable regulatory and complaint history. The resulting list, which can be found in the May 2013 issue of Portland Monthly, represents less than 7 percent of the wealth managers in the Portland area.
Moves
Edward P. Fitch has left Bryant, Emerson & Fitch, effective June 1, and has opened a new office in Redmond. He had been a partner in his previous firm since 1983. He is also the former mayor of the city of Redmond. His practice will emphasize business transactions, real estate and land use, civil litigation, estate planning and probate. Joining him will be Sean Neary, formerly of Portland, who will focus on civil litigation and immigration. Reach them at 210 S.W. Fifth St., Redmond, OR 97756; phone: (541) 316-1588; fax: (541) 316-1943; email: ed@fitchlawgroup.com and sean@fitchlawgroup.com.
Sarah J. Ryan has assumed the role of managing partner in the Portland office of Jackson Lewis. She succeeds Scott Oborne, who will continue his legal practice as partner, representing employers in all aspects of employment disputes. Ryan joined the firm in late 2012, following more than 25 years of employment and litigation practice in Portland. She has extensive experience advising clients and litigating employment claims regarding harassment, discrimination and retaliation, intellectual property protection, breach of contract, wrongful termination, employment torts, wage and hour laws, and state and federal family medical leave laws.
Energy lawyer Stephen C. Hall has joined Troutman Sanders as a partner in the Portland office. Hall previously was a partner at Stoel Rives, where he represented major energy industry companies on a wide variety of regulatory and commercial issues. He is the former chair of Stoel Rives’ renewable energy initiative. Hall’s energy regulatory background includes representation of clients before diverse state and federal regulatory agencies, including the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Bonneville Power Administration.
Gregory C. Ramsower has joined the Law Office of Larry J. Blake Jr. as a new associate. Ramsower is a 2012 graduate of Notre Dame Law School, where he was the executive production editor for the Notre Dame Journal of Law, Ethics and Public Policy. More recently he volunteered at the Oregon Law Center.
Christine N. Moore has joined Landye Bennett Blumstein in the firm’s Portland office as an associate attorney. Moore will focus her practice on state and federal civil litigation and employment law. She is also admitted to practice in Nevada, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon. She is a member of the Multnomah Bar Association, Oregon Women Lawyers, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, the National Employment Lawyers Association and the U.S. District Court of Oregon Historical Society.
Jeffrey A. Turnoy has joined Mark C. Cogan P.C.’s criminal defense practice as an associate. He is a recent graduate of the Willamette University College of Law. While at Willamette University, he was editor of the law review, received three best student paper awards and gained Willamette Law Review publication for his article, “Faith Healing Prosecutions in Oregon: The Fine Line Between Parental Constitutional Rights and Governmental Interests,” which was also honored by the university.
Eugene Legal has expanded into criminal law with the addition of Matthew Tracey. Tracey comes to the firm with two years of public defense experience in Pendleton. He is an Oregon native and a graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law.
Matthew S. Parkin has joined Sussman Shank. An accomplished tax lawyer, Parkin has handled a wide range of sophisticated federal income tax business transactions involving both entities and individuals. His experience includes complex business transactions, tax controversy in both state and federal courts, mergers and acquisitions, choice of entity, bond financing and merchant banking. He was previously a shareholder at Cox Smith in San Antonio, Texas.
Paul Blaylock M.D. has moved his medical/legal office focusing on motor vehicle accidents and workers’ compensation injury medical practice. His new office is located at 17200 N.W. Corridor Court, Suite 105, Beaverton, OR 97006; phone: (503) 614-8400; fax; (503) 614-8411; email: paulmdjd@aol.com.
Shannon Flowers has joined Folawn, Alterman & Richardson as an associate attorney. Flowers’ practice includes civil litigation at both the trial and appellate levels, in areas including legal malpractice, business and commercial disputes, and trust and estate litigation. Reach her at shannon@FARlawfirm.com or (503) 546-4628.
Peter Livingston has joined Black Helterline as of counsel. Livingston focuses his practice on matters related to land transactions and development. He is experienced in land use law, including applications, hearings and appeals at the local government and state levels. He has been a member of the Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals, has acted as a hearings officer in major cases and has represented clients in many parts of Oregon and Washington on major projects.
Scott F. Kocher has established Forum Law Group. He and Thomas R. Adams will continue to focus their practice on plaintiffs’ personal injury and wrongful death cases, including bicycle and pedestrian, and child and elder abuse matters. The firm’s office is located at 811 S.W. Naito Parkway, Suite 420, Portland, OR 97204; phone: (503) 445-2100; email: scott@forumlawgroup.com and tom@forumlawgroup.com; website: www.forumlawgroup.com.
Kenton Erwin, general counsel of VTech Communications since 2006, has been promoted to vice president and general counsel. The China-based manufacturing company makes and sells landline telephones (under the VTech and AT&T brands), business and hospitality phone systems, electronic learning products and baby monitors.
Suzanne McVicker has joined the Law Office of Eden Rose Brown as an associate attorney. McVicker was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. She graduated from the University of Oregon with honors and earned her law degree from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2003, where in addition to her J.D., she earned a certificate in federal tax law. McVicker has prior experience in banking, investment real estate and nonprofits, and as a trust and estate attorney. Her practice will focus on complex trust and estate administration, tax, estate and business succession planning.
Bill Rutherford has repurchased the assets of Rutherford Investment Management, a registered investment adviser, reestablishing it as an Oregon-based company as it started nearly 20 years ago. Founded in 1994, Rutherford Investment Management is an individualized investment firm that specializes in constructing and managing multi-capitalization growth equity and fixed income portfolios, tailored to each client’s individual objectives. Rutherford sold the company in 2011, but has now repurchased it and returned its full management and operation to Oregon, where he is committed to remaining. Rutherford is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Oregon. He served as the Oregon state treasurer, chair of the Oregon Investment Council, in the state legislature for four terms and a co-chair of the Council of Institutional Investors. Rutherford also served as CEO and president of two international investment companies with offices in New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Frankfurt. He currently serves as a trustee of the Nature Conservancy and the Oregon Community Foundation Investment Board.
David Rabbino, senior environmental lawyer and a former attorney for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, has joined Tonkon Torp, becoming the newest member of the firm’s environmental and natural resources practice group. Rabbino will focus on environmental and natural resources litigation. He has more than 20 years of experience in environmental law and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants. Before spending more than a decade in private practice, he had a distinguished 11-year career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, where he was instrumental in the development of national policy on Superfund issues.
Patent attorneys Vernon W. Francissen and John R. Dawson have joined Lane Powell as a shareholder and as counsel to the firm, respectively, in the firm’s intellectual property and technology practice group. Francissen, who joins the Seattle office, focuses his practice on intellectual property matters and related counseling, including patent and trademark litigation, preparation, prosecution, licensing and acquisition. Francissen previously worked at Microsoft, where he was patent counsel to the product teams for the Surface tablet, P.C. hardware accessories, Hotmail and Skydrive. Dawson, who joins the Portland office, focuses his practice on U.S. and international patent procurement, licensing, enforcement and related counseling. He has more than 18 years of experience helping start-up, small, mid-sized and large corporations protect their software, electromechanical, business method and mechanical inventions. Prior to joining Lane Powell, Dawson worked as a partner at a large national patent boutique firm. His engineering experience includes working as a manufacturing engineer for IBM and as a senior propulsion engineer for Boeing.
Steve Higgs has been selected as first full-time executive director of SAGE (Senior Advocates for Generational Equity), a new nonprofit organization that “encourages service and generosity among seniors by inspiring them to give forward” through educational programs and resources that motivate seniors to transform the future. Higgs was previously an environmental attorney at Perkins Coie, a position he held for six years. Earlier in his career, he was a U.S. Fulbright fellow in New Zealand, working in program evaluation and strategy at the Ecosystem Management Initiative, and in nonprofit conservation campaigns at American Rivers.
In Memoriam
Bernard P. Kelly, a long-time former resident of Medford, died quietly in his home in Olympia, Wash., on Feb. 14, 2013, after an extended illness. He was 82.
Born in Medford on June 28, 1930, he grew up in Medford and attended school and college in Oregon, graduating from the University of Oregon School of Law in 1954. He served in the U.S. Army from 1955 until 1957, when he joined the law firm of Kelly & Kelly with his father, Edward Kelly, and sister, Noreen. He next formed a law firm with his long-time friend and partner, Bob Grant. In 1970, he moved to Anchorage, Alaska, where he practiced law until recent years, gaining notice as a successful trial attorney.
He was active in the Oregon and Alaska bars, as well as the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and the American Trial Lawyers Association.
He was predeceased in death by his wife, Anne Popelka Kelly. Survivors include their five children and two grandchildren.