Oregon State Bar Bulletin — OCTOBER 2014
Bar People
Among Ourselves
Emil R. Berg, a member of the Oregon and Idaho bars who practices in both states from his office in Boise, had an article published in the August 2014, issue of The Advocate, the monthly journal of the Idaho State Bar, entitled “Automobile Owner Liability When the Driver is Negligent — A Primer on Three Doctrines.”
The American Bar Association State and Local Government Section has honored Edward J. Sullivan of Garvey Schubert Barer with the Jefferson Fordham Lifetime Achievement Award. Sullivan’s legal career spans 45 years and has had significant impact on land-use law in Oregon. Throughout his career, he has championed sound land-use planning, the provision of affordable housing opportunities, and the protection and preservation of resource lands throughout Oregon and beyond. Among his notable cases are Fasano v. Washington County Board of County Commissioners and Baker v. City of Milwaukie, both Oregon Supreme Court decisions that uphold the necessity to guarantee fair, reviewable and predictable decision-making in Oregon land use. For 25 years, he has taught land-use planning at Lewis & Clark Law School, Willamette University College of Law and Portland State University. He speaks on a variety of land use planning topics all over the world. He has published hundreds of articles and commentaries in everything from academic journals and legal industry trade publications, such as the Urban Lawyer, to many newspapers and community newsletters. For over four decades, he has served as the editor of the OSB’s land-use publication, and has also served as an associate editor of the OSB Real Estate and Land Use Section’s bimonthly digest of land use cases and other real estate and land use news. He is the past chair of Housing Land Advocates, dedicated to ensuring that land is available for the construction of affordable housing, and he has been a long time mentor to law students.
Mary Chaffin, general counsel at Accion International, has been named co-chair of the International Law Section of the Boston Bar Association, the nation’s oldest bar association. The International Law Section has 800 members and sponsors meetings and seminars to discuss issues related to private and public international law, including international business transactions and taxation of foreign income, as well as foreign investment laws, treaties and international organizations. Accion International is a global nonprofit dedicated to creating a financially inclusive world where people have the financial tools they need to improve their lives.
Traci Ray, executive director at Barran Liebman, has been named a 2014-15 American Bar Association law practice fellow. The division selects four fellows from across the country each year to engage in leadership and focus on the division’s core areas: marketing, management, technology and finance.
Tonkon Torp attorney Frank Weiss has been appointed to the board of directors of the Mount Scott Learning Center. Weiss is a member of Tonkon Torp’s litigation department, where he specializes in complex commercial litigation including insurance coverage disputes. The learning center is a nonprofit organization offering an accredited education options program designed for middle school and high school students who benefit from a nontraditional learning environment. It is located in southeast Portland.
Dunn Carney litigation attorney Joshua D. Stadtler has been appointed to the board of directors of Portland Homeless Family Solutions for a three-year term. The Portland nonprofit provides temporary emergency shelter to homeless families with children, access to transitional resources to help families achieve self-sufficiency, and advocacy to help alleviate family homelessness on a large scale.
Moves
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Ed Choi as an associate in the commercial litigation group. Choi focuses his practice on complex business disputes, employmen, and business tort litigation. He had previously completed two summers at the firm as a summer associate. He is a member of the Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association and serves on the Young Lawyers Section of the Multnomah Bar association. Choi received his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
Alysia Harris is an associate with Perkins Coie’s litigation practice in Portland. She has represented clients in a variety of litigation matters, including medical malpractice defense, consumer fraud, insurance disputes and wrongful death actions. The Vanderbilt University Law School graduate served as director of Street Law and was the historian for the school’s Black Law Students Association. Harris is admitted to practice law in Alabama as well as Oregon.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Daniel Keese as an associate in the firm’s commercial litigation group. Keese, who focuses his practice on patent litigation, has worked on a variety of patent litigation matters in various technology areas, including electronic commerce, mobile gaming technology, video coding and analog circuits. He has also worked on post-grant proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Keese previously worked in the patent litigation group of a large international firm’s Silicon Valley office. He received his J.D. at Santa Clara University and served as senior production editor of the Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Meagan Masten as an associate in the firm’s environment, energy and resources group. Prior to joining the firm, Masten was an associate at Hurley Re in Bend, where she worked on a variety of matters, including drafting land use applications, annexations, urban growth boundary expansions, comprehensive plan and text amendments, rezoning, partitions, lot line adjustments, extensions, and master and site plan applications. She served as secretary of the Cascade Women Lawyers chapter of Oregon Women Lawyers and is a member of the OSB Real Estate and Land Use Section.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Jo Perini as an associate attorney in the commercial litigation group. Before joining the firm, she worked as an associate federal defender in Milwaukee, Wis., where she represented clients facing charges on a wide variety of federal criminal matters, including tax evasion, bankruptcy fraud, wire fraud and computer crimes. She now focuses her practice on commercial litigation matters, including securities litigation, personal injury defense, and employment litigation. She received her J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law, where she was an associate editor of the Northwestern Law Review.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Brian Schlect as an associate in the business group. He received his J.D. from the University of Idaho College of Law, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Idaho Law Review. Schlect previously worked as a law clerk for the Hon. N. Randy Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Garrett Stephenson as an associate in the land use group. Stephenson focuses his practice on obtaining land-use permits for a wide variety of land development projects. He received his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School, where he was an associate editor of the Environmental Law Review. Prior to law school, Garrett worked as a land use planner in both the public and private sectors. He has experience with a wide variety of quasijudicial land-use actions, including subdivision approvals, zone changes and annexations.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Russell Terry as an associate in the business group. His practice includes public offerings, mergers and acquisitions, private placements, emerging companies, corporate governance, and general corporate and contract matters. He also has extensive investment management experience and has represented institutional entities investing in domestic and international private equity funds, hedge funds and open-ended commingled funds and accounts. He received his J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law, where he was the associate editor-in-chief of the Washington Law Review. Prior to coming to Oregon, he was an associate at Foster Pepper in Seattle.
The Portland office of Perkins Coie announces the addition of Matthew Trager as an associate in the real estate and land use group. Trager focuses his practice on the acquisition, entitlement, development, leasing and sale of real estate. He represents a wide variety of clients in complex transactions involving retail, office, mixed-use and industrial properties and has experience advising in land use and zoning matters. He received his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law and served as note and comment editor for the Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy. He has served as a member of the board of directors for the Illinois Solar Energy Association and was a judicial law clerk for the Hon. Joe McDade of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.
Miller Nash has hired former Portland State University assistant general counsel P.K. Runkles-Pearson as a partner. Runkles-Pearson attended New York University School of Law before litigating in a New York City firm. She returned home to Oregon to clerk for Oregon Supreme Court Justice Tom Balmerand then resumed private practice as an appellate and trial litigator focusing on employment cases. In 2011-12, her accomplishments included arguing before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals four times and also winning a weeklong jury trial in federal court. She then joined the general counsel’s office at Portland State University for two years before moving to Miller Nash.
Toija Beutler has opened her own 1031 exchange company, Beutler Exchange Group, located in Lake Oswego. Beutler has more than 20 years of experience working with investors and their advisers in structuring all forms of 1031 tax-deferred exchanges — real property, business assets, collectibles and more.
Gilion C. Dumas has opened her own law practice, the Dumas Law Group, with associate attorney Ashley L. Vaughn. The two will continue to represent victims of child sexual abuse, both adults and children, in cases against perpetrators and institutions that allowed the abuse, including schools, churches and the Boy Scouts. Drawing on Dumas’s 22 years of experience with commercial litigation, the new firm will also continue to represent small businesses and individuals with civil lawsuits, employment claims, real estate matters and other business disputes, as well as certain personal injury and professional malpractice claims. Dumas was a partner at O’Donnell, Clark & Crew, where Vaughn worked as an associate. Dumas serves on the board of the Cascade Policy Institute and authors the popular Rose City Reader book blog. Vaughn is on the boards of the American Constitution Society Oregon Lawyers Division and Reading Results, a local nonprofit. The Dumas Law Group is located in the Weatherly Building at 516 S.E. Morrison St., Suite 309, Portland, OR 97214; phone: (503) 952-6789; website: www.dumaslawgroup.com.
Civil defense law firm Bodyfelt Mount has moved its offices from the Union Bank of California Tower to the Spalding Building, a historic, 12-story building completed in 1910 in downtown Portland. The move to a more efficient space marks another major step toward reducing the firm’s environmental footprint. The building underwent a major renovation in 2010 that revived much of its historic character. Due to the firm’s recent implementation of a paperless file management system and an efficient design for the new space, the firm was able to trim its square footage significantly. The firm’s new address is 319 S.W. Washington St., Suite 1200, Portland, OR 97204.
Garvey Schubert Barer announces the addition of Michael Mangan as a senior associate in its Portland office. His practice will focus on real estate law and taxation. He also represents privately held businesses and medical and dental practitioners. Mangan has extensive experience in all aspects of real estate law, including property tax appeals, eminent domain, real estate litigation and transactions. Prior to entering the practice of law, for nearly a decade, he was a commercial real estate appraiser who specialized in complex business and real estate consultation and valuation projects. He received his law degree from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. Prior to joining Garvey Schubert Barer, Mangan was an associate with Cosgrave Vergeer Kester.
In Memoriam
In Memoriam will return next month.