Portland securities attorney Robert Banks has been reappointed by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) board of directors to serve as an investor representative on the National Arbitration and Mediation Committee (NAMC). The committee drafts rules, training materials and guidance for FINRA’s securities arbitration and mediation process and seeks to balance the interests of investors, securities firms and registered persons. Meetings are held every four months in New York. Banks has served two previous four-year terms on the NAMC, and has chaired its rules and procedures subcommittee, its discovery task force and arbitrator training task force.
The Hon. Katherine Tennyson, judge for Multnomah County, Circuit Court has been named president-elect of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges board of directors. Since 2002, Tennyson has served in the unified family law department, hearing cases involving trust, probate and protective proceedings, dissolution, custody, parenting time, support enforcement, domestic violence, juvenile delinquency and dependency and termination of parental rights. She became the chief probate judge in January 2007.
A Portland-based firm, Rutherford Investment Management, led by former Oregon State Treasurer Bill Rutherford, recently received the Morningstar Overall Four-Star Rating for the performance of its Multi-Cap Growth Fund, for the period ending June 2015. The rating distinguishes the Rutherford fund as one of the highest rated in the nation. A McMinnville native, Rutherford is a graduate of the University of Oregon and Harvard Law School. He has extensive U.S. and international investment experience, having served as CEO and president of two international investment companies with offices worldwide. He served as Oregon’s state treasurer from 1984 to 1987 and as a state representative before that.
Kim E. Hoyt and John E. Pollino of Garrett Hemann Robertson were recently invited to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates, the national invitation-only organization of trial lawyers committed to the improvement of ethical and technical standards of practice. Hoyt is an industry-recognized lawyer who represents employers, districts, carriers, healthcare providers and other attorneys in defending claims threatening their businesses, organizations and careers. She serves on Marion County’s judicial selection committee. Pollino is a leading trial advocate in Oregon and Washington for individuals, businesses, healthcare professionals and the legal community. He focuses on complex litigation of professional liability, insurance, health care and close-corporation disputes. He also assists individuals with catastrophic personal injury claims.
Oregon lawyers Colin Andries, Ben Eder, David Eder and Traci Ray are the recipients of the University of Oregon School of Law’s 2015 award recognizing graduates early in their careers. The Outstanding Young Alumnus Award recognizes graduates who have made significant career, leadership or service contributions to the community, the law school or the legal profession within 10 years of graduation. Andries earned his law degree in 2005. He worked as an associate for a Portland firm, specializing in corporate and real estate transactions, from 2005 to 2008. In 2009, he started the Andries Law Offices in Portland, where he continues to practice. He is chair-elect of the Oregon New Lawyers Division of the Oregon State Bar. Ben Eder graduated from the U.O. School of Law in 2005. Upon graduation, he became an associate with Thuemmel Uhle and in 2012 became a partner at Thuemmel, Uhle & Eder. In 2013 and 2014, he was listed as one of the top 100 trial lawyers by the National Trial Lawyers. He has been named a Top 40 trial attorney under the age of 40 years old, an Up and Coming Lawyer under the age of 40, and a Rising Star by various organizations and publications. He was awarded the Membership Service Award from the Oregon State Bar in 2011 and has served as chair of the Oregon New Lawyers Division. David Eder, a 2005 Oregon law graduate, has been recognized locally and nationally as one of the top trial attorneys in the country with a practice that includes personal injury and criminal defense cases. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, he was named one of the top 25 lawyers in the Oregon under the age of 40. Also in 2011, he was asked to be an instructor at the National Advocacy Center on the topic of jury selection. Before joining Thuemmel, Uhle & Eder, he was an assistant city attorney with the city of Beaverton. Ray, a 2007 graduate of the law school, is the executive director at Barran Liebman, where she guides the firm’s management, marketing, attorney development, recruitment and operations. Additionally, she manages the firm’s community involvement, public relations and charitable giving. She was president of the Multnomah Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Section in 2013-14, is a board member with ROI Portland and the Oregon Law Foundation, and is the special appeal co-chair for the Oregon Women Lawyers Foundation Board.
The University of Oregon School of Law will honor Tonkon Torp founding partner Morris J. Galen and nationally recognized business and tax lawyer Richard A. Shaw with the John E. Jaqua Distinguished Alumnus Award at a dinner Sept. 25 in Eugene. Galen, a founding partner of Tonkon Torp, is recognized as one of Oregon’s leading attorneys in real estate law. His legal practice has focused on counseling closely held businesses and providing strategic insight about economic and tax complexities of business and real property transactions. Galen earned his bachelor’s degree in 1949 and law degree in 1950, graduating Order of the Coif. Shaw is a nationally recognized business and tax lawyer specializing in business and tax planning, estate planning and tax controversy with the firm Higgs, Fletcher & Mack. He is a past chair of the ABA Section of Taxation, past president of the American Bar Retirement Association and former member of the American Tax Policy Institute’s executive committee. He previously served three years as vice chair of the ABA Section of Taxation for Professional Services and served nine years on its governing council.
Andrew Schpak, partner at Barran Liebman, recently completed his term as chair of the ABA Young Lawyers Division, representing 140,000 young lawyers across the country. He plans to remain active in the ABA and now acts as ABA YLD delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, member of the ABA Standing Committee on Meetings and Travel, and as a fellow to the ABA Law Practice Division. He also recently joined the board of the American Bar Foundation. Locally, he sits on the Multnomah Bar Association board of directors and is a member of its finance and operations committee.
Traci Ray, Barran Liebman’s executive director, has been appointed as the vice chair of the ABA Law Practice Today Board and as the vice chair of the ABA Women Rainmakers Board. She was recently a contributing author to Marketing Success: How Did She Do That? Women Lawyers Show You How to Move Beyond Tips to Implementation, published by ABA Law Practice Division, and she is the Portland host for the fall 2015 local programming.
Buckley Law shareholder Deanna L. Franco was recently elected to the board of directors of the Portland Youth Philharmonic Association, the oldest youth orchestra in the United States. Franco, a member of the firm’s business team and estate planning team, advises clients on general business matters, estate planning, taxation, probate, trust administration, protective proceedings (guardianships and conservatorships) and real estate transactions.
Oregon City attorney John Henry Hingson III recently delivered a presentation at the 2015 summer session of the National College for DUI Defense Inc., held at Harvard Law School. The title of his talk was “Keeping the Faith: How to Use Good Faith (United States v. Leon) to Prove Bad Faith (Arizona v. Youngblood).” Hingson, a founding member of the college, was recognized for his contributions and instructional support by the National College since its founding 20 years ago.
Neil Jackson is the new president of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, for the year 2015-16. Jackson has 37 years of experience representing victims of injuries and accidents in Oregon and Washington, including catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, personal injury, auto accidents, injury from negligent acts by state agencies and departments, and first party insurance claims.
Josh Lamborn was recently elected to the board of directors for the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center, a nonprofit organization that advocates for crime victims in Oregon. Lamborn represents clients pro bono through the National Crime Victim Law Institute and sponsors its annual convention. He opened his own practice in 2009, after serving as a deputy district attorney in Multnomah County for 12 years. His practice focuses on the representation of sexual assault victims, other crime victims and personal injury clients.
Nicole L. Deering is pleased to announce her partnership with Schulte, Anderson, Downes, Aronson & Bittner, effective July 6, providing clients representation in family law matters. Her new contact information is 811 S.W. Naito Parkway, Suite 500, Portland, OR 97204: phone: (503) 223-4131; fax: (503) 223-1346; website: www.shulte-law.com: email: ndeering@schulte-law.com.
Lisa Amatangel has joined the complex tort practice group at Cosgrave Vergeer Kester. Amatangel most recently worked as an assistant attorney general in Colorado, defending the corrections department in state and federal cases. She also has eight years’ experience at a large firm in Boston, where she focused on complex commercial litigation and products liability. An accomplished college athlete, she summited Mount Everest in 2012, completing the Seven Summits mountaineering challenge by climbing the highest peak on each continent.
Lorelei Craig has joined Harrang Long Gary Rudnick as an associate attorney in the Eugene office. Craig will work in the firm’s health-care industry and litigation practices. She is admitted to practice in Oregon, California and New York. Craig previously was a senior litigation associate at the San Francisco location of Morgan Lewis and Bockius, where she served clients in business disputes, complex litigation and class actions with an emphasis on healthcare, financial services and technology litigation.
Northern Illinois University has named Mark Cordes interim dean of the university’s college of law. Cordes served as associate dean for the college from 1996 to 1998. In 1999, he earned the college alumni council’s Outstanding Professor Award for support of alumni activities. In 2001, he was selected the college’s professor of the year. Cordes teaches courses in property, land-use controls, constitutional Law, First Amendment and environmental law, and is the author of more than two dozen book chapters and law review articles in these areas, including significant contributions to the revision of Thompson on Real Property, a leading multivolume treatise on property law.
Jordan Ramis has added shareholder Peter S. Hicks to the firm’s employment and litigation practice groups. He will work primarily out of the firm’s Bend office. His 22 years as a practicing attorney includes representing local, regional and national clients in state and federal courts and before administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board and the Equal Opportunity Commission. He also represents clients in business litigation, real estate litigation and product liability defense.
Daniel W. Miller has joined Fewel, Brewer & Coulombe in Corvallis. Miller is a 2014 graduate of the University of Oregon School of Law, where was student body president. He is a former law clerk for the Oregon Department of Justice and was an independent contractor for Heilig, Misfeldt & Armstrong in Corvallis. He will handle prosecutions for the municipal courts of Corvallis, Philomath and Harrisburg, as well as engaging private sector clients.
Alan R. Dale has joined Bryant, Lovlien & Jarvis as an associate attorney. Formerly a law clerk with the city of Bend attorney’s office, he will focus his practice on municipal legal matters involving land use, water, public records and municipal law. He earned his law degree from the University of Oregon School of Law and his bachelor’s degree in international relations and global studies from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, Calif.
Sherman, Sherman, Johnnie & Hoyt has added Justin Thorp to its team. His practice will focus on commercial litigation, dispute resolution and business support. He has been practicing law since 1997 and has extensive experience litigating cases such as construction defect, products liability, catastrophic injury and civil rights. He previously worked for a Portland firm litigating cases, and he was a commercial law lecturer with RMIT International University in Vietnam.
David W. Owens of Owens, Pinzelik, Wood & Schaff recently celebrated his 40th year in the practice of law. The John Day native joined the OSB in 1975 and the Washington State Bar Association in 2004. He continues to work with many clients whom he first represented decades ago, valuing those continuing relationships. Through the years, he has represented defendants in the criminal justice setting (including successfully asserting one of the first battered-spouse murder defenses in Oregon), as well as plaintiffs and defendants in civil and family law matters, business owners, employees, landlords and tenants.
After more than seven years with the firm, Owens, Pinzelik, Wood & Schaff in August bid a fond farewell to shareholder Jodie Sneller, who will be taking an indefinite hiatus from the practice of law to spend time with family. Sneller is known for her advocacy of domestic relations clients, notably for her role in Shineovich v. Kemp, which established parental rights for same-sex female partners to children of artificial insemination and helped pave the way for the expansion of LGBT rights both within and beyond Oregon. Meanwhile, Jennifer Peckham, formerly of Case & Dusterhoff, has joined the firm effective Oct. 1, as an associate, taking charge of its domestic relations practice.
Jillian Pollock has been elected by the Buckley Law board of directors as a new shareholder, effective Sept. 1. Her practice includes representing employers in federal and state court and in administrative proceedings. She also counsels business owners and leaders in employment matters and is an expert in employment and business law. She is a member of both the Oregon and Washington state bars.
Danielle Perez has formed the law firm of Ginsburg & Perez in Hillsboro. In accordance with the express wishes of her former employer, Richard (Dick) Ginsburg, prior to his death March 1, 2015, Perez has assumed Ginsburg’s immigration law practice. She has been a practicing attorney for seven years, spending almost three years working as an associate attorney at the Law Office of Richard M. Ginsburg. Previously, she was an associate attorney with Brindle, McCaslin & Lee, handling juvenile court and immigration law matters. She received her J.D. from the Northwestern School of Law in 2007. She may be reached at (503) 640-5881 or by e-mail at dpllc@hevanet.com.
Sam Rayburn has joined Buckley Law as an associate. His practice will focus on the representation of corporate and closely held businesses in the areas of entity formation, mergers and acquisitions, real estate, employment, sports law, business litigation and dispute resolution.
Dick Whittemore, a well-known Portland trial attorney and mentor to many, died unexpectedly July 5, 2015. He was 59.
Richard (Dick) John Whittemore was born Jan. 19, 1956, and was raised in Portland. He attended Northwestern School of Law and Lewis & Clark College, working nights at Abernethy’s restaurant so he could serve a clerkship for the Hon. Charles Crookham in Multnomah County Circuit Court. He remained close to Judge Crookham until the judge’s death in 2004.
Whittemore joined Bullivant Houser Bailey in 1984 and was a senior shareholder at the time of his death. He was a member of the Oregon, Washington and Idaho bars and practiced law for more than 30 years, litigating cases in both state and federal court. He specialized in product liability defense, clergy malpractice, medical malpractice and commercial litigation. Whittemore held leadership positions at Bullivant throughout his career, including as a member of the board of directors most recently.
Whittemore was a member of numerous professional organizations, including the Oregon chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, where he served as national board representative and president-elect, among other board positions. He was a member of the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel and served as a regional judge for the 2015 National Trial Competition of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. He was also serving on the board of trustees of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
Whittemore had a deep respect for the law, but his personal passion was motor racing. He traveled the Pacific Northwest to participate in SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) races. Whittemore collected numerous checkered flags throughout his racing career. For all who knew him, he stood tall, spoke softly, listened intently and thought logically.
In 1997 and 2008, he was treated for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. During this recovery period, his dedication to his clients and his firm never wavered. He continued to work at a high level.
He was a member of the Multnomah Athletic Club and the University Club of Portland, where he proudly served as president in 2006 and thereafter continued to serve on several committees.
Whittemore is survived by his wife of 10 years, Carolyn, two sisters, a brother and many others.
Longtime Portland lawyer Bob Weiss, who balked at the idea of being called a war hero but who in fact really was one, died at home Aug. 26, 2015, surrounded by his family and longtime companion.
Robert L. Weiss lived 92 years, fully engaged with the world every single day. Born to immigrant Hungarian Jews before the Depression, he graduated from high school at 16, and from Purdue University at 19. He joined the U.S. Army, training and excelling as a forward artillery observer, which made him a priority target for enemy fire, a distinction that years later earned him an interview on the History Channel’s “Suicide Missions” series.
In August 1944, weeks after D-Day, Weiss found himself in France facing the massive German counterattack intended to thwart the Allies’ Normandy invasion. He called in artillery, roughly one fire mission every 15 minutes for six days, which allowed the 30th Infantry to hold a strategic high point, Hill 314 near the village of Mortain. That artillery fire prevented Germany’s elite armored forces from intercepting the Allies. Weiss went on to fight in the Battle of the Bulge and crossed the Rhine in 1945. Weiss’s heroism in battle earned him the Légion d’Honneur (France’s highest decoration), a Croix de Guerre, the Silver Star, two Purple Hearts and an important place in the history of the Second World War.
Returning to civilian life, Weiss attended law school at the University of Chicago. He then moved to Portland to begin a 50-year law career characterized by drive, creativity and high standards. He was a leader and a mentor to his colleagues. He carried that drive into his writing, meticulously documenting his World War II experience in a book, Fire Mission. He wrote fiction, plays and poetry.
Weiss often spoke to groups about the war and he offered support to veterans. In his final weeks, he spoke at the Oregon Historical Society and offered his battlefield recollections for a documentary about the 30th Infantry division.
Weiss married the first time in 1946, adopting his son Charlie, who lives in Portland, and his daughter Lucy, who lives in Paso Robles, Calif.
In addition to his companion, Norma Leszt, Weiss leaves friends, colleagues and many others whose lives he touched and profoundly affected.
He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery with full honors.
Lifelong Portland resident and former Multnomah County judge Anthony L. (Tony) Casciato died of congestive heart failure Sept. 7, 2015, in Portland. He was 97.
Casciato was born Nov. 1, 1917; his twin brother Alfredo died in infancy. Casciato graduated from Commerce (later Cleveland) High School. He attended Multnomah College and the University of Portland, graduating from the latter in 1941. He then worked for the Bonneville Power Administration until he was drafted in 1942. After seeing service during World War II, Casciato studied law at Northwestern College of Law (later Lewis & Clark College of Law). In 1950, he married Dolores “Dede” Carlo. They had four children.
Casciato was admitted to the bar in 1951 and practiced law until 1971, when he was appointed to the municipal bench (later the District/Circuit Court) for Multnomah County. He retired from the bench in 1993.
Love of family, friends, the law and sports characterized Casciato’s life. A quintessential family man, he instilled in his children a sense of fair play, a love of learning, a ferocious work ethic and an abiding loyalty to family and friends. His love for his old neighborhood of South Portland and its denizens never left him and to the very end, nothing made him happier than recounting stories from his youth. He considered the law a noble profession and saw it as a tool for helping others. Sports, particularly baseball, were both a passion and a solace. A gifted athlete, he played semi-pro baseball in his youth and never lost his love for the game or his favorite team, the New York Yankees. One of the great experience of his life was attending the Yankees fantasy baseball camp at the age of 82.
Casciato was a voracious reader. He routinely read the newspaper paying special attention to the sports coverage and all the books he could get his hands on. He was particularly fond of history and biography. At age 75, he learned to play the piano and would serenade anyone who came within hearing distance. He also loved watching “cowboy shows” on television.
Casciato was preceded in death by his wife, Dede, and their son Peter, a former OSB member and San Francisco lawyer. He is survived by another son, two daughters, six grandchildren and many relatives and friends.