Oregon

Ater Wynne is one of Oregon’s oldest law firms, having been in the business for almost a century. With headquarters in Portland, the firm also operates out of an office in Seattle, Washington. The full-service firm’s areas of practice range from environmental and employment to litigation to corporate finance to intellectual property. For the past 25 years, John Schultz has concentrated on regulatory, contractual, energy, and environmental law. He is also vastly experienced in Indian law and has advised numerous tribes on their legal issues. He currently serves as counsel to the Morth Fork Rancheria of Mono Indians in their attempts to keep their land from being taken into federal trust. Steven Blackhurst brings 30 years of trial experience to his general commercial practice. Langfitt and Blackhurst are currently representing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation in personal bank liability investigations and litigation currently pending in Washington. Idaho, and California; the estimated case value is between $11 and $57 million. Litigation head Michael “Sam” Sandmire defends insured and self-insured manufacturers in product liability, class action, consumer fraud, personal injury and mass tort litigation. Sandmire represented the shareholders of the YSD Company, which was sold to a French food company; $10 million was placed in escrow for a two-year period, during which the buyer asserted 29 separate claims amounting to $5 million. The parties settled both law suits and dismissed them in October 2014.

A full-service firm with offices in Seattle, Vancouver, San Francisco and Portland, Bullivant Houser Bailey represents mid-sized and growth companies across the West Coast region. The firm is noted for its activity in insurance, mass tort, and medical malpractice cases, in addition to their representation of the clergy in several resolved cases involving the sexual abuse of minors. Bullivant is reputed to have “one of the country’s best asbestos teams,” with several successful defense verdicts in cases involving mesothelioma. Recent cases include a “$30 million road collapse case, a $70 million business valuation professional claim, and a $40 million bankruptcy case, representing the trustee in an investment fraud.” Richard Whittemore has more than 30 years of experience practicing civil law in major exposure cases along the west coast in both state and federal court. He has tried more than 55 cases to verdict, and lectures frequently on trial practice, complex case management, product liability and related issues. Tom Hutchinson represented the debtor–in–possession in a bankruptcy case that challenged the validity of a $375 million security interest of a major global investment bank, which resulted in a court ruling against the bank. Jeanne Loftis is the leader of Bullivant Houser Bailey’s Casualty Law Practice Group, and has tried as more than 25 cases to verdict as first chair. Loftis is renowned for her favorable track record as defense counsel in asbestos cases; the majority of her clients face no current asbestos litigation.

Michael Esler, John W. Stephens, and Kim Buckley comprise this boutique firm’s litigation team. These three attorneys have been practicing together for over 30 years, during which they have been litigating across a broad spectrum of practice areas, and boasting a roster of clients that range from CEOs, NBA players and famous chefs, to hundreds of investors who have been victimized in major frauds, like Capital Consultants, Pac Equities, Sunwest, Willamette Development Services, the Grifphon/Sasquatch hedge funds and Berjac. Peers are all in accord that “the Esler Stephens shop is small, but they are all VERY good. The three partners there could give anyone in the state a run for their money in individual or collective litigation skills.”

Portland-based Miller Nash Graham & Dunn continues to provide a full suite of litigation expertise through its talented roster of litigators. With offices in Oregon, Seattle, Vancouver and Long Beach, the full-service firm maintains a tight grip on matters throughout the Pacific Northwest. Veteran litigator Bruce Campbell heads the Portland litigation and appellate practice where he specializes in appeals, securities and commercial litigation. Marie Eckert is a trusts and estates litigator with ample experience in banking and financial and debtor-creditor litigation. She represented an institutional trustee, acting as a successor trustee and special fiduciary for a financially-incapacitated settlor, in administering trusts that collectively held in excess of $100 million of real property. John Neupert is recognized for his 30-plus year practice representing clients in corporate governance and class-action litigations. Business litigation expert Joshua Sasaki routinely serves as lead counsel in disputes concerning corporate governance and shareholder rights, securities, real estate, energy, creditors’ rights, insurance coverage, and product liability.

Portland boutique Stoll Stoll Berne Lokting & Shlacter touts its small size a strength for the firm, citing better ability to listen to and service client needs. Companies that have hired the firm echo this sentiment, with one client describing Stoll Berne’s legal team as “extremely responsive and efficient,” while providing “excellent service.” Another client calls the group “very friendly and professional,” adding the attorneys had a “very good approach to how the courts would receive our case, and used good mediation skills leading up to and during the hearing.” Trial lawyer Keith Dubanevich has more than 30 years of experience practicing law, and operates a practice focused on complex litigation often related to the health care industry. Formerly the Associate Attorney General at the Oregon DOJ, Dubanevich has a mentality of “sticking up for the little guy,” exhibited by his work in antitrust litigation and internal investigations. A health care client singles out Dubanevich as offering the “highest quality and professionalism” when handling litigation matters. He and Keith Ketterling recently represented the Oregon State Treasurer and Public Employee Retirement Board in a securities-related class action against the Bank of New York Mellon (BNYM). The action alleges that the bank misled Oregon and other purchasers of BNYM stock when it misrepresented its financial standing and reasons for decline in revenue, later disclosing that certain trades were rigged to inflate the bank’s profits. The Oregon entities are lead plaintiffs in the class, having sustained an approximate $15.7 million loss. So far the class action has recovered $180 million in losses, and the entire matter is valued at over $1 billion. A client describes Ketterling Timothy DeJong as “responsive, effective, [and] efficient in multiple legal disputes,” adding, “They also take the time to understand issues and the company’s needs and risk tolerance.” The two attorneys serve as co-lead counsel for a proposed class of investors in Aequitas securities in what is potentially the largest securities case in Oregon history, with damages in the range of $400 to $600 million. DeJong spearheads much of the firm’s intellectual property litigation, bringing a penchant for research and legal writing along with the “big picture” litigation strategy. Steve Larson is credited with building up much of the firm’s class action practice, while also providing expertise in antitrust, securities, IP, and employment litigation, among other areas. He serves as counsel in a consolidated class action on behalf of automobile owners bringing claims against various auto part manufacturers who allegedly engaged in price fixing. More than $250 million in civil settlements have been reached to date, and could exceed $1 billion.