Congratulations to Rachel Edwards, the Professional Liability Fund’s newest practice management advisor.

Rachel Edwards received her BA from the University of Washington in Seattle and her JD from Willamette University College of Law. She is a member of the Oregon State Bar, Oregon Women Lawyers, Multnomah Bar Association, an elected board member of the Washington County Bar Association, and a founding subcommittee member of the New Lawyers Division of the Washington County Bar Association. She has served as a Classroom Law Project Mock Trial Volunteer Judge, an Oregon Department of Human Services Adoption Contract Vendor Attorney, and a volunteer for the Convocation on Equality and the St. Andrew Legal Clinic.

Prior to joining the Professional Liability Fund in 2016, Ms. Edwards was in private practice for four years. Her areas of practice included Social Security disability, family law, adoption, and estate planning cases.  In her role as a practice management advisor for the PLF, Ms. Edwards provides practice management assistance to Oregon attorneys to reduce their risk of malpractice claims and enhance their enjoyment of practicing law. Her assistance is free and confidential.

Rachel Edwards

The legal aid community is pleased to announce that Emily Teplin Fox has accepted the new position in the state litigation support unit that will focus on the use of technology in litigation.  Emily is a skilled and experienced litigator. She graduated from Yale Law School in 2007 and then worked as an Equal Justice Fellow and Staff Attorney at the Minnesota Disability Law Center representing primarily deaf and hard of hearing clients for two years. Following two years clerking for federal judges in Minnesota, Emily became an associate at Markowitz Herbold, PC in Portland where she litigated a full caseload of complex cases in both state and federal courts. At Markowitz, Emily developed expertise in the use of state-of-the-art technology in all phases of litigation.

She also served as a volunteer leader and strong advocate for the private bar to support legal aid through the Campaign for Equal Justice’s Associates Committee, as a commitee member and a co-chair. During this time she also volunteered with legal aid, developing and presenting a series of lunch hour trainings for legal services staff regarding using technology to make their litigation practice more efficient. Emily is dedicated to using her skills to achieve justice for low income client communities. She is looking forward to joining the legal aid team and helping leverage appropriate technology to enhance legal aid’s practice of law and work toward our mission of access to justice for all, not just those who can afford it.

Emily will start on July 18^th.

Emily Teplin Fox

Devon Zastrow Newman is now an Administrative Patent Judge with the Patent Trial and Appeal Board of the US Patent and Trademark Office in the Silicon Valley branch located in San Jose.

Devon Zastrow Newman

Tonkon Torp attorney Melina LaMorticella has been elected Chair of the Oregon Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (AILA).

A member of Tonkon Torp’s Business Immigration practice group, LaMorticella represents regional and international companies in a variety of matters related to employment-based immigration. She has served as a volunteer liaison for the Oregon AILA chapter, working with state agencies on immigration issues, as well as community outreach efforts.

The American Immigration Lawyers Association was established to promote justice and advocate for fair and reasonable immigration law and policy. The Oregon chapter has over 190 members.

About Tonkon Torp

Tonkon Torp LLP is a leading business and litigation law firm serving public companies, substantial private enterprises, entrepreneurial businesses and individuals throughout the Northwest.  For more information, visit tonkon.com.

Melina LaMorticella

The Oregon Asian Pacific American Bar Association (OAPABA) elected its 2016-2017 board at its June 7 annual meeting. We are delighted to note that there are many OWLS members in leadership positions. These include incoming president, Jovita Wang, at-large representatives Kristin Asai, Trung Tu, Jennifer Yeh and Sara Ghafouri, Region 3 representative Kirsten Naito and Region 5 Representative Elizabeth Schultz.

OAPABA is an organization of lawyers, law students, judges and law students.  OAPABA seeks

 to foster communication, fellowship and the exchange of ideas among Asian Pacific American attorneys and between Asian Pacific American attorneys and other individuals, organizations and governmental entities;
 to implement, coordinate or support legal services impacting Asian Pacific American communities at the local and national levels;
 to encourage, support, research and implement programs related to professional development and advancement; and
 to represent and advocate the interests of Asian Pacific Americans in the legal profession, in legal education and in the community and to provide a vehicle and forum for formulating, adopting and expressing opinions and positions on matters or events of concern to Asian Pacific American attorneys in Oregon.

Betts, Patterson & Mines, P.S. is pleased to announce that it has added a new director to its newest office located in Portland, Oregon.

Leta E. Gorman is a trial attorney with extensive experience handling matters involving complex business, personal injury, contract, product liability, and construction defect claims. She has represented banks, hospitals, developers, and general contractors as well as manufacturers of component parts, asbestos-containing products, automobiles, pesticides, heavy equipment, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices. Ms. Gorman has extensive trial experience in both state and federal courts having successfully tried more than 25 bench and jury trials and handled numerous class actions, arbitrations, and mediations. She is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell® and she has been named as a Super Lawyer by Oregon Law & Politics magazine and The Best Lawyers in America (Product Liability Litigation) for the past 5 years (2011-2016). She is a frequent speaker at local and national legal conferences and she is actively involved organizations such as the International Association of Defense Counsel, Defense Research Institute, American Bar Association and the Multnomah County Bar Association.

Ms. Gorman received her JD from Seattle University in 1994 and her BA from the University of Washington in 1989. She is licensed to practice in Oregon, Washington and Idaho. Prior to beginning her litigation practice, Ms. Gorman served as a Senior Tax Associate at Deloitte & Touche LLP.

“We are delighted to have an attorney of this caliber join our team. We are confident that, through Leta’s leadership and unique skills, she will help position Betts Patterson & Mines’ future growth,” commented Managing Shareholder, Lawrence Gottlieb.

Leta Gorman

Leslie O’Leary has joined Johnson Johnson & Schaller, PC, where her practice will continue to emphasize product liability litigation.

Leslie O’Leary

Emily Feenstra has joined Crabtree & Rahmsdorff Defense Services in Bend. She will continue to practice criminal law.

Cheryl Coon has founded Refugee Disability Benefits of Oregon (RDBO), which accepts refugee clients for representation in their disability cases by referral from state and local agencies, health care providers, caseworkers, mental health providers, refugee agencies, community leaders and others who care for refugees.

RDBO takes a unique approach in which attorney Cheryl Coon works closely with health care providers, case managers and counselors, as well as the refugees they serve, to ensure that refugees’ cases are presented competently and compassionately at every step of the disability process, from initial application to hearing to federal court.

Cheryl Coon

OWLS board member Maya Crawford will officially become the executive director of the Campaign for Equal Justice (CEJ) on July 1, succeeding long-time executive director (and founding OWLS board member) Sandy Hansberger. Maya leaves her position of Statewide Pro Bono Manager of Legal Aid Society of Oregon.