Recent Blog Posts

Immigration Options For Businesses Looking To Hire Foreign Talent

This past September, as the immigration reform debates continued on Capitol Hill, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg arrived to advocate for immigration reforms for foreign high-skilled workers. Zuckerberg met with Congressmen from both parties about many issues, but his key concern was immigration. While he echoed concern for overall immigration reform for the approximately… Read More »

How Custody Disputes Are Decided Under Oregon Law

According to the U.S. 2010 Census, about a third of all Oregon families are single-parent households, with most of these headed by single mothers. Perhaps no issue is as contested in a divorce action as who gets custody of the children. Custody is more than just about who the child is going to live with… Read More »

Portland’s New Building Designs For The Birds

A new measure being proposed in Portland’s City Council would create building design guidelines to make the city more bird-friendly. The Bird Conservation Network estimates that, every year, about 100 million birds are killed from flying into glass windows. The new guidelines would address the percentage of a building’s facade above 40 feet. The guidelines… Read More »

Discovery Proceedings In Divorce Action Interfere With Criminal Investigation In The Case Of A Missing Child

The ongoing saga of missing child Kyron Horman and the divorce battle between his father Kaine Horman and stepmother Terri Moulton Horman took another turn this past September. On June 4, 2010, then-seven-year-old Kyron disappeared sometime after being dropped off by his stepmother at Skyline School. The disappearance led to the most extensive search-and-rescue operation… Read More »

How A Confidential Relationship And Suspicious Activity Create Inference Of Undue Influence

With a long trial looming, the parties to the lawsuit over the $300 million estate of reclusive heiress Huguette Clark agreed to a settlement. Huguette Clark died in 2011 at age 104 after living a secluded life, the last 20 years of which she served as a voluntary self pay resident at a Manhattan hospital…. Read More »

Estate Distribution For People Who Die Without Wills, Family Or Heirs

The Oregon Department of State Lands (DSL) administers the estates of people who died without any apparent family or other heirs. This includes situations in which a person died without a will or other estate plan and no close family, and in which the named beneficiary of a will is not found. DSL acts in… Read More »

Next Up On The Agenda: Immigration Reform

President Barack Obama called immigration reform his top priority after the fiscal crisis that caused the government shutdown was resolved. The President had already declared reforming the country’s immigration laws to give legal status and a path to citizenship to 11 million undocumented aliens as being on top of his to do list in his… Read More »

Lessons To Be Learned From 7-Eleven’s Immigration Problems

This summer, Federal immigration authorities raided more than a dozen 7-Eleven franchises in New York and Virginia and arrested the store owners and managers for hiring and mistreating illegal immigrants. The 7-Eleven franchises were accused of using stolen identification of children and the deceased to employ undocumented aliens who were then paid substandard wages and… Read More »

Who Keeps What in a Divorce?

“He taught me housekeeping; when I divorce, I keep the house.” — Zsa Zsa Gabor Divorce rates continue to climb in Oregon and throughout the United States. The longer a couple is married, the more their possessions are intertwined. The decision to divorce often begins the process of dividing the couple’s assets, which can be… Read More »