Announcements Archives - Karnopp Petersen LLP Karnopp Petersen LLP

Category Archives: Announcements

Karnopp Petersen LLP Earns 2020 “Best Law Firm” Ranking by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers®

BEND, OR — Karnopp Petersen LLP is pleased to announce that for the 10th year, the firm has been ranked in “Best Law Firms” by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers^®.

Firms included in the 2020 Edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” are recognized for professional excellence with consistently impressive ratings from clients and peers. Almost 16,000 lawyers provided more than 1,229,000 law firm assessments and more than 12,000 clients participated in providing 107,000 evaluations.

To be eligible for a ranking, a ﬁrm must ﬁrst have a lawyer recognized in The Best Lawyers in America©, which recognizes the top 5% of private practicing lawyers in the United States. Achieving a tiered ranking signals a unique combination of quality law practice and breadth of legal expertise.

Karnopp Petersen has five lawyers listed in The Best Lawyers in America – Howard G. Arnett, Kurt E. Barker, Ellen H. Grover, Josh Newton, and Thomas J. Sayeg.

Ranked ﬁrms, presented in three tiers are recognized on a national and regional-based scale. Firms that received a tier designation reﬂect the highest level of respect a ﬁrm can earn among other leading lawyers and clients from the same communities and practice areas.

Karnopp Petersen LLP is regionally ranked in Eugene in five practice areas, achieving tier 1 ranking in Commercial Litigation, Employment Law – Management, Land Use & Zoning Law, Litigation – Labor & Employment and tier 2 ranking in Trusts & Estates Law.

National and metropolitan tier 1 rankings will be featured in the physical edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms”, which will be distributed to more than 30,000 in-house counsel.

The 2020 “Best Law Firms” rankings can be seen in their entirety by visiting www.bestlawfirms.usnews.com.

About Karnopp Petersen LLP

Established in 1935, Karnopp Petersen LLP has 16 attorneys in its Bend-based office. The firm’s practice areas include Business and Employment Law, Intellectual Property, Franchise Law, Estate Planning, Indian Law, Land Use, Litigation and Appellate Practice, Mediation and Arbitration, Mergers and Acquisitions, Natural Resource and Energy Strategies, Probate and Trust Administration, Real Estate Law, Taxation, Trusts, and Estates. Visit www.karnopp.com to learn more.

About “Best Law Firms”

The U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on a rigorous evaluation process that includes the collection of client and lawyer evaluations, peer review from leading attorneys in the ﬁeld, and review of additional information provided by law ﬁrms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a 2020 ranking, a law ﬁrm must have at least one lawyer recognized in the 25th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America list for that particular location and specialty.

Karnopp Petersen Attorneys to Speak on Emerging Land Issues in Indian Country

Ellen H. Grover

Howard G. Arnett

On Friday, October 25, two KP lawyers are set to speak at the Oregon State Bar Indian Law Section’s CLE on Emerging Land Issues in Indian Country taking place at the University of Oregon School of Law.

Ellen H. Grover will provide insight into the impacts of climate change in Indian Country and Howard G. Arnett will focus on emerging tribal land uses related to the outdoor recreation industry.

The CLE agenda includes panel discussions dealing with natural resource development, climate change, timber cases, treaty rights, and the native outdoor recreation industry. View more information about the event and the full schedule here.

Erin MacDonald to speak at Oregon State Bar Estate Planning Seminar

Erin MacDonald

Erin MacDonald, a partner in Karnopp Petersen’s Trust and Estates Practice, will speak in Portland on November 15^th on the topic of estate tax portability, which became a permanent part of the tax code in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. The all-day seminar presented by the Oregon State Bar, “Basic Estate Planning for Oregon Taxable Estates,” will provide education to estate planning attorneys from across the state on topics such as credit shelter trusts, marital deductions, disclaimer tax planning, portability, lifetime gifting, and more. Erin is a member of the Executive Committee of the Estate Planning & Administration Section of the Oregon State Bar.

BendFilm Descends Upon Deschutes County

Bend, Oregon’s 16^th annual independent film festival, BendFilm launches in less than two weeks! As a proud Screening Partner Sponsor, Karnopp Petersen is excited to support the four-day festival that showcases the unique voices and some of the best independent films in the Pacific Northwest.

The festival of films presents a variety of genres and topics throughout regional theaters and local venues including Bend’s historic Tower Theater, Regal Cinemas, McMenamins, Redmond’s Odem Theater, Tin PAN Theater, and the Madras Performing Arts Center.

This year, BendFilm welcomes IndieWoman of the Year – Christine Vachon, producer of Oscar-winning films, Carol and Boys Don’t Cry. The festival’s First Features Honoree – Ron Shelton is the Oscar-Nominated Writer/Director of films, Bull Durham, White Men Can’t Jump, and Tin Cup.

Festival screenings explore topics and issues from a range of viewpoints, many of special relevance to the communities of Central Oregon. These thought-provoking films provide an opportunity for our clients and community to learn from different voices and engage in discussion.

View the full Bend Film Festival 2019 schedule of films and get your Festival Pass for the 16th Annual BendFilm Festival, October 10-13, 2019 here: https://www.bendfilm.org/2019-bendfilm-festival/.

FIVE ATTORNEYS FROM KARNOPP PETERSEN LLP RECOGNIZED IN THE 26th EDITION OF THE BEST LAWYERS IN AMERICA©

BEND, OR (August 29, 2019) — Karnopp Petersen LLP is pleased to announce five of the firm’s attorneys have been named top lawyers in the 26th edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

The Karnopp Petersen attorneys selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for their work in their respective practice areas are:

Howard G. Arnett – Native American Law – Recognized by Best Lawyers® 14 times since first listed in 2007.

Kurt E. Barker – Employment Law – Management; and Litigation – Labor and Employment – Recognized by Best Lawyers nine times since first listed in 2012.

Ellen H. Grover – Land Use and Zoning Law – Recognized by Best Lawyers five times since first listed in 2016.

Josh Newton – Commercial Litigation – Recognized by Best Lawyers four times since first listed in 2017.

Thomas J. Sayeg – Trusts and Estates – Recognized by Best Lawyers 13 times since first listed in 2008.

The Best Lawyers methodology includes an annual, national/regional, and practice area based peer-review system that is as methodical as it is competitive to reflect the publication’s core mission of promoting only the top legal talent in America.

Since the publication’s founding in 1981, each year, lawyers spanning 146 practice areas are nominated by their peers in the legal industry and evaluated for their professional excellence throughout their career histories to be named to The Best Lawyers in America. Candidates need to exemplify a standard of excellence and influence that warrants the respect of their colleagues in the legal community.

For the 2020 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America, 8.3 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in the inclusion of approximately 5% of lawyers in private practice in the United States.

For information about Best Lawyers visit www.bestlawyers.com.

HOWARD ARNETT, ESQ. TO BE HONORED BY THE MUSEUM AT WARM SPRINGS

Annual Honor Dinner celebrates contributions to furthering the culture and heritage of The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation

BEND, OR (August 13, 2019) — Karnopp Petersen LLP is pleased to announce Howard Arnett, Esquire will be honored by The Museum at Warm Springs at its annual Huckleberry Harvest and Honor Dinner, taking place this year on August 17th at the High Desert Museum in Bend.

Arnett will receive the museum’s prestigious Twanat Award for his nearly four decades as an attorney for The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, as well as representing other tribes on matters involving treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, Indian Law development, government-to-government relations, and gaming. He is also a longtime supporter of the museum.

The word “Twanat” originates from the Ichishkiin Language of the Warm Springs Tribe meaning “following the traditions of our ancestors”.

Arnett joins a distinguished list of prior Twanat Award honorees including The Honorable Owen Panner, a founding partner of Karnopp Petersen who received the Award in 2005; Two former Governors of Oregon, Victor Atiyeh and Ted Kulongoski; and former U.S. Senators Daniel Inouye and Gordon H. Smith, to name a few.

Karnopp Petersen has represented The Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon since 1955 and has been recognized by the museum in prior years for the firm’s commitment to Indian Law. The late James D. Noteboom and Dennis Karnopp received the museum’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010 and 2014 respectively, for their longstanding practice in the area of Indian Law.

Arnett’s contributions extend beyond his practice of Indian Law, as an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon School of Law where he teaches courses on American Indian Law as well as advanced seminars on Contemporary Issues in American Indian Law and Comparative Law of Indigenous Peoples. Previously, he was an adjunct professor at the Lewis & Clark Law School teaching the survey course and an advanced seminar on Federal Indian Law.

Arnett received his J.D. from the University of Oregon Law School in 1977. He holds a Bachelor’s degree with distinction from Stanford University and earned a master’s degree with distinction in international relations from the London School of Economics.

For more information about The Museum at Warm Springs and the Huckleberry Harvest and Honor Dinner visit www.museumatwarmsprings.org; or contact Debbie Stacona at the museum at (541) 553-3331; or email [email protected].

About Karnopp Petersen LLP

Erin MacDonald Elected to American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

Karnopp Petersen LLP is pleased to announce that Partner Erin Keys MacDonald was recently elected New Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estates Counsel (ACTEC).

ACTEC is an organization of peer-elected lawyers and law professors who are skilled and experienced in the preparation of wills and trusts, estate planning, and probate procedure; and administration of trusts and estates of decedents, minors, and incompetents.

MacDonald is one of 36 new Fellows elected to the counsel from across the United States, England, and Canada.

To qualify for membership, a lawyer must have no less than 10 years’ experience in the active practice of probate and trust law or estate planning. Lawyers and law professors are elected to be Fellows based on their outstanding reputation, exceptional skill, and substantial contributions to the field by lecturing, writing, teaching, and participating in bar leadership or legislative activities. It is their aim to improve and reform probate, trust and tax laws, procedures, and professional responsibility.

About her election to the counsel, MacDonald said, “I’m honored to be part of ACTEC, an organization with the highest caliber of members in the estate planning profession, and look forward to networking with the other Fellows, and continuing my educational and professional development to help me better serve my clients.”

MacDonald is a graduate of Lewis and Clark Law School and is a partner in the Trusts and Estates Department of Karnopp Petersen LLP. She regularly counsels clients in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration, tax planning and charitable giving.

Warm Springs Legal Aid Clinic Launch: A Partnership with Karnopp Petersen LLP

Last year, Howie Arnett, Josh Newton, and Ellen Grover approached LASO with an idea: why not launch a Legal Aid clinic at Warm Springs staffed by Karnopp Petersen attorneys? The clinic launched in April 2018 at the Warm Springs CAT Office, 1136 Paiute Ave.

Rayven Settler, enrolled member of the Yakama Nation, and the office manager for LASO’s Native American Program (NAPOLS), provides outreach and eligibility screening to potential clients two weeks prior to each clinic date. Rayven refers potential clinic clients to Karnopp Petersen for conflict checks, and for those potential clients whose issues do not fall within the clinic scope, she makes the appropriate referral either to the Central Oregon Regional Office of Legal Aid or to NAPOLS. In this way, the clinic model is designed to provide legal services to as many eligible clients as possible.

Clinic overview and dates: Individuals enrolled in a federally recognized tribe or married into the Tribe are eligible for screening with Rayven to determine whether they qualify for legal assistance. To qualify, an individual must meet LASO income requirements.

Qualified individuals are provided a free 45 minute—1 hour consultation with a Karnopp Petersen attorney. The attorney determines at the first meeting if the case will be advice only, brief service, or something more.

Legal issues within the clinic scope include: expungement, consumer law, small claims court preparation, and education issues.

Clinic outreach and eligibility screening:

April 9, June 11, August 13, October 8.

Legal Clinic dates:

April 23, June 25, August 27, October 22.

For more information or to schedule an appointment:

Call Rayven, (971) 703-7108.

Republished with permission from Legal Aid Services of Oregon.

Kurt Barker and Ben Eckstein are presenting “Conducting Effective Employee Investigations”

KP employment attorneys Kurt Barker and Ben Eckstein are presenting “Conducting Effective Employee Investigations” to a group of Central Oregon medical practice managers today. This is a popular topic in the #MeToo era – Kurt presented the same training, and also spoke on managing employee marijuana use, before Willamette-Valley area SHRM Chapters this month.

KARNOPP PETERSEN hires new attorneys

Karnopp Petersen LLP is pleased to announce that Benjamin Eckstein, Michel L. Wigney, Tyler J. Moore and Dustin A. Liddle have joined the firm as attorneys.