Landlord/Tenant Representation in Portland
As of 7/4/23, we are temporarily suspending accepting landlord cases in Oregon. We are only accepting tenant cases involving serious injury or serious property damage, excluding mold, in which the landlord was at fault within the last year so the attorney fee provision under ORS 90.255 applies. We may also consider a negligence case within the last two years in which the landlord was at fault in the State of Oregon. However, attorney fees under ORS 90.255 generally only apply to cases filed within the first year of an incident in which the landlord is negligent.
We are currently looking for another landlord/tenant attorney to join our firm. If interested you may contact Jennie Clark, attorney at law via email with a cover letter, resume, and writing sample.
Clark Law and Associates, LLC, handles Landlord / Tenant cases in the greater Portland Area. If a landlord-tenant case is litigated, the losing party may be required to pay the winning party’s attorney fees. Thus, it is important to obtain legal advice from an attorney licensed in Oregon prior to making any mistakes that could subject you to the opposing party’s attorney fees under ORS 90.255.
At Clark Law and Associates, LLC, in Portland, we accept cases from landlords or tenants, provided that they are not opposing parties.
Our initial consultation fee is $400.00/hour. When you call, one of our legal assistants or attorneys will do a conflict check, then take a short intake regarding your landlord-tenant issues and make an appointment. Please bring all relevant documentation to your consultation for attorney review including the following:
- Copy of lease
- Copies of all correspondence. Please use a program to download and print all text messages or take screenshots and print. Most courts will not allow you to submit your cell phone into evidence and require you print out all text messages.
- Copies of all letters and notices
- Relevant photos
- Anything else relevant to your situation.
Since there are reciprocal attorney fees under the landlord/tenant act, we may give more conservative advice than some of our clients want to hear. This is because if you file a lawsuit or have a lawsuit filed against you and lose, you will be liable for the opposing party’s attorney fees, which could run into thousands of dollars.
In some cases, we merely advise how to position yourself in relation to a particular landlord situation. At other times, we can draft a letter on your behalf and/or file a lawsuit.
For further rate information please see:
Why don’t we give free legal advice in Portland? Our legal assistants receive between 10 and 50 calls daily requesting free legal advice. We cannot responsibly reply to multiple daily phone calls answering “just one quick question” regarding landlord-tenant matters for multiple reasons:
- Because landlord/tenant laws rapidly change, we have to double and sometimes triple check the federal, state and local statutes, newly passed bills and your rental/lease agreements prior to rendering legal advice. It would be irresponsible for us to give an answer based upon what we knew the law to be even last month without double-checking.
- At a minimum, we need to review your rental agreement, all communications and double-check the relevant statutes before rendering a legal opinion
- We are responsible for the advice given. Lawyers can be sued if they fail to meet the professional standard of care. Thus, it is importation that attorneys at Clark Law and Associates, LLC, fully understand the landlord/tenant matter and review all relevant documents in relation to existing Oregon law before giving any advice. Most medical doctors are not willing to answer one “quick question” and make a diagnosis over the phone to a new patient. In order to render a responsible medical opinion, medical doctors must do a full patient evaluation. Likewise, lawyers cannot responsibly render a legal opinion without a full evaluation of the facts. Calling our office and demanding an immediate answer to a quick question is the equivalent of calling a doctor’s office, listing a few symptoms and demanding to know if one has cancer. For every “quick” question there are multiple follow-up questions an documents to be reviewed.
- Oregon attorneys must carry professional liability insurance. We try to keep the price of malpractice insurance down by giving responsible legal advice. Additionally, there are ethical issues about giving advice without spending the time necessary to understand all of the facts, not just the facts within in the “quick question”
- Like other businesses, if we worked for free we could not stay in business. Like other businesses, we have overhead. In order to be an Oregon lawyer, one must have a doctorate degree in law. Thus, we incur huge student loans to give the advice we give.
If you have further questions for our Portland team of attorneys or would like to retain Clark Law and Associates, LLC, for your Landlord/Tenant case, give our Portland law office a call at (503) 238-1010. A member of our team will gladly help!
Referrals: We understand many people may not be able to afford our services. For those without income, you may call Legal aid services of Oregon at (503) 224-4086. For those with limited income, the Oregon State Bar has a modest means program you may reach at 1-800-452-7636.