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Front page

Small firm. Straight answers.

For twenty years we have advised Portland businesses and families on the questions that keep them up at night. Here is how we work, and what it costs.

By Margaret Calder and Daniel Wynn

The columns of a courthouse
A courthouse, where most of our cases never need to go.

Most people call a lawyer too late. By the time a lease, a partnership or an employee has gone wrong, the cheap options have gone with it. We would rather hear from you earlier, so the first conversation is free and lasts as long as twenty minutes needs to.

We are a small firm on purpose: two partners and an associate, all of whom answer their own phones. You will always know who is doing your work, and what it will cost before they start.

If your matter is one we don't handle, we will say so on the first call, and tell you who does.

Practice areasA2

Business

Contracts before conflicts.

Forming the company, writing the agreements, and keeping both out of court.

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Real estate

Leases that hold up.

Commercial leases, purchases and the disputes that follow them.

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Wills & estates

A plan your family can follow.

Wills, trusts and powers of attorney, written in plain English.

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Employment

Fair to both sides of the desk.

Handbooks and contracts for employers; advice for employees who've been treated unfairly.

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Disputes

Settled early, when it can be.

Demand letters, mediation and, when it's needed, trial.

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Case index

How they ended.

Ten recent matters, most of them settled without a courtroom. Choose a section to narrow the list.

Commercial lease renegotiationReal estateRent reduced 18%, no court2026
Partnership split, two-owner bakeryBusinessSettled in mediation in six weeks2026
Unpaid overtime, warehouse staffEmploymentPaid in full, plus fees2025
Estate plan for a family farmWills & estatesTrust in place in three weeks2025
Supplier non-paymentDisputesPaid after one demand letter2025
Purchase of a dental practiceBusinessClosed on schedule2025
Personal guarantee on a leaseReal estateGuarantee removed before signing2024
Wrongful dismissal claimEmploymentSettled before filing2024
Contested probateWills & estatesResolved without trial2024
Breach of contract, software vendorDisputesJudgment for our client2023
Fixed feesA3

Prices, printed.

Every fee, page A3

Will & healthcare directive

Per person; couples $1,100

$650

Living trust package

Trust, pour-over will, powers of attorney

$2,400

LLC formation

Filing, operating agreement, first-year minutes

$900

Commercial lease review

Written notes and one call

$750

Letters to the editor

Sir, When our landlord tried to pass a new roof on to us, Margaret read the lease twice and found the clause that said otherwise. We never went near a courtroom.

R. Alvarez, Southeast Portland

Sir, Daniel told me what my case was worth on the first call, and he was right to within a few hundred dollars. I have never been given a straight answer so quickly.

K. Osei, Beaverton

Sir, We put off our wills for ten years. It took one afternoon, and the documents read like plain English. I wish we had done it sooner.

J. and P. Lindqvist, Lake Oswego

In pictures
A hand signing a contract
An operating agreement, signed before anyone needed it.
Two people going through papers at a desk
A first consultation: twenty minutes, no charge.
Shelves of law books
The library, still in use.
Free consultation(503) 555-0163