We are pleased to announce that two attorneys,Christine Costantino an Valerie H. Sasaki, have joined Samuels Yoelin Kantor LLP.
• Chris, a new Partner, will head up the firm’s expanding Family Law practice group. She works with families and family-owned businesses, helping them navigate the complex and emotionally challenging territory of family law. She supports clients on a number of legal issues including dissolution of marriage and domestic partnerships; prenuptial and domestic partner agreements; contested custody, child and spousal support; grandparents’ rights, and other family-related legal matters. She also specializes in contested guardianships and conservatorships, as well as trust litigation. She is active in the community, and is a member of the Family Firm Institute, Executive Women’s Golf Association and the Northwest Business For Culture and the Arts. If you ever need assistance with family law issues, please feel free to contact Chris directly a ccostantino@samuelslaw.com
• Valerie is an Associate Attorney in our Tax Law Group. An energetic and talented tax attorney, Valerie is passion-ate about adding value to her clients’ businesses and having an immediate, positive influence. When working with individual clients, she strives to improve their lives by taking complex tax situations and breaking them into manageable pieces with achievable outcomes. She specializes in jurisdictional tax consulting, working closely with Fortune 50 companies involved in audits before the Oregon or Washington Departments of Revenue. She also works with business owners on tax and planning issues in Oregon or Southwest Washington. She has earned Oregon Super Lawyers Rising Star recognition for the last four years, and was named a 2011 Up and Coming Lawyer in the Daily Journal of Commerce. You’re invited to contact Valerie directly a vsasaki@samuelslaw.com.
• Congratulations to firm Partner Steve Kantor, who was recently selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2013 in the field of Trusts and Estates. Selection for Best Lawyers is based on an exhaustive and rigorous peer-review survey comprised of more than four million confidential evaluations by the top attorneys in the country.
• In July, three of the firm’s partners, Merritt Yoelin , Stephen Kantor , and Jeff Cheyne, were named to the Oregon Super Lawyers list, ranking them among the top attorneys in Oregon for 2012. Anthony Dal Ponte , Eric Wieland and Valerie Sasaki received recognition in the Oregon Rising Stars list of top Oregon attorneys for 2012.
• Victoria Blachly , Jeff Cheyne and Michael Walker are heading up the Oregon State Bar’s virtual assets work group, which has drafted a legislative proposal for statutory changes. Victoria has conducted numerous media interviews about the uncertainty surrounding digital assets when we die or become incapacitated.
• Congratulations go out to Glen Goland and his wife Krissy who celebrated the birth of their son Jude on July 7, 2012.
• In October 2012, Samuels Yoelin Kantor attorneys and staff were joined by vendors and friends for a day-long volunteer effort for Habitat for Humanity. The development, at Southeast 171st and Division Streets in Portland, will be the largest Habitat build in Oregon. The first 22 homes are scheduled for completion by March of 2013.
