Annie’s eleven years of experience has focused on helping clients on estate planning, protective proceedings (guardianships and conservatorships), probate, and estate and trust administration. She works with people to develop estate plans that accomplish their wishes while at the same time reducing future tax burdens and court costs. Annie represents trustees and personal representatives in the administration of trusts and probate estates
Our firm prides itself on providing full service to construction clients on their legal needs, including prevailing wage and public works, corporate formation and governance, joint ventures and mergers and acquisitions, tax planning and incentives, and succession and business planning.
Mergers and Acquisitions
Our health law team assists health care providers, suppliers, and other businesses with respect to their formation, on-going operational matters, restructuring, mergers & acquisitions, and dissolutions. In that capacity, our health law lawyers regularly...
Business Disputes
Roy Harland founded the firm in 1932, and was joined by Bob Saalfeld and Jim Griggs in the mid-1970’s. Roy’s guiding principles were that all clients deserve the highest quality service, and that a lawyer’s job is to find innovative yet practical solutions to the client’s needs. Although the firm Roy started was a general practice, in the ensuing years it has developed into a highly-specialized business law and litigation firm. To this day, the firm’s lawyers remain committed to Roy’s principles of client service. Another guiding principle that Roy lived by was the importance of giving back to the community. All of the firm’s lawyers are actively involved in community service throughout Salem, the Willamette Valley and the Pacific Northwest. Many of the lawyers are leaders in prominent charitable, business, and governmental organizations.
Business Transactions
The use of personal guarantees will remain a common way to allocate risk among parties in commercial transactions. The parties should remain mindful of common contractual requirements and defenses and how to waive them when permitted. Bankruptcy by the principal obligor may provide a short-term reprieve from liability under a personal guaranty through the co-debtor stay or a pre-confirmation injunction. However, a guarantor cannot assume a bankruptcy filing by the primary obligor will eliminate their liability as a guarantor. Obtaining an injunction as part of any confirmed plan and discharge of the primary obligor and the guarantor will require the consent of the affected creditor under existing Ninth Circuit precedent.
Trade Secrets
Intellectual Property
Unfair Competition
Defending a newly formed company against a competitor and former employer that sued for unfair competition and breach of nondisclosure and noncompetition agreements
Employment Law Group lawyers provide employers with a vigorous defense of claims brought by current and former employees. They represent clients before administrative agencies and in-state and federal court. They also defend wage and hour, discrimination, disability, wrongful discharge and a wide variety of other employment claims.
Employment Discrimination
Advises on wage and hour, disability, harassment, employment discrimination, retaliation, leave of absence and other employment compliance matters
Employment Contract
Our team is skilled in drafting important documents that govern a wide variety of business relationships for the financial industry, including credit applications, loan applications, employment agreements, employee handbooks, inter-creditor agreements and loan participation agreements.
Employment Litigation
Saalfeld Griggs’ financial team lawyers are skilled litigators with experience in lender liability, consumer credit, condemnation, land use and employment disputes whether through alternative dispute resolution of court resolution.
Boundary Disputes and Adverse Possession. They represent clients in establishing or defending against claims of title in land or easement interests by adverse possession.
Construction Litigation
Defending and prosecuting construction defects litigation for owners, contractors and subcontractors in both residential and commercial buildings
Real Estate Transactions
Brent has been practicing law for thirty years and focuses his practice on estate planning, including wills, trusts, probate, trust administration, charitable planning, and estate tax planning. Brent also assists business with a wide range of transactions, with emphasis on entity formation, acquisitions and sales of businesses, commercial leasing, real estate transactions, and community association law.
Eminent Domain
Government agencies generally are delegated the power of eminent domain in order to take private property for a legitimate public use. However, property owners are entitled to “just compensation,” which is guaranteed by the Oregon and United States Constitutions. Just compensation is the complete replacement, in cash, for the taking of private property interests and compensable damages to the remaining property. There are specific legal requirements that the government must follow in order to take private property. Additionally, in certain circumstances, the government may be required to pay the property owner’s reasonable attorney fees.
Easement
Land Use and Zoning
The Real Estate & Land Use Group has extensive experience in urban and rural land use and development matters. Lawyers in the group represent individuals and entities in a wide variety of real property matters. The group takes pride in its ability to address issues before they become true complications. They regularly collaborate with the other real estate and development professionals, as well as other practice groups within the firm, to ensure that issues involving real property are accurately and efficiently identified. With the understanding that time regularly has a direct impact on the success or failure of a project, the group commits to finding the most practical solution to all real property and land use matters.
Saalfeld Griggs’ attorneys work collaboratively across practice areas to provide nonprofit clients with the specialized legal services they deserve. With lawyers practicing in Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, Estate Planning, Business & Taxation, and Employment Law & Litigation, our team can navigate any complex legal issues that may arise. Our team has significant experience working with nonprofit organizations of all sorts, from universities to private foundations to large-scale social enterprises, and beyond.
Wills
Trusts
The Estate Planning & Probate Group specializes in preparing estate plans for individuals and families, and advising trustees and personal representatives on probate and trust administration issues.
Some personal guarantors assume that bankruptcy on the part of the primarily responsible party will protect the guarantor from liability after a payment or performance default. This belief is understandable, considering general knowledge of the so called “automatic stay” and bankruptcy law. The automatic stay is commonly understood to prohibit a creditor from enforcing their claims once a bankruptcy case is filed. However, this understanding does not recognize that the automatic stay is limited to protecting the debtor in bankruptcy, and not third parties. There is an exception for Chapter 12 and Chapter 13 bankruptcy cases when the so-called co-debtor stay applies under the Bankruptcy Code. The co-debtor stay is not typically available in nonagricultural commercial bankruptcy cases, which are filed under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. In addition, the co-debtor stay does not resolve liability; it only prevents activity by a creditor for a period. Because a guarantor is a third party and not the debtor in a bankruptcy case, a personal guarantor cannot assume that the automatic stay will protect them from legal action to enforce the terms of their personal guaranty after a bankruptcy case if filed.
Foreclosure
Our financial team members have extensive experience with real and personal property foreclosures in Oregon and Washington State, providing services to lenders from default letters to collection of judgments and execution sales. Financial team members at Saalfeld Griggs have an abundance of experience in both judicial and non-judicial foreclosures by advertisement and sale, and have handled significant client cases through the prosecution or defense of statutory lien litigation, including construction liens, landlord liens, and agricultural liens.
Tax Law
Today's health care industry is one of the most heavily-regulated industries in the United States. Our health care lawyers provide a wide range of legal services to physician groups, hospitals, suppliers, and other healthcare professionals. Our health law team is adept at navigating the myriad issues that confront health care businesses and entities. Those issues include entity formations & acquisitions, regulatory compliance, tax planning & benefits, employment law, and litigation.