Gene Hallman's long and meritorious legal career includes over 500 jury trials in Oregon state and federal court. A champion of injured people in eastern Oregon, Hallman has also been instrumental in securing verdicts and rulings that have benefitted our justice system as a whole.

"Gene has been the loud, effective, and nearly exclusive voice of the plaintiff's bar east of the Cascades." says former OTLA President Judy Snyder, "He has accomplished this through more than just an exceptional trial practice, but also through his contributions to the OTLA Amicus Committee, service on a multitude of OSB Committees, and many appearances before the Oregon Court of Appeals and Supreme Court on issues important to every OTLA member."

A graduate of Portland State University and Willamette School of Law, Hallman served from 1974-75 as a clerk for Justice Howell on the Oregon Supreme Court. Accourding to Hallman, not only was the justice a great teacher who spent a lot of time with his clerks, but he recommended that Hallman try Pendleton as a place to live and work. hallman heeded his advice and has been practicing there for 35 years.

A History of Service
Hallman continues to be extremely active in many state-wide activities as well as serving as a pro tem judge in five northeastern counties. He was a member of the OTLA Board of Governors and a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Board of Trial Advocates for many years. Dismayed by the decreasing opportunities for jury experience available for young leawyers, Hallman also spearheaded the Jury Experience Project (through ACTL) which matches newer trial lawyers with public agencies in nedd of temporary staff.

Hallman currently sits on the Oregon Commission on Judicial Fitness and Disability. In the past he has served on and chaired the Legal Ethics Committee, the Supreme Court Disciplinary Board as Regional Chair for 18 counties of eastern Oregon and the State Professional Responsibility Board. He even served as the chair of the Oregon Liquor Control Commission. In 2000, he was awarded the Owen Panner Professionalism Award by the OSB Litigation Section for his superb ethical standards exemplified by his professionalism throughout the state.

Cases That Made a Difference
Hallman is known as a superb legal tactician with an impressive roster of cases winning justice for his clients. He has dozens of precedent setting cases under his belt, standing up for his clients against the most powerful insurance companies, corporations and government agencies in the world: Wal-Mart, Ford Motor Company, Allstate and the United States Government to name a few. Hallman was also the driving force in securing justice for three dozen construction workers against Raytheon, after they were severely injured at the Umatilla Chemical Weapons Depot.

2008 Arthur H. Bryant Public Justice Award Winner:

Mark Griffin

For Mark Griffin, being a trial lawyer is about bringing down the institutional structure of fraud on consumers and disrespect for workers being spewed by today’s big corporations. Whether he’s taking on mortgage lenders who prey on the vulnerable, gaining fair wages for dairy workers or sticking up for civil service custodians when the Portland Public Schools tried to force them out, Griffin has always been a champion of the poor and disrespected. His dedication and work in the areas of public justice have earned him the Arthur H. Bryant Public Justice Award for 2008.

St. Louis To Portland To Guam And Back
Mark Griffin’s story begins in St. Louis, Mo., as one of nine children in a Catholic family. He graduated from the Jesuit institution of St. Louis University in 1971. After school he opted to join the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, which brought him to Oregon to work in a public-interest law firm. This was his first real taste of working in the field of law. His work took him to Guam (twice) and Oregon (twice). He finally settled down in Portland in 1985 as an associate at the law offices of Henry A. Carey and later with Jerome L. Labarre. In 1988, Griffin formed Griffin & McCandlish with fellow Lewis & Clark alum Jim McCandlish (the 2006 winner of the Public Justice Award).

Critical Cases
Griffin has been involved in many important cases throughout his career but three stand out in terms of why he was chosen for this public justice award. The first was a case involving custodians for the Portland Public Schools in which Griffin worked with attorney Bill Brandt. Since 1935, the Portland Custodians Civil Service Board ensured that potential custodians met rigorous testing requirements prior to serving as custodians. In 2002 the Portland Public Schools decided that they didn’t need the services of these qualified civil servants and opted to replace them with a private janitorial firm in violation of Oregon law. It took five years but Griffin helped these workers get their back pay and their dignity. Along with McCandlish, Griffin also took on the Columbia River Dairy to secure fair wages, overtime pay and a nondiscriminatory workplace. “These farm workers were mostly migrants and the dairy treated them as fungible. They were treated like cogs in a big machine and not like human beings with dignity. Now, they have a union and they have respect. And, from what I’ve heard, it’s a better work environment and a better business enterprise.” Griffin also was a prominent figure (along with Phil Goldsmith and Hope DeCarlo) in the Vasquez v. Beneficial Finance of Oregon case. In this case, the Vasquez was misled and sold a mortgage they couldn’t afford, which is a very common problem these days. In 2004 a jury found Beneficial negligent and even awarded punitive damages. “On the surface, this looks like it could be a unique case but when you dig deeper, you find an institutionally corrupt way of conducting business within the mortgage industry. This wasn’t a fluke. It was a business plan,” Griffin said. “The structure in place encouraged and enabled fraud.”

An Honor For Griffin
After 32 years of working as a lawyer and 20 years in private practice, Griffin said he believes he has “done some good things” and he’s “not going anywhere.” He added that there is a lot of work left to be done and he is honored to be chosen for the Arthur H. Bryant Public Justice Award. “It’s always good to be recognized by your peers and it’s an honor to be recognized in the same year as Elden Rosenthal (winner of this year’s Distinguished Trial Lawyer). Now, I guess I have to live up to the expectations that come with this award.”

2008 Doug Swanson Outstanding Workers Compensation Attorney:

Martin Alvey

Martin Alvey, recipient of the Doug Swanson Outstanding Workers Compensation Attorney Award, turned his childhood experiences of growing up in Coos Bay into a life-long career of fighting for the rights of workers in Oregon. “Doug Swanson was a very good friend of mine, so it’s a high honor to be recognized in this way,” Alvey said.

Alvey has law offices in Portland and Astoria. He is a 1982 graduate of Willamette University and a 1986 graduate of the Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark College. But, you could say his introduction into the importance of the legal system came at an early age.

“When I grew up, Coos Bay was a lumber and fishing town. It consisted of hard-working people, including my parents and many of the parents of my peers. An on-the-job injury to any of those people would have been devastating,” Alvey said. The real effect of on-the-job injuries hit home when Alvey was lucky enough to be hired by Mike Stebbins in North Bend during the summer after his first year in law school. “Mike introduced me to the world of workers’ comp and for the next two summers I served as his law clerk. It was interesting because I worked in a mill during my undergraduate years and some of those co-workers ended up being clients of Mike’s. That really solidified that I wanted to go into this line of work.”

Working for Richardson, Murphy & Lawrence between his second and third year of law school also solidified Martin’s interest in plaintiff’s law as “they were very active OTLA members. All of these factors really influenced my career path.”

Major Cases
With such a rich career helping Oregon’s working class, there are many examples of the exemplary work done by Alvey. However, two accomplishments stand out in his mind. The first is Saif v. Kurcin, which eventually was appealed to the Oregon Supreme Court. The heart of the case revolved around whether an ALJ has the discretion to issue a continuance. In 2002 the Oregon Supreme Court upheld the ruling clarifying that an ALJ has that discretion. “This decision helps injured workers and maintains the integrity of the hearing process,” Alvey said. He also points to the last legislative session in which he authored and helped pass Senate Bill 404, designating injured workers’ costs would be paid when fighting a denied claim.

“Marty was the single person most responsible for passage of the cost bill in the 2007 legislative session,” said Bob Carlson of Kryger Alexander Egan Elmer & Carlson PC. “This bill eased the financial burden on workers by requiring that insurers reimburse them for the costs they incur in prevailing in a denied claim. It also helps lawyers because in too many cases workers are simply unable to repay their attorneys for costs advanced, even when they prevail. Marty drafted the bill and bulldogged it through MLAC, various legislative subcommittees and ultimately the full legislature.”

Special Award
As mentioned, Martin considered Doug Swanson a good friend, which is why he is honored to receive this award from his peers, although he considers it a little bittersweet. “It makes me sad beyond belief that he’s not here,” Alvey said. “The way he lived his life and his commitment to the profession was well known. I truly consider this an honor.”

View past recipients of OTLA Awards