Tonya Lippert

Immigration Law: Oregon

SOAR Immigration Legal Services, which has a Portland and Hillsboro location, offers these services, with consultations costing $50:

• Application for U.S. Citizenship
• Asylum
• Deportation Defense
• DACA Renewals
• Employment Authorization
• Family-based Visas
• Lawful Permanent Residency (Green Cards)
• Temporary Protected Status
• U-Visa
• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA)

Cross-Examination

How to Cross-Examine an Opposing Side’s Witness

Preparing Somebody for Cross-Examination

Washington: Free Spanish/English Bilingual Legal Clinic

Areas of Law: Immigration, Family Law, Auto Accidents, Personal Injury,
Worker’s Rights/Wage Claims, Criminal Law

Second Wednesday of every month

El Centro de la Raza
2524 16th Ave S, Seattle WA 98144
3rd Floor
4:00 – 6:00 p.m.
First come, first-served basis

Consultations from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m

(844) 502-9832

Victims’ Rights and Resources: National and Oregon

National Crime Victim Law Institute

National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges

Free Legal Advice for Oregon Victims of Hate and Bias Crimes

Eligibility Criteria Determine Who Receives Free Legal Advice

Sexual Assault Resource Center

24-hour support & resource line, case management, healing & mental health services

Employment Law: National, Oregon, & Washington Resources

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

Oregon Bureau of Labor & Industries

Washington State Department of Labor & Industries

Estate Planning & Probate: Oregon

The Commons Law Center: “Affordable” Estate Planning

They have a will-based estate planning package & a trust-based one.

Upcoming Event: Power of Attorney and Advance Directive Workshop

Free forms provided!

The Commons Law Center: Probate, Trust Administration, Small Estates

Free 15-minute consultation.

Oregon Judicial Department’s Self-Help Probate Forms and More

No attorney-client relationship is established via the use of this website or via contact with Lippert Legal LLC. Neither the knowledge you gain from this site nor the resources you find here constitute legal advice.

Family Law: Oregon

St. Andrew Legal Clinic (SALC; Portland and Hillsboro locations)

From their site: “No matter your family law needs and income level, SALC is here to serve our clients with compassion and professionalism.”

If someone falls into their highest income bracket, a lawyer is $200/hour and a paralegal is $100/hour. In a much lower income bracket, someone could pay $80/hour for a lawyer.

They offer full and limited representation (where you can save money by doing the parts you can and having them do only the parts you want them to do) for:

Adoptions
Child Custody
Child Support
Divorce
Domestic Violence Intervention
Guardianship
Restraining Orders
Spousal Support

An initial 30-minute consultation costs $50.

Experience Note: In October 2024, I began volunteering for its Night Clinic.

The Commons Law Center

They help with divorce, custody, and more, offering a sliding scale and limiting their work to those of “modest means.” Their “most affordable option” is pay-as-you-go legal coaching, with NO sign-up fee, retainer, or monthly fee.

They offer free legal guides with various links including a Discovery Notice.

Oregon Judicial Department’s Self-Help Forms for Family Law Cases & More

Oregon Family Law Statutes

(Oregon) Uniform Trial Court Rules

Oregon Rules of Evidence

Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure

Oregon Supplementary Local Rules (Choose Your County)

Criminal Law: Oregon

PCC Legal Resource Center (NE Portland)

The PCC Legal Resource Center offers criminal expungement (think erasing your record) regardless of one’s income level. The center also offers help reducing how much money people owe to the courts (court costs, fines, & fees).

See PCC CLEAR Clinic hours & locations to learn about eligibility. Even a civil contempt of court dismissed with prejudice (“with prejudice” means no one can bring the same charge or claim based on the same events back to court) can appear on your “criminal” record. You may be surprised.

Services are free, but $33 is requested for expungement costs.

RecordSponge (various places across Oregon)

What’s below comes from RecordSponge’s site, simplified.

Consequences of a Criminal Record: A criminal record (arrest or conviction) can make life difficult.

It can affect your ability to

– Get a job

– Attend school

– Find a place to rent or buy

– Access necessary resources and support

Oregon offers a process called *expungement* that allows people to erase parts of their criminal record. Expungement helps individuals get a fresh start by removing certain barriers caused by their criminal record.

Complications of the Expungement Process:

The rules for expungement can be complex and difficult to navigate.

– You must determine which parts of your record can be erased.

– It’s easy to make mistakes.

It’s costly if a lawyer does it for you—costing $1,000-$3,000.

RecordSponge simplifies this process. It uses a computer program to check a person’s record, making it cheaper & quicker for people to see if they can get an expungement.

Experience Note: I attended a training at PCC Clear on expungement. As part of this, I shadowed one of their lawyers and had the chance to do the work while shadowed. The people there seemed caring, hard-working, & non-judgmental.

Youth, Rights & Justice

For free expungement (aka expunction) of juvenile records. You will find an English and Spanish version of a statewide expunction application form by clicking on the link above.

Senate Bill 819 Petitions

Click on the link above for Oregon Justice Resource Center’s page on these petitions for reconsideration of convictions, sentences or both.

The Oregon Judicial Dept has a page on expungements for adults & juveniles.

Metropolitan Public Defenders

For Multnomah Co. Fines & Fees Forgiveness Lottery, Multnomah Project Reset.

Must be 80% below the Area Median Income for Portland to enter the lottery. For 2024, this means below $60,080 for a single person. You can find 2024 Median Income Levels for Portland, Vancouver and Hillsboro here.

Oregon Judicial Department’s Self-Help Criminal Law Forms and More

Criminal Law: Washington State

Click on the link to use a free calculator to check eligibility to vacate a Washington state conviction and go from there. To see more about what it means to vacate a conviction, see the Seattle Municipal Court’s site.

Tacomaprobono

Tacomaprobono offers Free Legal Aid Pop-Ups all over Pierce County, especially at branches of the public library.

Tacomaprobono also addresses vacating criminal convictions (and offers help with civil law matters).

Experience Note: I spoke with Tacomaprobono to learn more about how they operate and spoke with a librarian who witnessed their pop-ups at her branch of the library. The librarian spoke highly of Tacomaprobono’s work and of how many people its lawyers helped via its free pop-ups at her library.

Help for Incarcerated Parents

Washington Defender Association’s Incarcerated Parents Project (click on the link above) tries to help families stay together by giving legal help to:

-parents put into jail or who might go to jail

-their family members

-those unable to afford a lawyer.

They help with:

-legal papers

-finding experts

-teaching defenders, other court participants, & the community about the law.

They also collaborate to keep parents connected to communities, ensure kids can stay close to their parents even when incarcerated, & reduce the stigma incarcerated parents face.

Civil Survival

This Washington state organization is run by and for formerly incarcerated individuals, offering legal assistance (when it has openings; as of mid-October 2024, the waitlist is full), guides, and statewide and county-specific resources.

One of its resources is a determination of Blake eligibility to have vacated a conviction for drug possession under a particular state law that was declared unconstitutional.

Clearing Criminal Records from Background Checks

Foundation for Continuing Justice

After you’ve had convictions, dismissals, etc. vacated, private sector background checks may still show them. Click on the link above to see how to update background check reports &, if needed, begin clearing them.