Tonya Lippert

Housing: Oregon Legal Resources

PCC Legal Resource Center

What the PCC Legal Resource Center offers regardless of income level (Low, Moderate, High):

-Eviction Expungements

-Eviction Legal Defense (primarily for non-payment cases)

-Tenant Advocacy Letters (for example, addressing habitability)

-Self-determination (for example, name changes)

Oregon Law Center Eviction Defense Project

The Oregon Law Center offers another resource for eviction defense, but one must have a low income.

Oregon Renters’ Rights (English and Spanish resources)

Oregon Renters’ Rights offers guides to the law on renters’ rights, sample letters, and a rent calculator to determine whether a rent increase or notice of one is consistent with the law.

The Commons Law Center

Oregon Law Center’s Eviction Defense Project (what is below is from their site)

Service area: All of Oregon

Eligibility: Free legal assistance to low-income tenants facing eviction court cases. Eligibility is based on income. Services are provided regardless of immigration status and there is no immigration consequence to anyone for receiving help from the Eviction Defense Project.

Phone: 888-585-9638

Bienestar de la Familia

“El Programa Bienestar de la Familia ofrece servicios culturalmente sensibles y en varios idiomas, con el enfoque de servir a la comunidad Latino/a/x del condado de Multnomah, tanto como a otros grupos diversos y a la comunidad en general.”

Teléfono: 503.988.3509

Correo Electrónico: bienestardelafamilia@multco.us

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.

Civil & Family Law: Washington State

Tacomaprobono offers Pierce County residents:

–Free Legal Aid Pop-Ups (all over Pierce County)

-Family Law help, focusing on “family safety, services for victims of crime, legal advice and self-help to achieve a fair, successful outcome” (from site)

-Eviction defense and prevention

Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program

Works with “low-income individuals and marginalized communities through advocacy and civil legal services” (from site)

See the kinds of cases they are currently accepting here.

Free Wills (for WA residents)

Click on the link for free forms and instructions to create your own will.

Tax & Business Law: Oregon

CASH Oregon: free Tax Prep & Filing for individuals & families earning under $67,000/year.

Experience Note: I volunteered at CASH Oregon during the spring and fall of 2024. Volunteers go through training and supervision to ensure they know what they’re doing and know when they need to ask questions.

Low Income Taxpayer Clinic (Lewis & Clark Law School) for help with IRS or ODR disputes (or disputes with both). ODR = Oregon Dept. of Revenue.

Experience Note: I was at this clinic for a semester of law school along with other law students and learned so much about IRS and ODR disputes and how to respond to them. If I qualified and needed help, I’d get help here and sooner rather than later. There’s such high demand for the clinic’s work that the clinic has wait lists. English and Spanish help is available. Sometimes, the clinic has students who speak other languages, too.

Small Business Legal Clinic (Lewis & Clark Law School) for help with:

-business formation

-patents

-contracts and more.

Some “greatly reduced” or administrative fees may apply.

From the site regarding one of their “programs”: “Legal assistance for nonprofit organizations and for-profit small business clients across Oregon. The program is year-round and clients may obtain an appointment within a week of completing the intake process.”

“The Staff Attorney Program helped with the improvements for The Julian Hotel Apartments, a historic apartment building . . . .” (downtown Corvallis).

Free Resource for Those without a Bank Account

Click on the link above for a resource that lets people without a bank account receive electronic tax refunds (and more).

Experience Note: I learned about this resource through volunteering at CASH Oregon.

When Child Protective Services (CPS) is Involved: Oregon Legal Resources

Family Defense Project works with Multnomah County parents experiencing a CPS (Child Protective Services) investigation.

Must meet financial eligibility.

English & Spanish brochures.

Writ of Review

If there is a CPS investigation and the DHS report says the concerns are “unfounded” (meaning the caseworker believes no abuse or neglect happened to a minor), but the report has mistakes or leaves out relevant facts, there is a way to ask a judge to determine whether the caseworker failed to investigate properly. The request or petition submitted to the court is called a “writ of review.” It helps families to encourage or, frankly, force DHS Child Welfare to fix major mistakes and misrepresentations & to include relevant facts.

The link above leads to a site where one can scroll to: “File a Petition for Judicial Review.” Underneath this are forms and instructions to file “a Petition for Judicial Review from a Final Agency Order.” Several agencies, none DHS, are listed, but there’s also a form for “Other Agency.”

If the report says “founded” (meaning the worker believes abuse or neglect happened) or “unable to determine,” families have other ways to challenge the work of DHS Child Welfare. In a 2024 case called Kasliner v. Dept. of Human Services, for example, two courts agreed the investigation leading to a “founded” conclusion was biased (unfair).

In sum, if families act soon enough, they can seek help through the courts even for cases labeled “unfounded.” Just remember that the laws and rules around reviews, etc., might change. Know every deadline (aka statute of limitations) and get legal help if needed. Avoid relying solely on this post to identify your options. This post excludes describing, for example, suing DHS Child Welfare for negligence under the Oregon Tort Claims Act, which requires a notice of claim.

Experience Note: I worked for fifteen years with Oregon child welfare workers.

Legal Resources Related to Immigration & Serving a Person Papers Outside the U.S.

Hague Law Blog: Service of Process Outside the U.S.

The link above directs people to a frequently updated blog that outlines how to serve people legal documents if they live outside the U.S. You will find posts for various places, including Mexico, the DR, Costa Rica, Panama, Hong Kong, Singapore, & Australia.

Hague Law Blog: Related Civil Procedure Posts

Experience Note: I used the Hague Law Blog to learn how to serve papers outside the U.S. after discovering that this is a procedure about which even some experienced lawyers working with non-U.S. citizens are unaware.

Oregon Immigration Help at PCC Legal Resource Center

DACA renewals
Immigration legal screenings
Limited scope deportation defense services via ECO (must have a low income)

Washington Immigration Help at Washington Defenders Association (WDA)

WDA offers:

-individual case assistance to those who qualify

-resources to individuals and lawyers.

Experience Note: I use WDA as a lawyer and find it a valuable resource for understanding how criminal and immigration law cross paths.

U.S. States: Free Legal Answers

The ABA has freelegalanswers.org sites for many U.S. states. I have never used these sites, so I am unfamiliar with how useful they may be.

Some examples:

https://texas.freelegalanswers.org/

https://nh.freelegalanswers.org/

https://oregon.freelegalanswers.org/

Oregon also has Oregon Law Help. Its “About” page says, “Oregon Law Help is a joint project of the Oregon State Bar, the Oregon Judicial Department, Legal Aid Services of Oregon, the Oregon Law Center, the Oregon Law Foundation, and Oregon Consumer Justice. “

Washington is one of the states without an ABA freelegalanswers.org site, but has https://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/. Its About page says, “This website is maintained by staff at the Northwest Justice Project (NJP) . . . [which] provides free civil legal services to low-income people from 18 offices throughout the state of Washington.”

When family and friends ask me about books for legal self-help, I suggest books by Nolo.