A company in transition. That’s how Chris Reive described law firm Jordan Ramis PC. Reive, who became Jordan Ramis’ managing shareholder in January of this year, joined the firm in 1999. At the time, it had one office (Lake Oswego) and roughly a dozen lawyers. Today, close to its 50th anniversary, Jordan Ramis has three offices (Lake Oswego, Bend and Vancouver) and employs 27 lawyers.
The firm opened its Vancouver office in 2008, with two lawyers. That office, said Reive, has grown rapidly and now employs six lawyers. And, although the firm has already expanded the Vancouver office space twice (as recently as last year), Reive said they were already near capacity and would likely need to grow again fairly soon. Similarly, the Bend office, which opened two years ago, recently built a brand new office that will allow for further expansion in that market.
“We’re growing,” said Reive. “We have conversations underway with several lawyers who hopefully will join us soon.”
The firm is known for its focus on “dirt law,” which includes all aspects of real estate acquisition, land development and redevelopment and real estate sale. Reive’s personal professional expertise is environmental law and brown fields (legacy contaminated sites). While many law firms are based in downtown areas, Reive said Jordan Ramis’ business model is to “go where our clients are, in settings that are convenient and accessible to them.” That’s one reason why the Vancouver office is located on 164th Avenue, since east Clark County is a hotbed of development.
With the recent growth and more growth on the horizon, Reive said the firm is not losing sight of its brand.
“In the past, the firm’s brand has been focused on dirt law,” said Reive. “As our service model expands, we aren’t losing sight of our legacy. We want to retain the recognition for that brand.”
The growth, he said, will reflect that “dirt law” has many components, such as business, labor and employment, construction contract management, natural resources and environment, estate planning and succession and so on.
“We want to service all aspects – these are all synergistic with the brand,” stated Reive.
Another area of focus for the company, continued Reive, is government law, where the firm represents a governmental entity such as a county, city or fire district.
“That’s a significant part of our practice,” he said.
While the substance of legal advice given to governmental entities doesn’t differ from the advice given to other types of clients, Reive said that dealing with public meetings requires special skills. And municipal lawyers must be sensitive to the fact that policy and decision makers, many of whom are volunteers, “need options” so the legal advice is delivered in a different way.
To provide clients with the strongest legal advice possible, said Reive, the company recruits experienced lawyers that have synergistic skills. For example, a lawyer who will be dealing with the construction component of dirt law will ideally have construction management experience, or is perhaps a registered surveyor or licensed architect. A lawyer who will be handling labor and employment issues should have HR experience in a business setting. This approach, Reive said, helps the firm understand what clients need and better communicate with them.
“We look across the marketplace and look for people who we think will fit well with us,” Reive stated. “We are looking at possible expansion into other jurisdictions, but nothing is on the drawing board yet.”
Editor’s note: Jordan Ramis is a member of the Vancouver Business Journal’s Strategic Partners Program. To learn more about the program, contact Irene Pettengill at 360.448.6013.
