Practice Category :
The Law Office of Matthew Kress
https://www.kresslawoffice.com
10260 SW Greenburg Rd., Ste 1180,
Portland,
Oregon 97223
I am committed to providing you with personalized attention and individual care to ensure that your unique needs are met. Because my practice is centered around providing you with counseling and guidance, I work collaboratively with you to define the right solution for your unique situation and involve you throughout the process. Whether drafting a simple will or assisting in the administration of a probate estate, I believe that communication is critical to forming a successful attorney-client relationship and will always endeavor to clearly explain the steps we are taking and why we are taking them.
I focus my practice on helping my clients define and implement their Estate Plan, whether that is a simple Will based estate plan or a more complex Living Trust based estate plan. I work with each client to understand what they need and help them implement the solution. I also help guide my clients through the sometimes complex probate process (it usually isn't as bad as everyone makes it seem!) I leverage my experience with the probate process to guide my clients in developing their estate plan - I've seen the things that can go wrong and want to help people avoid those problems! I also utilize my 15 years of broad cross-functional training and experience working in large corporations to understand my clients' needs and provide clear and concise communication throughout the estate planning and estate administration processes.
Background:
I have been practicing law since being admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 2008. I have focused my practice primarily on helping my clients through the probate administration process and developing and implementing their estate plans. Developing estate plans includes drafting Wills and Trusts, Guardianship and Conservatorship nominations for my clients and their children, Powers of Attorney, and Advance Directives for Health Care (Living Wills). During my third year at Lewis and Clark Law School I interned with the O'Neill Law Firm. After I graduated I began my legal career with the O'Neill Law Firm as an associate providing litigation support (research, analysis, drafting and expert witness selection and trial prep) in a contentious herbicide drift onto a vineyard matter, as well as business entity formation, probate administration, and estate planning. Due to the serious illness and subsequent passing of the titular attorney, I started my own law firm in 2012.
My wife and I moved to Portland in 1999 from Detroit, MI, just prior to the bursting of the tech bubble. Prior to attending Lewis and Clark, I held various positions at Vector Supply Chain Management, LLC in Portland (a joint venture between General Motors Company and Conway Corporation that was created to optimize General Motors' logistics supply chain). I worked as Manager of Strategic Planning, Program Manager for the implementation of a distribution center in Dubai, and facilitated communication of both business and technology requirements between Business Operations and the information Technology organization.
Prior to moving to Portland, I worked for Ford Motor Company in both Dearborn, MI and Toronto, Canada (where I met my wife) in a variety of areas including information technology (as a business analyst, providing office automation support, and other more technical roles), business process re-engineering to facilitate the redesign of the internal material flow within assembly and manufacturing plants, and finally in transportation purchasing as a purchasing manager for logistics services. Throughout my time at Ford, I worked across organizations to develop solutions to complex problems and developed and negotiated contracts to solve those problems. My experiences with both Vector and Ford provided me with opportunities to hone my analytical and communication skills, sharpened my negotiation and problem solving skills, and refined my ability to synthesize complex concepts and communicate them across multiple organizations and both up and down the organization structure.
Outside of the office, I enjoy exploring and photographing Oregon and Washington, spending time with my wife and daughter, and I am honored to serve as the Executive Officer (XO) for the Tualatin Valley Young Marines, a unit affiliated with the Young Marines national youth program.
Education:
Admissions:
Professional and other Associations: