What We Learned in 2025 and What It Means for You in 2026
As we close out 2025, we want to share what we've learned from a year of serving clients across Oregon's business and personal planning landscape. This year brought remarkable clarity about how strategic legal counsel creates value throughout life's major transitions—from launching ventures to protecting legacies, from scaling operations to planning succession.
Our business practice supported entrepreneurs and companies through every stage of the business lifecycle. We formed dozens of LLCs for clients launching new ventures, each requiring careful consideration of ownership structure, management authority, and tax election strategies. For one software developer transferring intellectual property into a new entity, we navigated complex contribution agreements and minority protection mechanisms in a multi-member LLC. For restaurateurs and retailers, we reviewed commercial lease agreements before signing, identifying problematic provisions around personal guarantees, maintenance obligations, and early termination rights that would have created significant exposure.
As businesses matured, we handled partnership disputes requiring operating agreement amendments, buy-sell provisions, and deadlock resolution mechanisms. We've emphasized to clients that the best time to address these issues is during formation, not during conflict—a $2,000 operating agreement prevents $20,000 in partnership litigation. We also supported business exits and transitions, from asset purchase agreements to intellectual property licensing deals. One client sold a transportation technology platform through a carefully structured earnout agreement that balanced immediate payment with future performance incentives. Another transferred franchise rights while negotiating release provisions to limit ongoing liability. We're excited to announce that our first podcast series discussing this full business cycle work—from formation through exit—will be releasing soon, diving deeper into how we support entrepreneurs at each stage.
Our estate planning practice served families with varying levels of complexity and sophistication. For some clients, straightforward planning meant wills with testamentary trusts for minor children, advance directives, HIPAA authorizations, and durable powers of attorney. For others, we implemented revocable living trusts with pourover wills, created lifetime protection trusts to shield assets from creditors and long-term care costs, and designed A/B credit shelter trust structures to maximize state estate tax exemptions for married couples. One client needed special needs planning to preserve governmental benefits for a disabled beneficiary. Another required business succession planning that coordinated corporate documents with personal estate plans to ensure smooth generational transfer. These sophisticated planning tools require understanding not just legal mechanics but family dynamics, tax implications, and long-term wealth preservation strategies.
We also handled over five hundred consumer protection cases spanning landlord-tenant disputes, debt collection defense, and consumer rights enforcement. Time and again, we saw missed deadlines under ORS 90.300, which requires landlords to return security deposits within 31 days—violations that entitled clients to double damages. We encountered debt collection efforts that lacked proper verification and insurance claim denials that defied policy language. These matters reminded us that documentation and timely action are often determinative, and that regulatory oversight through agencies like the Oregon Construction Contractors Board creates leverage and provides powerful resolution tools.
What makes this year particularly significant is how our client work connected to broader legal developments in Oregon. Senate Bill 605 prohibits medical debt from appearing on credit reports starting January 1, 2026, addressing disputes we encountered over healthcare billing. Senate Bill 426 expands contractor liability for unpaid subcontractor wages, creating joint responsibility to ensure payment chains function properly. House Bill 3865 limits telemarketing to three calls per 24 hours and prohibits calls between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., extending consumer protections across commercial solicitation. House Bill 3522 streamlines eviction procedures for unauthorized occupants while attempting to preserve tenant rights.
As we look ahead to 2026, these new laws reshape several practice areas while broader trends emerge. The February legislative session will address transportation funding, tax policy, and business regulations. Portland's evolving government structure continues developing. Economic uncertainty drives demand for strategic business planning and asset protection. Emerging questions around artificial intelligence and technology create novel legal challenges for businesses and individuals alike.
For our business clients, this means continued focus on preventive planning—reviewing contracts before signing, structuring entities properly from formation, implementing buy-sell agreements before disputes arise, and coordinating business succession with personal estate plans. For estate planning clients, it means considering sophisticated tools that address asset protection, tax efficiency, and legacy preservation beyond basic documents. For all clients, it means understanding that legal protections require assertion, documentation matters enormously, and timing is critical.
For As Your Counsel, 2026 presents opportunities to build on these lessons while expanding our support for Oregon's entrepreneurs and families. Whether forming your first LLC, negotiating a complex commercial lease, implementing a comprehensive estate plan, or navigating consumer protection challenges, our goal remains constant: translating legal complexity into strategic advantage and ensuring your vision becomes reality. That's what 2025 taught us, and that's what we'll carry into 2026.