James E. Mountain Jr.

Jim Mountain focuses on defending businesses and individuals against government regulation, sanctions, and assessments. His practice emphasizes appellate law and administrative, regulatory law.

Jim regularly defends licensed professionals—doctors, pharmacists, psychologists, architects, geologists, accountants, lawyers, and even judges—in proceedings before their licensing boards or regulatory bodies and, particularly, in the appellate courts. He also handles appeals for the firm’s business and government clients.

Jim frequently serves the firm’s clients in the Supreme Courts and Courts of Appeal of the United States, the State of Oregon, and the State of Washington. He represents the clients’ business, professional, and personal interests before the various administrative agencies and courts of the federal, state, and local governments.

His practice requires that he often work closely with the client’s general counsel or trial lawyer on appellate court matters and so he has developed strong and long-lasting relationships with other lawyers. Jim regularly provides appellate consulting services to other lawyers and their clients, including assistance with their preparation of written briefs and oral arguments. Jim frequently serves as an expert witness regarding awards of attorney fees.

Jim formerly served as the State of Oregon’s chief appellate lawyer, its Solicitor General. He also held the number two job in the Oregon Department of Justice as the Deputy Attorney General with responsibility to manage one of the state’s largest law firms. With almost 40 years of experience, Jim has briefed and argued hundreds of cases before state and federal appellate courts. Jim is also intimately familiar with the administrative law and regulatory functions of the executive branches of state and federal government.

In professional licensing and discipline matters, Jim is recognized by the Oregon appellate courts as a proponent of cutting edge administrative law and constitutional law issues. Jim has persuaded the Oregon appellate courts to require a state agency to reimburse a client for the attorney fees the client incurred in successfully defending against an administrative tax assessment. However, Jim’s most personally satisfying appellate court victory was his securing a life-saving medical operation for a child over the parents’ religious objections in expedited proceedings in the Oregon Court of Appeals and Supreme Court.