Alterman Law Group PC

02/17/2026

11/10/2025

Dean Alterman, Ann Guinn, and Mackenzie Sorich gave a presentation on November 7 to the annual Solo and Small Firm conference of the Washington State Bar Association on how to start and manage a small law firm. In two hours the panel covered legal structure, financing, marketing, staffing, and service.

09/14/2025

Last month Dean Alterman spoke at the 2025 annual meeting and conference of the Real Estate and Land Use section of the Oregon State Bar, known fondly to lawyers in the field as RELU, covering how lawyers can advise clients who own landlocked parcels. A parcel might be legally landlocked because, like the parcel in the illustration, it does not front on a public road and has no legal access to a public road. It might be factually landlocked because even though it fronts on a public road, a river or chasm might cut most of the parcel off from the public road. Or it might be legally but not factually landlocked: what if a private road runs through the parcel, but the owner of the parcel doesn’t have the legal right to use the road? Dean interleaved his discussion of the law with apposite quotations from Robert Frost. (Frost’s poetry includes many lines relevant to the real estate lawyer, particularly in Mending Wall and Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening. It’s hard to acquire a prescriptive easement to use old private roads if, to quote Frost, “No one has seen them made or heard them made.”)

06/19/2025

My colleagues know my feelings about using the passive voice to describe the parties' obligations in a contract. It's fine, in elegant literature or in a revolutionary tract, to describe what is to be done. A contract should state who is promising to do something. A lease that states only that "Rent will be paid on the first day of the month and is delinquent if not received by the 10th day of the month" hasn't imposed an obligation on the tenant to pay rent to the landlord.
Don't be elegant; be exact.

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12/27/2024

Kyle J. Murphy is falsely claiming to be affiliated with Alterman Law Group. Mr. Murphy has no connection to our firm.

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12/13/2024

Congratulations to Habitat for Humanity Portland Region on its forthcoming ReStore location in Tigard, set to open this spring. The Tigard ReStore will join three existing ReStores in the Portland area as a place to buy new and gently used furniture, appliances, and building materials. Proceeds help to fund Habitat for Humanity's housing programs in the Portland region.
Alterman Law Group is pleased to have provided legal services for the new ReStore as an in-kind donation to Habitat for Humanity.

There’s a new ReStore coming in 2025, and we want your help revealing the location!

02/08/2024

Last week we joined our friends at Calbag Metals to volunteer for Habitat for Humanity Portland Region at its Foster Commons project in southeast Portland, where for a day we nailed in drywall, hung blinds, and installed anti-tipping safety devices for ranges - hands-on real estate experience for everyone in our firm. Kudos to firm attorney (and Habitat for Humanity - Portland Region director) Elizabeth English for connecting us with this fine organization.

03/28/2023

We have for years been proud to be a sponsor of WinterSmash, the annual bowling tournament of the Multnomah Bar Association that raises funds to support the Multnomah Bar Foundation and its CourtCare, CourtSupport, and CourtConnect programs. Last month we were even prouder, if more than a bit surprised, to win the trophy for the team high score.