Kevin L Cathcart

I came to Portland in 1988 to attend law school at Lewis & Clark, Northwestern School of Law after completing my undergraduate studies at Whitman College in Walla Walla, WA.  I was raised in the country on the Kitsap Peninsula and more or less consider myself a native of the Pacific Northwest.  I've always had a deep love for the Portland, Oregon community, and I am proud to call it my home.  I have raised two children in the community over the past 32 years along with several cats and dogs.  My hobbies include cycling, hiking, mountaineering, downhill skiing, rafting and pretty much anything that gets me outdoors in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.

I began my legal career as a law clerk during law school for a firm that did both insurance defense work and plaintiff's personal injury cases on behalf of individuals.  Firms of this nature are rare in today's legal community because they are almost always one or the other...not both.  I worked 20 to 30 hours a week for the law firm during law school and attended classes full time. After I graduated in the top 20% of my class from law school, I passed the bar examination on my first attempt and began working at the same firm that I worked for during law school. My mentor was a senior litigation attorney who previously worked as a law professor part time at the Nothwestern School of Law when it was a night school in downtown Portland.  He was an excellent teacher, and he taught me how to try cases to juries in the courts of Oregon.  I was handling jury trials in my first year out of law school, which is almost unheard of these days.  I also had opportunities to "second chair" cases with the senior attorney for serious injuries as well as wrongful death.  When my mentor retired, I took over his case load of plaintiff's cases, and I have been primarily practicing on my own litigating cases on exclusively behalf of individual plaintiffs for over two decades. I no longer believe in representing insurance companies because I like to help people as opposed to furthering the monetary interests of Fortune 500 corporations.  My experience representing insurers in the past during the first five years of my legal career has given me special insight into their inner workings and methods.   

My passion is to help regular people navigate the legal system as an advisor and advocate. Most of my clients have never hired a lawyer before. I am very loyal to my clients and strive to deliver the best result possible.  99% of my cases are handled on a contingency basis, meaning that if nothing is recovered, nothing is owed for my time.  I like the fact that I have skin in the game along with my clients.  It's what keeps me motivated and passionate.