Risa M Davis

I am the owner of a business that operates in Oregon, Washington and Northern California. Risa is my go-to attorney for employment law advice. She is great at answering all my legal and human resource questions. I work with Risa on a flat-fee subscription basis, which works well for my company's b...udget - I pay a fee each month for unlimited consultations (which my managers can use as well). The fee also includes Risa's services in developing, updating, and drafting our employee policies and handbook each year, and in two company-wide trainings each year (Risa and I work together to decide which employment law/policy topics to cover with each training). Additionally, I have hired Risa to do investigations into employee complaints (like complaints of harassment by managers). I have also hired her to coach managers who need specific employment-law-related coaching. There are many more employment law issues Risa has helped me with, but it would take forever to describe them all! The bottom line is that Risa is a swiss-army-knife-like employment law attorney. The trainings she has conducted at my company have been excellent and with Risa's policy changes and trainings our employee complaints about manager behavior have dropped by 75% and our ability to retain minority employees has increased significantly. Risa is truly a partner in my company's success. Positives of Working with Risa: + Risa is easy to talk to about even the most embarrassing employment law issues (the ones that start with "I can't believe this manager did this, but..."). + She is strategic - she knows businesses can't do or pay for everything all at once and has helped me figure out what employment issues to address first, second, third, etc for the most bang for my buck. + She will tell you if something isn't worth spending money on - Risa does not do legal work just for the sake of making more money. She has told me when she thought a legal matter I wanted to pursue would ultimately cost me more money that it would gain me and when I didn't follow her advice the first time, she was right! (I have listened ever since.) + Risa works WITH me and never makes me feel stupid for not knowing the law - this is really different than a lot of lawyers I've worked with in the past. + Risa knows her stuff and when she needs time to do research, she tells me and comes back with detailed information and options. Risa also makes great recommendations about books and articles to read to expand my own knowledge. Negatives Working with Risa: + I do not actually think this is a negative, because it is one of the reasons Risa can keep her rates so reasonable and that is very important to me, but Risa is a solo practitioner. What this means is that there isn't a receptionist answering her phone. So, if Risa is in court or in the middle of a meeting, you will need to leave a voice mail. That might bother some people. BUT, Risa will get back to you very quickly. AND, Risa is great about being very upfront about her availability. ALSO, if there is any time she will be unavailable for more than 48-hours, she will get another attorney to help her so that her clients can speak to someone while she is gone. But, I know some people don't like leaving voice messages, and I if that is you, that might be an issue. I highly recommend Risa to any businesses owner for employment law work.

I used Risa to settle an employment dispute with a former employer. It took a long time and some litigation, but ultimately it was worth the wait to get the settlement I'm getting. I can't provide too much information because of the terms of the settlement agreement, but I can say that Risa was gre...at to work with each step of the way. And we've been working together on this case for almost 3 years now! I know that people want fast results - and sometimes that is possible - but in my case it was important to go slow, consider all the options, and push, push, push for a good settlement. And that is what I got! I am very please with the legal services Risa provided and would recommend her to anyone with an employment law issue.

Risa helped me with an embarrassing situation: I got into a car accident while my insurance had lapsed. The accident was entirely the other driver’s fault and my car was totaled while the other driver’s car had a few dents. No one was hurt. But, the other driver and their insurance came after me. ... Risa dealt with the entire thing for me and fought tooth and nail to make sure I didn’t have to pay for something that wasn’t my fault. It took some time, but Risa’s strategy paid off. I didn't have to pay for the other driver's bad driving. I don’t think this is the type of law Risa usually does, but I’d trust her with any legal issue. She had my back and I got a much better outcome than I thought possible.

Risa represented me in my divorce and custody case. She handled the case expeditiously and made sure that my daughter's interests were protected. She ensured that I recieved an fair child support award and when my ex tried to change the amount shortly after the divorce was finalized, she faught for... me and my daughter and won. My case was complicated by the fact that both my ex travels for work and I travel internationally and Risa was able to design some great solutions to deal with our situation. I also find the work that Risa's firm does in the community inspiring. I believe that Risa and her team not only care about their clients, but also care about the Portland community as a whole.

My child was facing unfair treatment at her school in Portland, which would have held her back a grade. The school was refusing to allow her to advance appropriatly with her grade, despite the fact that she was one of the top students in the class. The school just didn't want to go through the troub...le of doing an assessment to find the appropriate placement. I had done everything I could and didn't know what to do. Risa was great at working with me to identify what I needed to do and what she could help me with. I had a limited budget to spend on legal representation and Risa was able to work within that budget. Ultimately she drafted several letters which outlined to the school what my child needed and the legal (and moral) basis for her getting the services she needed. Ultimately the school agreed to follow their own guidelines and my child is now happily enrolled in the proper grade. Risa was great and personalizing her legal representation to fit my needs and my budget. She helped me work strategically to get my child what she needed.