Ruth E Pekelder

I met with Ruth today and found her to be highly professional, an excellent listener, whip smart and she gave me excellent advise and guidance with regards to an issue I have with my "wusband". I left her office feeling far more centered, grounded and calm then when I walked in, and I appreciated ho...w well she focused her energy on me and her problem solving skills were most efficient. I wouldn't hesitate using her again, and I only wish that she'd been my divorce attorney because I think I would have done far better with her on my team. If you need a lawyer, go to Ruth!

I am an old teacher and appreciated Ruth's clarity at the beginning of this pursuit. It was with a heavy heart that I chose to pursue legal means to secure time with my son, and first met with Ruth. I was not only impressed with her years of experience and knowledge, but also her integrity and kind h...eart over the course of the legal battle. Communications were clear and timely and I always felt she was working for the highest good and best possible outcome. I appreciate getting thru the legal experience with her leading my team for my family. Without hesitation I highly recommend Ruth and her team.

I recently moved to the east coast to a small town in rural Vermont. I wanted to try living for the first time with a significant other in his 1865 family home. I have always lived in Portland and was intrigued at this opportunity to try living in another place. Shortly upon moving, I was served le...gal papers from my previous spouse wanting to remove spousal support. It seemed a bit premature as divorce had only taken place 4 years earlier . I was awarded spousal support until the age of 65, after all we were married 27 years and together we build a successful flourishing business . I saw my spousal support as a compensation for the business we created. Dismayed that spousal was threatened to be revoked I needed a strong lawyer. I did my networking/ research and was lead to Ruth Pekelder. A terrific choice. The experience I had with an attorney during the divorce was one I didn't want to repeat. This time around I wanted an ox. That's Ruth, she is solid, empowered with experience and education and her brain is engaged at the task at hand. This attorney was my advocate , she was clear and direct in her communication, Ruth took the time to explain and educate my questions at hand. She is personable , professional and proactive. In a short time over emails and phone calls I developed a deep sense of trust and together a working dialog/ and relationship developed . The first time I met Ruth was the day of mediation. With conviction I can attest that she was my advocate. She holds a vision of truth and justice. These qualities forged my ability to build confidence during mediation. I feel extremely fortunate to have had her legal expertise, and her meticulous attention to detail. In the end, I'm the lucky one and feel very grateful with the outcome. It was worth the investment. Ruth is one of those human beings who invests her time and energy into what she believes in. Justice. I am forever grateful for the experience we had together. I write this referral in hopes that you too can be "the lucky one"

At the age of 66 and after 44 years of marriage, the need for a divorce attorney was never on my radar. I had no idea where to go or what to do. Through a recommendation from an old family friend, also an attorney, I was given the firm name of Pekelder Family Law. What good fortune I had to have Ru...th Pekelder and her staff guide and support me through this emotional time. The respect and compassion I felt was invaluable. The legal expertise exhibited during all the negotiations added a tremendous degree of confidence to the entire process. It was Ruth's knowledge, experience and professionalism shown when dealing with other attorneys, bankers, and all persons involved, that secured a most positive outcome for me. I highly recommend Ruth Pekelder and Pekelder Family Law if you find yourself requiring the finest in representation.

I retained Ruth Pekelder as my initial counsel in my divorce. The issues were not complicated (no messy child custody issues) but there were highly unequitable financial responsibilities taken for the family between my ex-husband and me over the years and Ruth's initial advice and early fillings pro...ved very costly to me in the eventual settlement despite my work with another attorney to try to create more equitable terms of agreement. In all early negotiations with my spouse and his attorney Ruth recommended taking actions to appease their requests for a larger proportion of interim support than our respective salaries would suggest resulting in large early payouts that were never recovered and that seemed to have the effect of emboldening my ex-spouse and his attorney in their negotiations rather than creating a more cooperative process. She also made substantive errors in calculating prospective child support payments which were included in the initial filings - my understanding is that this is calculated in Oregon using a straightforward formula so was really taken by surprise that someone with her experience and reputation would make such mistakes. Had I realized that my child support payments would be more than twice the amount entered in the initial documents, I would likely have handled the eventual mediation session differently. In addition, I felt poorly informed about her interactions with my ex-husband's attorney yet was aggressively billed for even the most routine receipt of e-mails or calls she received from my ex-husband's attorney. Overall I spent more than twice as much for her services that set me up poorly for negotiating a fair settlement yet got only a fraction of the service I received from the subsequent divorce attorney I worked with. I cannot recommend her services - my experience working with her was extremely costly and added considerably to the stress of my divorce.