Partners

John W. Whitty

Areas of Practice: Estate Planning; Estate Administration; Trust Law; Business Law; Commercial Law; Real Estate

Education: BS (law) University of Oregon, 1954; LL.B., University of Oregon, 1956.

Member: Coos County Bar Association; Oregon State Bar; Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

John's practice focuses on estate planning, trusts and probate, business agreements, business organizations, and commercial real estate transactions. He handles sales and purchases of businesses, passing of family businesses from one generation to another, and estate tax planning for estates of all sizes. He handles purchases, sales, and leases of real property.

John became a lawyer in 1956, and has been a member of the firm since that time, except for a two-year period in the Air Force. He has served on the Executive Committees of the Oregon State Bar's sections on Taxation, Estate Planning, and Business and Corporate Law, of which he was chairperson. John is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

John has been a speaker and writer for Oregon State Bar Continuing Legal Education programs and publications, dealing with corporations, business sales, income taxes, estate taxes and estate planning, including business succession planning.

John is also active in civic affairs, and has served on the Oregon Transportation Commission and on the transition teams for two of Oregon’s governors. He currently is a member of the Bay Area Hospital District Board and serves on the Southwest Area Commission of Transportation.

Jon Littlefield

Areas of Practice: Estate Planning; Real Estate Foreclosure; Trust Law; Estate Administration; Will Contests.

Education: AB (history), cum laude, Stanford University, 1967; Johns Hopkins University; JD, Willamette University, 1974

Member: Coos County Bar Association; Oregon State Bar.

Email: jonlittlefield@coosbaylaw.com

Raised on the southern Oregon coast, Jon is a Vietnam veteran and a graduate of Stanford University and the Willamette University College of Law. He has been a lawyer with the firm since 1974. He has a broad practice including all aspects of real estate, foreclosures and creditors' rights, estate planning, conservatorships and guardianships, probate and estate and trust administration, estate litigation, health law, and the purchase and sale of businesses. Jon has trained as a mediator, served as a pro tem judge, and currently serves as an arbitrator. In addition to his law practice, Jon is active in volunteer work in the community related to education, literacy and eldercare.

William A. McDaniel

Areas of Practice: Business Litigation; Real Estate Litigation; Personal Injury.

Education: AB (economics) University of California at Berkeley, 1972; JD, Order of the Coif, University of Oregon, 1976

Member: Coos County Bar Association; Oregon State Bar; Oregon Trial Lawyers Association.

Email: billmcdaniel@coosbaylaw.com

Bill joined the firm in 1976. He is an experienced trial lawyer, with his practice focusing on litigation of business and real estate disputes, as well as personal injury cases. He is licensed to practice in both State and Federal courts.

In his civil litigation practice, Bill has represented both large corporations and small business owners in successfully resolving their legal problems. Over the last 25 years he has numerous reported appellate cases in both the Oregon and Federal court systems.

His personal injury practice focuses primarily on representing plaintiffs in cases involving death or serious injuries. Bill has extensive experience in insurance law, and is regularly involved in litigation claims against insurance carriers.

Michael N. Bodkin

Areas of Practice: Estate Planning; Trust Law; Business Law; Health Law.

Education: BS BA (economics and business administration), summa cum laude, Denver University, 1976; JD, University of Oregon, 1979.

Member: Coos County and American Bar Associations; Oregon State Bar.

E-mail: mikebodkin@coosbaylaw.com

Mike's practice is concentrated in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate administration, business law and real estate (including timber). He has handled large business sales including the sale of a fish processing plant and a lumber sales facility. His business clients include a wood processing plant and a large medical clinic. Families often call upon Mike to assist them in estate plans and organization of family limited liability companies to manage business and timber assets, and to pass those assets to family members upon the owner's death in a tax efficient manner.

Mike grew up in Northeastern Colorado and attended Denver University and the University of Oregon. He has been with the firm since 1979.

Mike and his wife Cindy have spent many enjoyable hours raising five children.

Associates

Andrew E. Combs

Andy grew up an hour’s drive south and east of Coos Bay in the community of Dora. After graduating from high school in Myrtle Point, he attended the University of Oregon where he graduated cum laude with a B.S. in political science in 2000. He graduated from the University of Oregon School of Law in 2004 where he served as an editor on the Journal of Environmental Law and Litigation, a member of the Moot Court Board, and a representative for his class for two years in the law school’s student government.

Between his undergraduate studies and law school, Andy spent a year as a member of U.S. Representative Greg Walden’s congressional staff in Washington, D.C. During law school he spent a summer working in U.S. Senator Gordon Smith’s office in Washington, D.C. as a legal intern. Andy concentrates his practice on probates, estate planning, real estate matters, business law, and litigation.

Andy is active in the community and serves on the Coos County Planning Commission, Coos County Historical Society Board of Trustees, and as Municipal Judge for the City of Powers.

In his spare time, Andy likes to read and work on his family’s ranch.