With more than 25 years of commercial litigation experience, I achieve excellent results in matters involving all aspects of business litigation including contracts law, labor law, formation of business entities, taxation, and financial planning.

My Firm's broad-based services resolve matters within the following practice areas:

Contract Law: the drafting and enforcement of agreements associated the needs of a business
Labor Law Issues: the drafting of company policies, hand books, and the litigation of labor related issues for the employer
Formation of Business Entities: The formation of partnerships; corporations (both C and S corporations); and limited liability companies
Tax issues: Assisting companies with the handling of tax issues with the IRS and Oregon Department of Revenue
Financially challenged businesses: working with companies who have financial problems and assisting the company with making the hard decisions to work out of its financial challenges

As an experienced Salem, Oregon Business Litigation Lawyer, I also handle these business law issues for clients throughout Oregon: 

• Real Estate Financing & Transactional Services
• Securities Litigation
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Succession Planning
• Estate Planning
• Bankruptcy
• Fraud
• Franchises & Other Types of Business Marketing
• Breach of Fiduciary Duty
• Licensing & Commercial Contracts
• Sales Commission Disputes
• Trade Secrets
• Litigation & Dispute Resolution
• Business Litigation
• Arbitration
• Business & Corporate Services

As a skilled Salem, Oregon Business Litigation Lawyer, I offer highly competitive hourly rates for legal services. My extensive legal experience in business litigation matters produces a higher level of professional efficiency in this field than that of less-experienced attorneys, who must spend time and the client's money educating themselves about unfamiliar practice areas. I am able to pass those savings to clients, providing greater value for each legal dollar.

I'm not afraid to make the hard calls, and tell you the truth when things get difficult. I provide a personal and individual approach to the practice of law. Clients often develop a deep and abiding trust in our Firm and become long-term friends. I take great pride in an enviable reputation for personal and professional integrity, litigation skills and a remarkable client retention rate. In fact, most new clients are referred by other highly satisfied clients.

Notable recent successes include:

Washington Alder v. Capital Consultants: I was the lead counsel representing Washington Alder which brought a lender liability claim against Capital Consultants which was in receivership at the time. The case was resolved with reduction of the amount owed by Washington Alder to Capital Consultants by approximately 13 Million Dollars.

KPI Pacific v. Weyerhaeuser: I assisted in the lawsuit that was filed against Weyerhaeuser that resulted in a jury verdict of $12.125 Million.

Enlow v. Enlow: I was lead counsel in the representation of a family member whose assets were being held by the Enlow Family Trust.As a result of my efforts, the Enlow Family Trust ultimately sold its interest in the Evansville Courier to the Scripts Howard newspaper company resulting in a $13.0 Million dollar distribution to my client.

My goal is to dispose of legal matters as efficiently as possible, and I never prolong cases to generate higher fees. When you retain our Firm, you benefit from our long record of honest legal representation. We are a welcomed and valuable addition to any company that hires us.

If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced Salem, Oregon Business Litigation Lawyer, contact Robert J. Custis today at 866-822-2664, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

Praactice Areas and Legal Definitions

Employment Law:
Employment law is a growing and ever-changing body of state and federal statutes, rules, regulations, ordinances, judicial precedents and administrative rulings touching on the legal rights and obligations of employers and employees, and of their respective affiliated organizations.  One or another aspect of employment law affects virtually every facet of commercial activity in the modern marketplace.

Real Estate Financing and Transactional Services:
Typically, as they expand, growing businesses become more and more involved in real estate transactions, ranging from office space to retail store properties to warehouses and shopping mall syndication.  A qualified business lawyer can provide valuable assistance in traditional real estate purchase, sale and leasing transactions, and in dealing with environmental and various other issues arising out of industrial and agricultural redevelopment projects.

Securities Litigation:
In the course of financing their expansion, businesses commonly turn to one or more activities involving the sale of securities, ranging from the funding and formation of start-up companies to buying and selling professional practices, assets, divisions and companies, and engaging in private stock offerings and re-sales.  Businesses may also get involved with such things as structuring venture capital financing, forming off-shore sales and sourcing entities, structuring commercial and partnering transactions and syndicating real property acquisitions. 

Business Contracts:
Business contracts are written agreements spanning a broad range of the business relationships that occur in the life of a typical company.  They can include non-compete agreements, non-piracy agreements, non-disclosure agreements, restrictive covenants, employment agreements, producer agreements, sales representative agreements, consulting agreements, management agreements, franchise agreements, licensing agreements, deferred compensation agreements and independent contractor agreements.

Mergers and Acquisitions:
The phrase "Mergers and Acquisitions" refers to corporate finance strategy and management dealing with the merging and acquiring of different companies as well as other assets.  Usually mergers occur in a friendly setting where executives from the respective companies participate in a due diligence process to ensure a successful combination of all parts.  Corporate mergers are often aimed at reducing market competition.  On other occasions, acquisitions can occur through hostile takeover by a "corporate raider" purchasing the majority of outstanding shares of a company in the open market.  In the United States, business laws vary from state to state whereby some companies have limited protection against hostile takeovers.

Technically, what differentiates a merger from an acquisition is how it is financed.  Simply put, a merger is a combination of two companies into one larger company.  A "merger" or "merger of equals" is often financed by an all-stock deal (a stock swap).  An all-stock deal occurs when all of the owners of stocks of either company get the same amount of stock in the new combined company.  The term "demerger" is sometimes used to indicate the effective opposite of a merger, where one company splits into two, the second often being a separately listed stock company if the parent was a stock company.  An acquisition (a larger company buying out a smaller company) can involve a cash and debt combination, or just cash, or a combination of cash and stock of the purchasing entity, or just stock.  In addition, the acquisition can take the form of a purchase of the stock or other equity interests of the target entity, or the acquisition of all or substantially all of its assets.

Succession Planning:
Succession planning is the process of identifying and grooming suitable replacements, through mentoring and training, for such key company employees as a CEO upon the expiration of his or her term of office.

Estate Planning:
An estate is the collection of assets held by an individual, including real and personal property.  Estate planning is the process that an individual and his or her family undertake to determine how best to transfer those assets prior to and at the time of the individual's death.  The estate plan's purpose is to work within existing state and federal laws to preserve the maximum amount of wealth possible for the beneficiaries (those designated to inherit the estate).  The most common means for carrying out the estate plan is through legal documents, primarily wills and trusts.  Estate planning includes simple and complex wills, living wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, gift planning, Medicare protection, family limited partnerships, powers of attorney, health care powers of attorney, limited powers of attorney, special powers of attorney and prenuptial agreements.

Bankruptcy:
Bankruptcy is a process authorized under the federal Bankruptcy Act under which a debtor who is unable to pay his or her creditors may petition the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for relief.  Depending upon the factual circumstances of the case and the particular Chapter of the Bankruptcy Act under which relief is sought, the Court may grant varying forms of relief, ranging from an order granting full discharge of the debts to the establishment or an arrangement under which the debtor is given additional time to pay the debts.  As long as the debtor complies with the terms of that arrangement the creditors will be barred by court order from taking any further collection actions against the debtor.  There is a special type of Bankruptcy proceeding authorized under Chapter 11 of the Act.  It is called "business reorganization," and it is designed to enable a business debtor to remain in business while reorganizing the debt under a plan providing for the creditors to be paid.

Fraud:
This is an area of law that often overlaps with criminal law.  In the civil business litigation arena, the proof requires a showing that the defendant made a false statement, intending that the plaintiff rely upon it.  There must also be a showing that the plaintiff did, in fact, rely upon it, and that the plaintiff suffered damages as a result.  Punitive damages are commonly awarded to successful plaintiffs in fraud cases.

Franchises and other types of Business Marketing:
A great many small businesses in the marketplace today are operated not as purely independent businesses, but as franchises, distributorships, or any of various types of licensing arrangements.  All of these businesses are created through written agreements containing express and implied warranties, and it is not uncommon for issues to arise resulting in litigation.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty:
The formation of a "fiduciary relationship" begins when someone places special confidence and trust in another who has substantially superior knowledge and training, and also relies on that person to act in his or her best interest.  If this trust is knowingly and voluntarily accepted, a “fiduciary” relationship is said to exist.  This places a legal duty on the stronger of the two to act diligently in the best interest of the weaker party and never, under any circumstances to secure any advantage at the weaker party’s expense.  There are a limited number of circumstances in business transactions where a fiduciary relationship comes into play.  Courts tend to rigorously enforce fiduciary duties, and in the event of a willful breach often award punitive damages as well as compensatory damages.  Some common examples of fiduciary relationships are a trustee-beneficiary relationship, a doctor-patient relationship, a lawyer-client relationship and a corporate officer-stockholder relationship.

Licensing and Commercial Contracts:
Business services attorneys counsel clients in a wide range of commercial and intellectual property (IP) transactions.  They provide assistance in structuring, drafting, reviewing and negotiating commercial and IP agreements related to the development, acquisition and commercialization of technology, IP, goods or services.  The types of agreements involved in these transactions include:

• Software license, maintenance and support, source code escrow, end user license, patent and other technology license agreements
• Development agreements
• Purchase and supply agreements
• Manufacturing agreements
• Distribution, reseller, value-added reseller (VAR) and original equipment manufacturer (OEM) agreements
• Referral, marketing agreements
• Employment, consulting, technical services and outsourcing agreements
• Joint venture, strategic partner, technology transfer agreements
• E-commerce and Internet-related agreements (including web-based hosting agreements, application service provider (ASP) agreements, web site development, privacy policies and website terms of use)
• Non-disclosure agreements

Sales Commission Disputes:
In avoiding sales commission litigation there is no substitute for an artfully drafted agreement spelling out precisely how and at what rate sales representatives are to receive commissions.  Common usage and custom are also taken into consideration by courts in determining the issues, even where there is a written agreement.

Trade Secrets:
A trade secret is any information that can be used in the operation of a business or other enterprise and that is sufficiently valuable and secret to afford an actual or potential economic advantage over others.  Trade secret difficulties can be eliminated or, at least, minimized by effective legal language in employment and/or severance agreements, but situations will still arise from time to time where litigation presents the only viable solution.

Litigation and Dispute Resolution:
Commercial disputes often become legal disputes, the resolution of which typically proceeds along an escalating scale of confrontation ranging from informal settlement negotiation to hardball litigation.  An effective business litigation attorney must have complete mastery of this complex and challenging field of law, but more than that, he or she must also have the patience and personal skills to operate on an informal level, and the aggressive forensic ability and tenacity to claim victory in the courtroom.

Contract Remedies:
Contracts are the very stuff upon which the marketplace is founded, and they provide the basis for a large share of business litigation.  The remedies for breach of contract include money damages and injunctive relief expressly directing one of the parties to perform a contractual obligation.  This remedy involves a form of injunction called a “specific performance” decree.  The remedy of specific performance is often called an “extraordinary” equitable remedy, in that courts will not grant specific performance except in a sharply limited number of circumstances.  Punitive damages are not an available remedy in a contract lawsuit.

Business Litigation:
Business litigation is the area of law that provides assistance in the preparation and presentation of a lawsuit or other resort to the courts to determine a legal question or matter in business situations.  Business can be any activity or enterprise entered into for profit, usually a company, a corporation, partnership or any such formal organization.  Business lawyers advise and represent businesses and financial institutions in such areas as business torts, class actions, complex contracts, financial forensics, government investigations, international dispute resolution, professional relations, real estate disputes, securities and antitrust, technology and intellectual property, professional malpractice, shareholder and corporate governance and telecommunications.  Business lawyers place an emphasis on achieving or defending against pre-judgment remedies, including pre-judgment orders for writs of possession, attachments, temporary restraining orders, and injunctions, as well as arbitration or mediation settlements and monetary compensation resulting from lawsuits.  Transactional business lawyers represent clients in matters relating to, but not limited to, organizational, operational and contractual documents for corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, commercial transactions, mergers, real estate acquisitions, leasing and development and commercial financing.

Arbitration:
Arbitration is a method of Alternative Dispute Resolution.  In this process, the parties jointly select a lawyer to act as arbitrator.  The idea is to choose someone with an outstanding reputation for personal and professional integrity, with heavy litigation experience involving cases similar to the one in which the parties are currently involved.  The parties may select either "binding" or "non-binding" arbitration.  Some lawyers discourage their clients from participating in "non-binding" arbitration, seeing futility in the expense and inconvenience of a process that may prove a waste of time.  Other attorneys discourage their clients from participating in "binding" arbitration, so that their options are preserved in the event of an unreasonable adverse ruling by the arbitrator.

Arbitration is more like a trial than is Mediation.  For one thing, in binding arbitration the arbitrator's decision is virtually the same as a judgment.  In both types, however, the arbitrator actually renders a decision, as opposed to simply making a recommendation.  Each side submits an arbitration brief, containing a summary of relevant facts, a list of the legal issues thought relevant, and reference to the applicable law.  There is a hearing in the nature of a trial, but much less formal.  It is usually held at the arbitrator's office.  Sworn testimony may be offered, subject to cross-examination.  The attorneys usually join in a stipulation agreeing that certain specified facts are not in dispute.

The rules of evidence are less rigorously applied in arbitration hearings than in trials.  Sometimes the arbitrator announces a decision at the end of the hearing, but more often, the case is taken under submission by the arbitrator, the decision being communicated by letter to both sides within a week or two.  The arbitration process takes a lot of pressure off the court system, and it has proven itself as an effective alternative method for the resolution of disputes.

Business Formation:
There really isn’t any need for legal counsel in forming a sole proprietorship, but other forms of business organization are a good deal more complicated and are best accomplished with the assistance of a lawyer.  These include the formation of partnerships, limited liability companies and corporations.

Business and Corporate Services:
Business and corporate services involves advising companies and investors in the purchase, sale and mergers of businesses.  The services provided include forming and funding start-up companies, buying and selling practices, assets, divisions and companies, engaging in private stock offerings and re-sales, structuring venture capital financing, forming off-shore sales and sourcing entities, structuring commercial and partnering transactions and syndicating real property acquisitions.

Employment Handbooks and Policy Manuals:
Most large companies have Employee Handbooks and Policy Manuals.  They serve a very useful purpose in making employees fully aware of what they can expect from their employer, and what is expected of them.  Both are useful tools in preventing litigation simply by removing confusion.  The growing trend is for small companies to have them also.  One always hopes that a business will grow and it is much more effective to have such things in place before the growth occurs than afterwards.

If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced Salem, Oregon Business Litigation Lawyer, contact Robert J. Custis today at 866-822-2664, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.

Professional Profile

Our Firm has been providing legal representation and services in the area of business law since 1979.  I place top priority on representing clients vigorously and ethically to achieve the best results possible. I have been the lead counsel on cases winning multi-million dollar awards for clients. Our Firm provides an atmosphere where clients can feel completely comfortable, knowing they are in capable hands.

If you or someone you know needs the assistance of an experienced Salem, Oregon Business Litigation Lawyer, contact Robert J. Custis today at 866-822-2664, or use the contact form provided on this site to schedule your initial consultation.


Robert J. Custis, P.C.
P. O. Box 2182
Salem, OR 97308
Phone: 866-822-2664
Hours: M-F, 8:00AM-5:00PM
Appointments also available after hours.

MEMBERS OF THE FIRM:
Robert J. Custis

EDUCATION:

• Willamette University College of Law, JD in 1979
• University of Evansville, BS in economics 1976
  

COURTS ADMITTED:
Oregon

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS/ACHIEVEMENTS:
Admitted to practice law in the Federal District Court of Oregon, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the U.S. Supreme Court. I have appeared in courts located in Washington, Oregon, California, Indiana, and Nevada.