Erin Forbes helps companies in Oregon and Washington navigate a wide variety of land use and environmental matters. Her clients range from residential and commercial real estate developers to ports to healthcare and biotechnology companies. Erin was formerly an intellectual property attorney at Schwabe and, before that, at a boutique patent litigation firm in Chicago. In this role, she assisted retail, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and medical device companies on patent, trademark, and copyright litigation and counseling matters.

Erin brings to the table eight years of pre-law experience working in laboratory and clinical research at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Oregon Health & Science University’s Knight Cancer Institute. This work has given her an invaluable understanding of the needs and challenges these organizations face and allowed her to develop a skill set that directly correlates to her law practice.

Erin’s strong scientific background combined with her litigation experience provides her with industry knowledge and experience that is critical to land use and environmental work. Moreover, she is adept at issue spotting, analyzing and interpreting new and unfamiliar subject matter quickly, and learning new technologies. Erin particularly enjoys this work because it allows her to make a local impact in the Pacific Northwest region.

Memberships

• Multnomah Bar Association, Member
• Oregon State Bar, Member
• Chicago Bar Association, Member (2013-2018)

Awards

• Best Lawyers in America Award: Ones to Watch, Intellectual Property Law (2021)

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