| Welcome to the Law Offices of Bryan W. Gruetter |
Bryan Gruetter was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Administration of Justice from Portland State University in 1980. During college, he served as a pretrial release officer for the Multnomah County Circuit Court in Portland. He also served on the PSU student Senate. He attended law school and earned his Juris Doctorate at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. He then attended Oxford University, Magdalene College in England, where he earned a certificate in the Institute on International and Comparative Law sponsored by the University Of San Diego School Of Law. While living in England, he completed programs in International Human Rights Law and International Conflicts of Laws. He was admitted to the Oregon State Bar and authorized to practice in Federal and State courts in 1986. In 1991, Bryan successfully completed the International Association of Defense Counsel Trial Academy in Boulder, Colorado.
Bryan was one of the founding members of the Oregon State Bar NLD, (New Lawyers Division) Executive Committee in 1992 and served as Treasurer of that group for two years. Bryan and the other founding members of the NLD travelled the State to help establish this group as a vibrant OSB Committee. In 1993, he was appointed to the Oregon State Bar Legal Ethics Committee, serving as Secretary in 1994, and Chair during the 1995-96 term. He was a co-recipient of the 1995 “Boss of the Year” award given by the Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties Legal Secretaries Associations. In 1996, he served as a regional voting delegate to the Oregon State Bar. He then served a three-year term on the State Judicial Administration Committee. He served as Chair of the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel’s Trial Practice Group in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel and completed a three-year term on the board in December, 2004. He then joined the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, and now serves on the OTLA Membership Committee. From 1998-2001, Bryan served as Secretary/Treasurer, Vice Chair and then President of the J.R. Campbell (Central Oregon) American Inns of Court. In 2007, he was appointed by Oregon’s Chief Federal Judge Ancer L. Haggerty to a three year term on the Lawyer Representative Committee for the 9th Federal Circuit Court. Also in 2007, he became Secretary of the Oregon State Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and continued to serve through December, 2009. In January, 2009, Bryan was appointed by Oregon State Supreme Court’s presiding Judge Paul J. DeMuniz to a three year position on the Uniform Trial Court Rules Committee. In January, 2010, Bryan was appointed by the Oregon State Bar to serve a three year term on the Uniform Civil Jury Instructions Committee. Bryan is also a member of the American Association for Justice, the Central Oregon Bar Association, the United States District Court (District of Oregon) and a former member of the National and Oregon Chapters of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) (former Central Oregon Secretary/Treasurer), the Defense Research Institute and the American Bar Association.
Bryan joined the Bend, Oregon, office of the Portland-based law firm of Dunn, Carney, Allen, Higgins & Tongue in 1986 as a member of their litigation team, becoming a partner with that firm. In 1997, Dunn, Carney closed their Bend branch, and he joined the 10-attorney Bend, Oregon office of Hurley, Lynch and Re (later Hurley, Re & Gruetter) as partner/director in a practice serving clients throughout Oregon. On December 1, 2007, he opened the Law Offices of Bryan W. Gruetter P.C., fulfilling his long-term goal of a practice uniquely focused on serious personal injury, insurance disputes, fire loss and wrongful death cases throughout Oregon. His offices are located in Bend, Oregon and Portland, Oregon. For his first 15 years of practice, Bryan specialized in insurance defense and coverage issues involving serious injuries, wrongful death, large property loss, products liability, and fire claims. More recently, he intentionally reduced his insurance industry client base, and his practice now involves claims on behalf of injured claimants, with thousands of cases successfully resolved, including several resolutions into the millions of dollars. He litigates, mediates and arbitrates cases in Federal and State courts, and has successfully argued before the Oregon Court of Appeals. He has tried and prevailed in many jury trials and arbitrated and mediated cases throughout Oregon, including many complex cases. Bryan is also a Court-appointed Deschutes County, Jefferson County and Crook County Arbitration Judge, officiating in many cases.
Bryan regularly serves as a private mediator and arbitrator and speaks regularly at Oregon State Bar, attorney and insurance industry continuing legal education programs on issues related to legal ethics, tort law, litigation and discovery.
1996 Oregon State Bar Convention House of Delegates Meeting (Oregon Ethics Law Update), the 1997 Fall Oregon Association of Defense Counsel Summer Convention (The Ethics of Settlement Negotiations), the 1997 Oregon State Bar Civil Practice Continuing Legal Education Seminar (Oregon Discovery Law), the Winter, 1997 Oregon Trial Lawyers Association Ethics Seminar (Tips and Traps for the Plaintiff’s Practitioner), the 1999 Oregon State Bar Practical Skills Seminar (Fundamentals of Civil Trial Practice), the 2000 Oregon State Bar/NLD Ethics presentation (Ethical Traps and Pitfalls), the 2000 Oregon Association of Defense Counsel Fall Seminar (Oregon Jury Trends), the 2000 Oregon State Bar Ethics Conference (Professionalism in the Profession), the 2000
Oregon Association of Defense Counsel Ethics Program (Town Hall Panel With Jack Faust), the 2001 Oregon State Bar Trial Practice Seminar, and eight annual “Ethics Law Update” programs co-hosted with Judges Michael Sullivan (Presiding Judge, Deschutes County) and Gary Thompson, (Circuit Court Judge, Crook and Jefferson Counties), given to Central Oregon Lawyers between 1998 and 2006. In March, 2002, he presented “Fundamentals of Oregon Practice” to attorneys from Washington and Idaho working on Oregon reciprocity practice. In 2004, he chaired the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel’s Summer Convention in Sunriver. In 2006, he presented “Civil Trial Practice” to the NALS State-wide convention and co-presented “Ethics Law” with Judge Sullivan to Central Oregon Paralegal Certification course members. He spoke on “Switching sides between Plaintiff and Defense Practice” at the OTLA Trial Practice CLE presentation in May, 2008 with speakers Bill Barton, Robert Neuberger, Jane Paulson, Roy Dwyer, The Honorable Stephen Tiktin and the Honorable Michael Sullivan. He also presented at the 2008 Oregon Association of Defense Counsel Summer 2008 Convention on “Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Arbitrations.” In 2009, Bryan again presented an OSB Practical Skills Seminar (Fundamentals of Civil Trial Practice) in Portland.
Bryan authored the Discovery Chapter of Fundamentals of Oregon Civil Trial Procedure (1997 & 1999 updates) and has written feature articles for the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel Magazine: Defense Guidelines & Billing Audit Services: Growing Risks Involving Ethics and the Duty to Defend, fall issue, 1998; The Changing Face of Insurance Defense: Careers in the Balance, winter issue, 2000.
Bryan was one of the founding members of the Oregon State Bar NLD, (New Lawyers Division) Executive Committee in 1992 and served as Treasurer of that group for two years. Bryan and the other founding members of the NLD travelled the State to help establish this group as a vibrant OSB Committee. In 1993, he was appointed to the Oregon State Bar Legal Ethics Committee, serving as Secretary in 1994, and Chair during the 1995-96 term. He was a co-recipient of the 1995 “Boss of the Year” award given by the Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties Legal Secretaries Associations. In 1996, he served as a regional voting delegate to the Oregon State Bar. He then served a three-year term on the State Judicial Administration Committee. He served as Chair of the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel’s Trial Practice Group in 2000 and 2001. In 2002, he was appointed to the Board of Directors for the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel and completed a three-year term on the board in December, 2004. He then joined the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, and now serves on the OTLA Membership Committee. From 1998-2001, Bryan served as Secretary/Treasurer, Vice Chair and then President of the J.R. Campbell (Central Oregon) American Inns of Court. In 2007, he was appointed by Oregon’s Chief Federal Judge Ancer L. Haggerty to a three year term on the Lawyer Representative Committee for the 9th Federal Circuit Court. Also in 2007, he became Secretary of the Oregon State Bar Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and continued to serve through December, 2009. In January, 2009, Bryan was appointed by Oregon State Supreme Court’s presiding Judge Paul J. DeMuniz to a three year position on the Uniform Trial Court Rules Committee. In January, 2010, Bryan was appointed by the Oregon State Bar to serve a three year term on the Uniform Civil Jury Instructions Committee. Bryan is also a member of the American Association for Justice, the Central Oregon Bar Association, the United States District Court (District of Oregon) and a former member of the National and Oregon Chapters of the International Association of Arson Investigators (IAAI) (former Central Oregon Secretary/Treasurer), the Defense Research Institute and the American Bar Association.
Community Theater of the Cascades Executive Board Member 1993-94; Ex-Officio member, St. Charles Hospital Institutional Review Committee. Past member, Bend Library Advisory Council (three year term, 2001-2004), Member, Deschutes County Friends of the Library. Member, Anytime Fitness, Bend; Past part-time faculty member at Central Oregon Community College, teaching Fire Law for the Fire Sciences/EMT Department.
Bryan lives with his wife, Michelle and their three dogs in Bend, Oregon. Their adult daughter, Ashley and adult son, Justin, also reside in Bend and work in the Bend office. When not working, Bryan enjoys reading, weight training, hiking, outrigger canoe racing, fly-fishing, mountain biking, downhill skiing and family outings.
Joe was born in Boise, Idaho and was raised both there and Redmond, Washington. He received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration, with concentrations in Law and Public Policy and Finance from Gonzaga University, Spokane, Washington in 2002. He played for the reserve soccer team in his sophomore year and worked various service-based jobs while achieving his degrees. Joe earned his Juris Doctorate from Gonzaga University School of Law and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 2006. In 2009, he was admitted to practice in the US District Court, District of Oregon.
Joe is a member of the Oregon State Bar, United States District Court (District of Oregon), Oregon Trial Lawyers Association and the Deschutes County Bar Association.
During Law school, Joe served as a Rule 9 law clerk for Goss, Hipperson & Sampson in Spokane, Washington. In 2007, he opened a law practice in Bend, Oregon as a sole practitioner, focusing on construction, commercial, debtor-creditor, and landlord-tenant law. In his sole practice, Joe also performed contractual legal services for a number of local attorneys and worked part-time for the local public defender’s office, Crabtree & Rahmsdorff. In September 2008, he joined the Law Offices of Bryan W. Gruetter P.C., and now concentrates on serious personal injury, wrongful death, insurance disputes, medical malpractice, and a smattering of other tort claims. Joe’s practice involves litigating, mediating, and arbitrating claims on behalf of injured persons throughout Oregon, with offices in Bend and Portland.
Recent Presentations Includes:
In 2009, Joe presented an OSB Practical Skills Seminar (Fundamentals of Civil Trial Practice - Discovery) at the Oregon State Bar Center in Portland, where he was a co-presenter with Bryan Gruetter and Jen Coughlin.
Former member of the Neighborhood Accountability Board for the Spokane County Juvenile System.
Joe lives with his wife, Tara, and daughter, Madelyn, in Bend, Oregon. In his free time, he enjoys running, hiking, snowboarding, biking, and spending time with his family.
Troy Wood has had a well rounded professional life both in and out of the law. His working career started in the Marine Corps, in which he enlisted right out of high-school. There he learned the discipline and work ethic he needed to later excel in academics. He graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1992 with a Pre-Law degree. While attending to his studies, he also lettered in Division 1A football, and was the Scholar Athlete Award Recipient in 1991. Mr. Wood attended his alma matter’s law school, and graduated from the McGeorge School of Law in 1995. He was captain of the school’s rugby team.
Troy was admitted to the Oregon bar in 1995. His career started on the corporate side of the bar. His first jobs were in-house counsel positions for May Trucking Company and Alberston’s. In 1998, Troy joined the firm of Hurley, Lynch and Re, P.C., where he first started practicing with Mr. Gruetter, and he focused on civil litigation. Unfortunately, in 2003 Mr. Wood’s father died, and he had to leave the practice of law to help his mother run the family’s golf course concession business. Mr. Wood successfully ran the business for 4 years until it was sold. He started 2 smaller business services ventures before returning to the practice of law with Mr. Gruetter in 2010.
Troy’s legal career has required a mastery in many fields. He has practiced in the areas of employment law, corporate and real estate transactions, and mostly civil litigation. Troy has litigated claims related to motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, premise liability, employee benefits, insurance coverage issues, real estate issues, wild-fires and property damage. Mr. Wood has represented Fortune 500 companies as in-house counsel, major insurance companies and small businesses as defense counsel, and most recently individuals on the plaintiff’s side of the bar. He has taught trial-by-ambush procedures to Washington bar members who wish to join the Oregon State Bar as part of a reciprocity program. His current practice focuses on wrongful death, medical malpractice, motor vehicle accidents and premises liability cases.
