The Lawyer Behind the Firm

Steve Smucker, PortlandLawyer.com’s principal attorney, specializes in personal injury cases. These include truck accidents, car accidents, bike accidents, and pedestrian related accidents. Most of Steve Smucker’s clients have suffered personal injury due to negligent or irresponsible behaviors of others. His goal is to help individuals obtain benefits owed to them through the insurance policies of the involved parties.

Martindale-Hubbell, the authoritative international resource for the legal profession, has recognized Steve Smucker with an "AV" rating. This rating distinguishes lawyers who have reached the peak of professional excellence, recognizing them for achieving the highest levels of skill and integrity. He is also a certified FINRA arbitrator, and was featured in a 2005 profile in the Oregon State Bar Bulletin.

Professional Journey: Becoming a Portland Lawyer

Smucker’s roots hold fast in the Midwest where he grew up, one of four brothers, in Elkhart, Indiana. He moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1973 to attend Reed College. Following graduation from Reed, Smucker worked as a trial assistant at the Metropolitan Public Defender's office. The legal atmosphere was contagious and in 1978, he enrolled at the University of Oregon School of Law in Eugene.

A determined young man, Smucker worked a variety of jobs to help pay his way through law school. One year, he commuted to Portland in a beat-up Triumph to wait tables at the Old Spaghetti Factory. Later, he earned a clerkship at the distinguished Portland law firm of Dunn Carney Allen Higgins & Tongue. In his third year, he was selected to serve on the editorial board of the Oregon Law Review.

In 1981, Smucker finished law school and passed the entrance exam for the Oregon State Bar, immediately accepting work as a trial attorney for Dunn Carney. During this time, he represented insurance companies, gaining valuable experience and knowledge about personal injury lawsuits, and in particular, methods by which insurance companies approach lawsuits.

Smucker took a heart and soul detour away from his legal career in 1984 to join the Peace Corps. He spent two years in rural Paraguay working as a beekeeper, teaching villagers how to capture and raise wild bees for honey production.  He participated in a worldwide inoculation campaign, travelling among villages giving shots to babies and young children in the fight against tetanus, diphtheria, and polio.

The Return: A Personal Injury Attorney is Born

Upon returning to Portland in 1987, Smucker knew whom he wanted to represent in his practice—working men and women who had nowhere else to turn. As his practice has grown over the last twenty years, Smucker has proudly improved many broken lives because of the cases he has won.

In the 90s, Smucker assumed the name PortlandLawyer.com to give his firm a profile on the Internet. He is a member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, the Washington Trial Lawyers Association and the American Association for Justice, formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He is a licensed member of the Oregon State Bar and the Washington State Bar.  He handles personal injury cases throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Beyond Law: Where Physical Challenge and Family Thrive

Outside of his legal work, Smucker has earned a name for himself in the field of long distance running, often competing in ultra marathons—races that take hours to run and go up and down mountains. He placed first in the 50 to 59 division of the 100 mile Western States Endurance Run in 2004. In 1995, at age 41, he held course records at all three Pacific Northwest 50-mile trail races and appeared in Sports Illustrated's, "Faces in the Crowd."

Steve Smucker is a single father, actively involved in raising his two sons. He enjoys cheering them on in their sports, music and recreational activities.