In 1971, prominent Portland attorneys John Yerkovich and John Gilbertson started the law firm Yerkovich & Gilbertson. Both lawyers were past presidents of the Multnomah County Bar Association and Mr. Yerkovich was a past president of the Oregon State Bar. At that same time Douglas Grim, currently one of the firm’s managing partners, was employed as an associate attorney.
In 1973, Richard Brownstein joined the firm as a partner and Miles Sweeney and Andrew Kerr came to the firm as associate attorneys. Later that year, Messrs. Sweeney, Kerr and Grim were made partners and the firm name changed to Yerkovich, Gilbertson, Brownstein, Sweeney, Kerr and Grim.
In 1979, the firm moved to a downtown Portland building that was formerly the home of Multnomah College and which remains on the National Register of Historic Places. That location, 1200 SW Main Street, was the firm’s home for 40 years before moving to its present location in May 2020.
In 1982, Raymond Rask merged his very substantial practice with the firm which then became known as Gilbertson, Brownstein, Rask, Sweeney, Kerr and Grim.
In 1987, Terry DeSylvia merged his practice with the firm as a partner and the firm’s name was changed to Brownstein, Rask, Sweeney, Kerr, Grim and DeSylvia, with Mr. Gilbertson having departed to pursue other endeavors.
In 1994, John Arenz, Robert Lucas and Kirkham Hay became partners through a merger of their prominent firm. That merger resulted in a name change to Brownstein, Rask, Arenz, Sweeney, Kerr, Grim, DeSylvia and Hay.
In 2011, the firm adopted Brownstein Rask LLP as its name. We are proud of our heritage and excited for the future of our firm and clients.
