Champions of Natural Resources Law

The midsize, Portland-based law firm Haglund Kelley LLP wields all the skills and tools expected of a larger firm as it takes on major, precedent-setting cases in the complex world of natural resources law.

PORTLAND, Ore., February 3, 2025 (Newswire.com)
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Few areas of law feel as expansive as natural resources law-a complex body of national and local laws that regulate how humans use and protect natural resources. Navigating these laws to serve the best interests of people and planet is a complex endeavor, and one that Portland-based law firm Haglund Kelley LLP commits to with every case.

Known throughout the Pacific Northwest for delivering exceptional service to businesses, individuals, organizations, and Tribal governments, Haglund Kelley provides expertise in litigation with a special focus on antitrust law, commercial litigation, employment law, environmental and natural resources law, Indian law, maritime law, municipal litigation, real property and land use law, as well as personal injury, negligence, and wrongful death law. Not only does the firm provide services in niche legal areas, but it does so at a fairer price than its competitors.

“We are a medium-sized firm with eight lawyers in our Portland headquarters and three attorneys in our Astoria office,” says Michael Haglund, founder. “Despite our size, we’ve proudly delivered big-firm quality at reasonable rates for over 35 years.”

FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE IN THE WILDERNESS

Haglund’s career path originated in the great outdoors. The son of a forester, he spent much of his childhood hiking and camping in the Pacific Northwest and worked as a firefighter for the state forestry department during college. After attending law school in Boston, he returned to Oregon with the goal of working for clients in the forest products industry.

In 1988, he founded Haglund Kelley, which earned a reputation for its expertise in natural resources law-a broad category with subsets that include forestry, maritime law, fishing, agriculture, and conservation as well as use of rivers, and waterways to produce fish, energy, and transportation.

“There’s an amazing diversity of work that arises from the natural resource sector,” says Haglund. “Moreover, our areas of law have overlapping features. Because our firm specializes in natural resources law, we can represent a wide array of clients-from forestry and fishing to agriculture and tribes.”

Haglund Kelley has taken on several headline-making cases over the years. Among them is a case in which the firm represented 12 family-owned hardwood sawmills in four monopolization cases against Weyerhaeuser, one of the biggest logging companies in Washington. These antitrust cases ultimately recovered $78.6 million in damages for the firm’s clients, and included the first case of its kind litigated all the way through the U.S. Supreme Court, establishing a new precedent regarding predatory bidding in natural resource markets.

The firm also succeeded in a landmark takings case involving the threatened spotted owl. It sought damages for Washington’s imposition of a virtual no-harvest spotted owl zone on 200 acres of a client’s productive timber land. The jury awarded $3 million in damages in what was the first inverse condemnation property takings case involving the northern spotted owl to go to trial. The state legislature ultimately funded a settlement covering 90% of the damages awarded.

In recent years, Haglund Kelley has been prosecuting two groundbreaking lawsuits on behalf of a coalition of leading American plywood manufacturers, challenging the importation of off-grade Brazilian plywood falsely advertised as compliant with the voluntary product standard required by building codes in all 50 states. The case, brought under the federal Lanham Act, employs an innovative legal theory to address the falsely advertised plywood panels, which undermine industry standards and jeopardize the integrity of U.S. construction projects. This litigation aims to safeguard the competitiveness of American natural resource businesses and protect consumers from substandard building materials.

Currently, Haglund Kelley is working on behalf of the Metlakatla Indian Community in Alaska to prosecute one of the last important Native American finishing rights cases of seminal importance. The case is working to restore the Community’s access to fisheries outside of reservation boundaries-a right impliedly granted to the Tribe by Congress. Following a recent victory in the Ninth Circuit rejecting opposition from the State of Alaska, the case is now before the District Court to establish the scope of the Community’s fishing rights.

LAWYERS THAT SERVE THEIR COMMUNITIES

Behind Haglund Kelley’s successful brand is a team known for its passion and expertise. Handpicked by Haglund himself, the firm’s lawyers wield strong legal expertise, writing ability, and oral presentation skills as they take on challenging cases typically handled by bigger firms. “We operate Haglund Kelley at a high level in terms of the skills we employ and the results we obtain,” Haglund says. “Moreover, as a boutique firm, we pride ourselves on having full-service capabilities for family-owned business clients at reasonable rates.”

The firm is a member of the International Society of Primerus Law Firms, a network of more than 150 top small and medium-sized law firms. Should a client have an issue that requires help from another state, Haglund Kelley can lean on its Primerus membership to quickly and efficiently connect with competent local counsel to determine next steps, essentially representing its clients anywhere in the United States.

Haglund Kelley lawyers are known for more than just their legal expertise and impressive wins; they are also active members of their communities, involved in civic, church, and charitable work.

“We strive to have a group of lawyers who are going to make consistent contributions to the community,” Haglund says. “That’s reflected in the broad range of civic involvement that is part and parcel of who we are, including the stewardship of our 1880 historic office in Portland.”

Contact Information

Source: Haglund Kelley LLP