Skip to main contentThe Ater Wynne law firm felt an anvil drop on its head last week when the City of Portland accused founding partner Jonathan Ater of a conflict of interest in relation to his and his firm's work on the pending takeover of Portland General Electric.
"The City believes that Ater Wynne's representation of Texas Pacific Group before the Oregon Public Utility Commission constitutes a former client conflict," wrote City Attorney Linda Meng in a seven-page letter to the Oregon State Bar.
City officials are steamed because last year Ater Wynne represented the City of Portland in its unsuccessful effort to buy PGE. Meng argues that during the course of that representation Ater Wynne gained information that could be of value to Texas Pacific and detrimental to the City. "Ater Wynne has confidences and secrets of the City," Meng wrote.
The city's complaint comes in response to an investigation the bar began in February. If the bar finds Ater Wynne guilty of a conflict of interest, the firm faces disciplinary action--and perhaps more painful, the loss of the lucrative job of guiding Texas Pacific's bid for PGE through the regulatory approval process.
Ater Wynne's attorney Brad Tellam was unavailable for comment.
WWeek 2015