Practice :
Laura Schantz has been in practice since 1994.
Professional Experience :
Laura worked for the first six months out of law school for Palmer Feltz Smith and McDonald in Portland. Her next position, at Martin, Elliott, and Snell in Tualatin was the beginning of her work in family law cases, although she also specialized in employment work for plaintiffs discriminated against in the workplace. In 1997 she joined Gevurtz Menashe Larson & Howe, P.C., the largest family law firm in the state of Oregon, where she began her exclusive concentration on family law cases. In October, 1999, Laura started her own family law practice in Hillsboro where she is currently located.
Education:
Aloha High School, Aloha, Oregon, 1980; Portland State University, Bachelor of Science Degree, Business Administration, 1987; Northwestern School of Law Lewis and Clark College, Juris Doctor Degree 1994. Laura was a member of the Law Review, Environmental Law from 1991-1993.
Professional Activities :
Laura was President of the Washington County Bar Association for 2002/2003. She
is a member of the Oregon State Bar, Family Law Section. She
is on the Board of the Washington County Conciliation Service
Department. She is a member of the Pro Bono Committee both for
Washington County and for the Oregon State Bar.
Protecting Client Information from Identity Theft :
Clients in divorce cases are required by law to provide documents evidencing proof of all of their assets, debts, tax returns, paycheck stubs and other employer information. Therefore lawyers in divorce cases are keepers of sensitive and confidential information the type of which could be targeted for identity theft.
Laura Schantz has implemented safeguards to protect such sensitive information for her clients. Some of these safeguards include:
- Social security numbers are regularly redacted from all information going out in the mail to another attorney or to the court.
- Account numbers and social security numbers are redacted on all documents prepared by the attorney for hearings or trials.
- Financial records are kept in the attorneys office in a locked area with no access to outside parties other than staff.
- Personal information at the end of the case is either returned to the client or shredded.
- A technical computer expert regularly assesses the computer system for any security breaches or other system failures.
- When an old computer is recycled, the hard drive is cleaned of all client information.
We are always striving to improve our safety measures for our clients protection. Please let Laura Schantz or a staff person know if you have ideas or questions about the safekeeping of your personal information.
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