St. Helens, Oregon

St. Helens, the seat of Oregon’s Columbia County, is an illustration of many of the things that make living in the Greater Portland area so special. Taking its name from the city’s dramatic view of the Mt. St. Helens volcano, just across the Columbia River in neighboring Washington, day-to-day life in St. Helens offers that special small-town feel one only finds here in the Pacific Northwest. This is not, however, some remote county seat hundreds of miles from anyplace else. St. Helens may feel like a rural outpost far from the fast pace of modern life, but it is, in fact, less than 30 miles from downtown Portland. The special charm of cities like St. Helens lies in their combination of feeling quiet and remote, while not actually leaving residents cut off from the conveniences a modern city has to offer, such as the important legal services provided by Kaplan Law LLC from its office at 50 SW Pine St #302 in Portland. Kaplan Law offers a wide range of legal services to clients throughout Washington and Oregon. Call (503) 226-3844 to schedule an appointment. Initial consultations are free of charge.

Figures compiled by the Oregon Department of Transportation for 2009 are a reminder of the fact that modern life can be dangerous, even in a place as quiet as St. Helens. The DOT reports that in Columbia County there were 355 motor vehicle crashes that year. Of these:

• 9 involved overturned vehicles
• 3 involved pedestrians
• 6 involved bicyclists
• 11 involved animals
• 104 involved a fixed object (e.g. a lamp post or building)

The county experienced a total of seven motor vehicle fatalities. Thankfully, none of these took place in St. Helens itself, though the city did account for 80 of those 355 crashes, including all but one of the incidents involving cyclists.

These numbers may seem surprising for such a small place – St. Helens has a population of less than 13,000 – but they serve as a powerful reminder of the important role our courts play in ensuring that justice is done and irresponsible drivers held accountable for their actions. As the county seat, St. Helens is also home to the Columbia County Courthouse at 230 Strand Street. The courthouse is the center of judicial for Oregon’s 19th Judicial District.

Kaplan Law has a long and distinguished history of defending victims throughout Oregon, including St Helens and Columbia County, when they are suffering in the wake of traumatic brain or spinal cord injuries or other injuries stemming from motor vehicle accidents. Our practice has always focused, first and foremost, on ordinary citizens: helping our neighbors defend their rights, and ensuring that victims and their families obtain justice.

Kaplan Law LLC is conveniently located in downtown Portland at 50 SW Pine St #302.