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photoBorn in the Haight in San Francisco in 1960, Dean and the Gibbons family moved to Portland shortly thereafter. A graduate of Oregon City High School, he  followed the military path of his father and entered the USAF the summer of 1978. During his six years in the USAF, Dean was trained in the Korean and Vietnamese languages and worked as a cryptologic linguist, doing stints in Korea and Japan. In the early 1980’s he spent a year at the National Security Agency at Fort Meade, Maryland. He was honorably discharged in 1984 and moved to Japan where his time was divided between cab driving and guiding tours to various destinations throughout Asia.

In the mid-1980’s, Dean Gibbons returned to the CONUS and received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland (he finished up at the U of O and thus stakes a proud claim to being a Duck). He worked in the burgeoning tech industry after that and eventually graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in 1991. Notably, Dean’s Jessup Moot Court team was the first ever to participate in the world championship competition at Washington DC. After graduation, he hung up his shingle, began a general practice and has been assisting members of his community in their legal battles ever since. Sole practice has afforded Mr. Gibbons exposure to many areas of law including landlord-tenant, criminal defense, immigration, family law, etc. After twenty plus years, his current practice has distillated into mostly cases involving insurance disputes, personal injury, wills, trusts and probate. However, the varied and broad experience from working in several other areas is often very helpful when legal issues overlap discretely different areas of practice.  For example, a personal injury case can involve insurance law, family law, debtor-creditor law, probate, etc.

Over the years, Dean Gibbons has developed a reputation as an intensely local-minded attorney. More than anything, Dean enjoys the satisfaction of serving his clients, many who are neighbors and friends that live in that very cool corridor between Woodstock and the Sellwood-Moreland neighborhoods. He shares in their interests and relates to their struggles. He appreciates the value of doing business locally and contributing to other businesses doing the same. Fortunately, this is a view that most Portlanders seem to share. Having lived for a time in Central Oregon, he is also now working at developing the same brand of lawyering in the Bend area. It is no surprise that Central Oregonians share the same local view and are already blessed with a great and talented group of home grown lawyers.

IMG_2826Dean lives a long and errant drive away from the 13th hole of Eastmoreland golf course together with his beautiful wife and daughters. Dean’s wife is a horse enthusiast, which means he owns a real pair of boots and has shoveled his share manure. His son attends Aloha HS and looks forward to the emergence of T Tyner as one of the great Duck running backs of all time. Outside work, Dean is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys extended back country excursions, fly fishing, hiking and biking. Favorite destinations include Alaska, Montana, BC, and his favorite playground the Sierras.