Janet Neuman

Tonkon Torp LLP
1600 Pioneer Tower
888 SW Fifth Avenue
Portland, Oregon 97204

PHONE: 503.802.5722
EMAIL: janet.neuman@tonkon.com
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Jan

Jan is Senior Counsel with Tonkon Torp’s Water Law and Environmental & Natural Resources Practice Groups. She represents clients in a variety of water and natural-resource-related matters, including obtaining, transferring, and protecting water rights; addressing water conservation, distribution, policy, and management; and using and protecting both groundwater and surface water. Jan is considered one of the foremost water law specialists in Oregon and is nationally-recognized as a water law scholar. She is also a frequent speaker and writer on water law and policy. 

 

Jan is very knowledgeable about water and natural resource law and policy in Oregon and throughout the West. She has many years of experience with these issues and a wealth of connections with agencies, water management entities, policy makers, and water leaders. She approaches issues with a problem-solving approach.  
 
From 1992-2011, Jan was a tenured Professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, where she taught Water Law, Administrative Law, Property Law, and other natural resource classes. She was also Associate Dean of Faculty and co-director of the Natural Resources Law Institute and the Northwest Water Law & Policy Project at Lewis & Clark. Prior to her academic career, Jan was Director of the Oregon Department of State Lands—the agency responsible for management of Oregon's common school fund lands and natural resources. Before working in state government, at the beginning of her legal career, Jan practiced litigation at Tonkon Torp and at the Gray Plant firm in Minneapolis.
 

Representative Matters

  • Representation of "green hydro" company in contested case water rights proceeding before Water Resources Department
  • Analysis of property owners' rights under a series of water well agreements and easements
  • Representation of landowner in water rights dispute
  • Advice to agencies and property owners on public rights in navigable waterways
  • Preparation of white papers on climate change adaptation for coastal communities
  • Review of water rights valuation studies for funding agencies

 

Speaking Engagements and Presentations

  • 2012 National Land Conference, Denver, CO
  • 2012 Future of Water Supply and Management Conference, Portland, OR, co-chair and speaker
  • 2011 Water in the Columbia Basin Conference, Skamania, WA
  • 2011 Oregon Water Resources Congress Water Law Conference, Bend, OR
  • 2011 Public Interest Law Conference, Eugene, OR
  • The Water Spot Television Show, 2011
  • 2009 and 2010 Northwest Water Law Symposia, Portland, OR
  • Portland City Club Friday Forum, 2010
  • 2009 Oregon Water Law Conference, Portland, OR, Keynote

 
    

Jan is Senior Counsel with Tonkon Torp’s Water Law and Environmental & Natural Resources Practice Groups. She represents clients in a variety of water and natural-resource-related matters, including obtaining, transferring, and protecting water rights; addressing water conservation, distribution, policy, and management; and using and protecting both groundwater and surface water. Jan is considered one of the foremost water law specialists in Oregon and is nationally-recognized as a water law scholar. She is also a frequent speaker and writer on water law and policy. 

 

Jan is very knowledgeable about water and natural resource law and policy in Oregon and throughout the West. She has many years of experience with these issues and a wealth of connections with agencies, water management entities, policy makers, and water leaders. She approaches issues with a problem-solving approach.  
 
From 1992-2011, Jan was a tenured Professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, where she taught Water Law, Administrative Law, Property Law, and other natural resource classes. She was also Associate Dean of Faculty and co-director of the Natural Resources Law Institute and the Northwest Water Law & Policy Project at Lewis & Clark. Prior to her academic career, Jan was Director of the Oregon Department of State Lands—the agency responsible for management of Oregon's common school fund lands and natural resources. Before working in state government, at the beginning of her legal career, Jan practiced litigation at Tonkon Torp and at the Gray Plant firm in Minneapolis.
 

Representative Matters

  • Representation of "green hydro" company in contested case water rights proceeding before Water Resources Department
  • Analysis of property owners' rights under a series of water well agreements and easements
  • Representation of landowner in water rights dispute
  • Advice to agencies and property owners on public rights in navigable waterways
  • Preparation of white papers on climate change adaptation for coastal communities
  • Review of water rights valuation studies for funding agencies

 

Speaking Engagements and Presentations

  • 2012 National Land Conference, Denver, CO
  • 2012 Future of Water Supply and Management Conference, Portland, OR, co-chair and speaker
  • 2011 Water in the Columbia Basin Conference, Skamania, WA
  • 2011 Oregon Water Resources Congress Water Law Conference, Bend, OR
  • 2011 Public Interest Law Conference, Eugene, OR
  • The Water Spot Television Show, 2011
  • 2009 and 2010 Northwest Water Law Symposia, Portland, OR
  • Portland City Club Friday Forum, 2010
  • 2009 Oregon Water Law Conference, Portland, OR, Keynote

 
    

Representation of "green hydro" company in contested case water rights proceeding before Water Resources Department

 

Analysis of property owners' rights under a series of water well agreements and easements

 

Representation of investors in water supply project
 
Representation of landowner in water rights dispute

 

Advice to agencies and property owners on public rights in navigable waterways

 

Preparation of white papers on climate change adaptation for coastal communities

 

Review of water rights valuation studies for funding agencies

"Western States' Water Planning," The Water Report, May 2011.

 

"Preserving Bull Run: Looking Deeper into Portland's Water Variance," The Oregonian, December 2011.

 

"Oregon Water Law: A Comprehensive Treatise on the Law of Water and Water Rights in Oregon," 2011.

 

"Survey of Oregon Water Law in 6 Waters and Water Rights," Robert E. Beck and Amy L. Kelley, eds., 3d ed. 2010.

 

"Seeking a Shared Understanding of the Human Right to Water: Collaborative Use Agreements in the Umatilla and Walla Walla Basins of the Pacific Northwest," 47 Willamette Law Review 361 (2011) (with Dena Marshall).

 

"Are We There Yet? Weary Travelers on the Long Road to Water Policy Reform," 50 Nat. Res. J. 139, 2010.

 

"Chop Wood, Carry Water: Cutting to the Heart of the World’s Water Woes," 23 J. Land Use & Envtl. Law 203, 2008.

 

"Thinking Inside the Box: Looking for Ecosystem Services Within a Forested Watershed," 22 J. Land Use & Envtl. L. 173, 2007.

 

"Remembering Rain," 37 Envtl. L. 105, 2007 (with Troy Payne).

 

"Sometimes a Great Notion: Oregon’s Instream Flow Experiments," 36 Envtl. L. 1125, 2006 (with Anne Squier and Gail Achterman).

 

"Dusting Off the Blueprint for a Dryland Democracy: Integrating Water Supply and Watershed Integrity into Land Use Decisions, in Wet Growth: Should Water Law Control Land Use?" 35 Env. L. Rep. 102236, 2005.

 

"The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The First Ten Years of the Oregon Water Trust," 83 Neb. L. Rev. 432, 2004.

 

"Drought-Proofing Water Law," 7 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 92, 2003.

 

"Adaptive Management: How Water Law Needs to Change," 31 Env. L. Rep. 11432, 2001.

 

"Federal Water Policy: An Idea Whose Time Will (Finally) Come," 20 Va. Envtl. L.J. 107, 2001.

 

"How Good is an Old Water Right? The Application of Statutory Forfeiture Provisions to Pre-Code Water Rights," 4 U. Denv. Water L. Rev. 1, 2000 (with Keith Hirokawa).

 

"Protecting Instream Flows in Prior Appropriation Systems: Continuing Challenges," 7 Rivers 345, 2000.

 

"Wading Into the Water Market: The First Five Years of the Oregon Water Trust," 14 J. Envtl. L. & Lit. 135, 1999 (with Cheyenne Chapman).

 

"Overhaul or Maintenance: A Review of Existing and Proposed Governance Institutions in the Columbia River Basin and Estuary," Report to the Lower Columbia River Estuary Program, 1999 (with Angus Duncan and Brett Swift).

 

"Beneficial Use, Waste and Forfeiture: The Inefficient Search for Efficiency in Western Water Use," 28 Envtl. L. 919, 1998.

"A Survey of Columbia River Basin Water Law Institutions and Policies," Northwest Water Law and Policy Project of Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, 1997, (contributor).

 

"Run, River Run: Mediation of a Water Rights Dispute Keeps Fish and Farmers Happy – For a Time," 67 U. Colo. L. Rev. 259, 1996.

 

Selected article downloads available at http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=39591

2012 National Land Conference, Denver, CO

 

2012 Future of Water Supply and Management Conference, Portland, OR, co-chair and speaker

 

2011 Water in the Columbia Basin Conference, Skamania, WA

 

2011 Oregon Water Resources Congress Water Law Conference, Bend, OR

 

2011 Public Interest Law Conference, Eugene, OR

 

The Water Spot Television Show, 2011

 

2009 and 2010 Northwest Water Law Symposia, Portland, OR

 

Portland City Club Friday Forum, 2010

 

2009 Oregon Water Law Conference, Portland, OR, Keynote

Oregon's Integrated Water Resources Strategy
Policy Advisory Group (2010-2012) 

Wilson High School
Constitution Team Co-Coach (2012-2013)

Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board
Land and Water Acquisitions Workgroup (2012)

Columbia Basin Water Transactions Program
Technical Advisory Committee (2011-present)

The Freshwater Trust
Board of Directors (2008-Present)

Oregon Water Trust

Advisory Board (2005-2008)

President (1993-2005)

Oregon Board of Forestry
Board Member appointed by Governor John Kitzhaber (1998-2002)

Western Water Policy Review Advisory Commission
Member appointed by President William Clinton (1995-1998)

Originally from the Midwest (Minnesota and South Dakota), Jan made Oregon her home more than thirty years ago. She has three sons: a lawyer, a jazz musician, and an aspiring basketball player; and two dogs: an English pointer and a brittany. She and her husband enjoy camping, hiking, and exploring Oregon's waterways by canoe and kayak, when she's not working on her line of handcrafted jewelry.