Tonkon Torp is proud to announce that litigation partner Anna Sortun has been selected by the Portland Business Journal as one of its 2024 Women of Influence. The highly regarded award recognizes women who are business and community leaders in the greater Portland area. Selection is based on career accomplishments, business influence and leadership, and community and civic involvement.
A Leader in Her Profession
Anna is a commercial trial lawyer, and also serves on the firm’s managing board, hiring committee, and pro bono committee. Her active business litigation practice includes contract litigation, business owner disputes, consumer protection matters, and complex tort cases. Over the course of her career, she has tried more than a dozen jury trials to verdict in state and federal court, and has ushered hundreds of cases to resolution, through arbitration, motions practice, or settlement. Anna has been previously recognized for her legal work by Chambers USA, Best Lawyers, Oregon Super Lawyers, the Portland Business Journal, the Daily Journal of Commerce, and the Multnomah Bar Association. She is a Fellow in the International Society of Barristers, an exclusive honor society that maintains a worldwide membership of less than 750 trial lawyers deemed by their peers and judges to be outstanding in the field of advocacy.
A Legacy of Community Involvement
Anna has a long history of pro bono service and has been publicly recognized for taking leadership roles in major pro bono initiatives. For example, in cooperation with the Criminal Justice Reform Clinic at Lewis & Clark Law School, Anna led a team of Tonkon Torp lawyers in representing Oregon criminal defendants who sought post-conviction relief for unconstitutional nonunanimous verdicts following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Ramos v Louisiana. Her pro bono leadership on that project was featured in the 2023 cover story for Oregon Super Lawyers Magazine.
In addition, Anna led efforts to establish the Oregon Reproductive Rights Hotline, which was founded by the Oregon Department of Justice in January 2023 after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade – read more in her interview on OPB’s Think Out Loud.
Anna has contributed countless hours to our community, through pro bono support and by serving on the board of directors for numerous nonprofits. She is a current board member with Oregon Humanities, which connects people and communities through conversation, storytelling, and participatory programs to inspire understanding and collaborative change. She also serves on the Executive Committee of the Oregon State Bar Litigation Section. Former Governor Kate Brown appointed Anna to be a Commissioner on the Oregon Government Ethics Commission. Anna previously served on the boards of a host of other community-based organizations, including Emerge Oregon (working to identify, train, and inspire women to run for office).
A Commitment to Women
Anna has a lifelong commitment to supporting and uplifting women. Be it her work with Emerge Oregon, her mentoring of dozens of women attorneys at Tonkon Torp, or such impactful pro bono work as her efforts with the Oregon Reproductive Rights Hotline, Anna has been steadfast in her support of women.
In the words of Tonkon Torp litigation partner Stephanie Grant, “I have looked up to Anna since my first summer at Tonkon Torp in 2013. As an unabashed example of a woman inhabiting her power, Anna provides an inspiring yet comfortable model for the women around her. She is so vibrantly the way she is, it opens space for those around her to be the way we are. She has encouraged me to put my hand up for experiences and exposure that have advanced my career. In just one example, Anna staffed one of her most high-stakes matters with a group of our excellent (and coincidentally female) young attorneys. With few exceptions, in a group of numerous attorneys, experts, and client representatives, we were often the only women in the room. But we were there together, and we thrived. That case jump-started my ability to market my skills in that practice area. I am gratefully riding that wave today, with Anna churning the swell.”
Tonkon Torp is thrilled to celebrate Anna and this much deserved honor at the Portland Business Journal’s upcoming Women of Influence luncheon on March 14, 2024.
