After nearly 40 years as a top-notch business attorney and a key figure in Portland’s startup community, Tonkon Torp partner Brenda Meltebeke is retiring from the full-time practice of law. Brenda joined Tonkon Torp in 2016, taking over the reins of the firms’ Startups, Emerging Companies & Venture Capital Practice (then known as the Entrepreneurial Services Group). She served as Chair of the group through 2024, helping the firm grow its practice and broaden its brand and visibility in the Northwest startup milieu.
“Brenda has built her career on going the extra mile for clients and has been a cornerstone of Oregon’s startup scene for years,” said Drea Schmidt, Chair of the firm’s Securities Practice Group and a member of the firm’s Startup Group. “Her impact on our firm — especially in financing and startup law — has been tremendous. We’re incredibly fortunate she chose to cap off such an outstanding career with us.”
Brenda’s roster of clients included digital banking platform Tyfone, and startup funds Elevate Capital and the Oregon Venture Fund.
Nitin Rai, Managing Director at Elevate Capital Fund, commented, “I have had the pleasure of working with Brenda for almost 10 years as counsel for Elevate and First Insight. She helped launch Elevate Capital in 2016 – one of the first diversity-focused funds in the country. She is the entrepreneurs’ and fund manager’s attorney! Elevate will miss her, but the friendship will be everlasting.”
Siva Narendra, Ph.D., CEO & Co-Founder of Tyfone, said of Brenda, “[She] is a remarkable lawyer—not just for her expertise, but for her calm presence and steady guidance through both smooth and turbulent times. Her integrity, wisdom, and genuine care made her not only a trusted advisor, but also a deeply valued partner.”
Eric Rosenfeld, Manager of the Oregon Venture Fund, added, “Brenda is the Thomas Jefferson of the Oregon Venture Fund. She creatively and meticulously drafted our founding documents and did so with vision and precision. Over the years, she represented us with hundreds of financings and guided us over a few regulatory hurdles and through a gauntlet of SEC requirements. Just as Jefferson’s leadership shaped our nation, Brenda’s calm and expert guidance shaped the success of our little fund. We are forever grateful to our Founding Mother.”
Rosenfeld further expanded on what made Brenda such a good lawyer to work with: “Her positive, can-do attitude. Her passion for, and commitment to, accuracy, timeliness, and thoroughness with her work. She let us treat her like an extension of our team. You [could] confidently refer a founder or CEO to meet with her, knowing they will not only receive excellent advice and guidance, but also be treated with tremendous warmth and respect,” and, “She’s just plain fun to be with.”
Brenda joined Tonkon Torp after a long and storied career at Ater Wynne LLP where she served as Chair of that firm’s Business Department from 2001-2009, Chair of its Emerging Business Practice Group from 2009-2016, and Chair of the firm itself from 2011-2016.
Brenda’s business practice was focused on securities law, including venture capital financings, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, public and private offerings of securities, and state and federal regulation of securities. She regularly represented both privately and publicly-owned businesses in the technology, life sciences, financial services, telecom, food and beverage, and manufacturing industries. Brenda developed significant experience in business counseling and general corporate law and used her substantial expertise in the fields of venture capital and angel funds to inform her work with startups and emerging businesses.
She was widely acknowledged for her legal acumen in such peer-informed legal rankings at The Best Lawyers in America, Chambers USA, and Oregon Super Lawyers. In 2020, The Best Lawyers in America named her Portland Lawyer of the Year in the category of “Business Organizations (including LLCs & Partnerships).”
Brenda will continue on at Tonkon Torp in a Senior Counsel role.
