Lisa Knight Davies

AREAS OF PRACTICE:

Ms. Davies' practice is focused on business and corporate law, municipal law, real estate and land use, and environmental regulation and permitting of development projects for public and private sector clients.  Ms. Davies also serves as General Counsel for Hood River County.  

Business Law

Ms. Davies' business law practice focuses on business organization, planning and entity selection, including the formation of corporations, partnerships, joint ventures, associations and limited liability companies.

Ms. Davies also assists businesses with acquisitions and sales, representing sellers and purchasers in both taxable and non-taxable transactions. She advises businesses regarding transaction structures (including mergers, sales of assets, sales of stock and other forms of acquisition) and legal terms, assists in the negotiation of the transaction, prepares documents necessary to complete the transaction and handles closings.

Ms. Davies also provides advice on corporate governance, entity maintenance, restructuring and recapitalization, and numerous other aspects of business law.

Municipal Law

As General Counsel for Hood River County, Ms. Davies provides legal representation to the Board of Commissioners, county departments, personnel, and districts.  She regularly advises the county on public bidding and contracting, public meetings, public records, real property, county forest and timber management, foreclosure and lien actions, elections, environmental issues, road and right-of-way regulation, fiscal and taxation matters, special districts, inter-governmental agreements, and county code, policies, procedures and ordinances.  As the office of legal counsel, Haskell Davies Dunn's services also include representing the county in tort claims, personnel actions and discrimination claims, code enforcement, and nuisance abatement.

Real Estate

Ms. Davies has extensive experience with residential and commercial real estate transactions, including: 

• Negotiation, documentation, and closing transactions for the purchase and sale of residential, commercial and investment real estate, including IRC Section 1031 like-kind exchange transactions.
• Negotiation and drafting of development agreements, construction contracts and other agreements related to the development of commercial and residential real estate.
• Negotiation and drafting of commercial leases, including retail leases, ground leases, build-to-suit leases, offices leases, industrial leases and subleases for owners and business tenants.
• Counseling clients on ongoing commercial leasing issues, including tenant relations and lease enforcement.
• Negotiation and drafting of viewshed easements, CCR’s, maintenance agreements and tenancy in common agreements.
• Real estate development services, including the preparation and processing of all local, state, and federal permit applications relating to land use and environmental regulation of development projects.

Land Use Permitting and Development 

Ms. Davies' has extensive experience with land use permitting and development in the Mid-Columbia Gorge and Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, providing counsel to public and private sector clients in the areas of:

• Land use due diligence and other pre-development questions
• Subdivisions, partitions, property line adjustments and legal lot issues
• Site plan review, development review and design review
• Conditional uses, variances and nonconforming uses
• Development of farm and forest land, and other rural land issues
• Exactions, dedications and other conditions of approval that violate the Dolan rule
Environmental regulation and permitting of development projects

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:
 

Ms. Davies is a member of the Oregon County Counsel’s Association, Mid-Columbia Bar Association, Queen's Bench and the Oregon Women Lawyer's Association. She is also a member of the Oregon State Bar's Business Law, Environmental and Natural Resources, and Real Estate and Land Use sections, and the Washington State Bar’s Business Law, Environmental and Land Use, and Real Estate, Probate and Trust sections.

CIVIC ACTIVITIES:

Ms. Davies is a presenter with the Hood River County School District Community Education Program and is the founder and League Coordinator of the Hood River Co-Ed Soccer Association.
 

personal activities:

Ms. Davies lives in Hood River with her husband Jeff.  She spends her free time taking advantage of all the recreational opportunities the spectacular Columbia River Gorge has to offer.  

EDUCATION:

Juris Doctor, Certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law, Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, 2003

Bachelor of Arts, Political Science; Bachelor of Science, Economics, Trinity University, summa cum laude, 1994

Admissions:
Oregon State Bar
Washington State Bar