Wendy Gerlach’s legal career has spanned the corporate, finance, pharmaceutical, conservation, and non-profit sectors, and she brings a breadth of experience in meeting client needs. Throughout her career, her ability to focus on the essentials of a situation and clearly articulate issues and solutions has led to strong deals based on good relationships.

Wendy began her career as a corporate and tax lawyer with the Boston firm Ropes and Gray. Her practice there included mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and multinational tax structuring. Later, while living in Switzerland, she advised on international tax issues for ATAG Ernst & Young. Then, as in-house counsel in the Swiss headquarters of Novartis Pharmaceuticals, she worked closely with business colleagues on research, drug development, licensing, and technology transfer transactions. Upon returning to Portland, Wendy worked on technology licensing with Ater Wynne LLP and advised on estate, trusts, and nonprofits law with the firm Thede, Culpepper. Recently, in her solo practice, Wendy has increasingly focused on conservation-related transactions, including carbon-offset projects and conservation easement and fee title land acquisitions. She has worked with several land trusts on transactional and governance issues. Wendy is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Washington School of Law, and is admitted to practice in Oregon.

Wendy currently serves on the board of the Oregon League of Conservation Voters and is chair of the Oregon Department of Forestry’s Committee for Family Forestlands. Her past community engagement has included serving on the board of Columbia Land Trust (which she chaired from 2018 through 2023) and the board of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her three grown children, playing soccer with her dogs, reading novels, and hiking with friends.