Wendy Gerlach’s legal career has spanned the corporate, finance, pharmaceutical, conservation, and nonprofit sectors, and she brings a breadth of experience in meeting client needs. As a corporate and tax lawyer with the Boston firm Ropes and Gray, her practice included mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, and multinational tax structuring. While living in Switzerland, she advised on international tax issues for ATAG Ernst & Young. 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 on estate, trusts, and nonprofits advising 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. 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 serves on the boards of Columbia Land Trust, of which she is currently chair, the Oregon League of Conservation Voters, and the Coalition of Oregon Land Trusts. She is also part of the Coalition of Oregon Land Trust’s pro-bono legal team. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time with her three grown children, playing soccer with her dogs, reading novels, and hiking with friends. She is a graduate of Princeton University and the University of Washington School of Law, where she was on the editorial board of the law review.