Olivier Jamin ’17 is an associate at Davis Wright Tremaine LLP in Portland. He provides legal advice to clients on environmental, energy, land use, and litigation matters, as well as regulatory issues in the food and beverages industry. He also conducts due diligence reviews regarding permitting and land use for energy projects, breweries, and wineries, and provides litigation strategy advice on environmental cases. Olivier is also passionate about natural resources management, particularly water rights. He advises private parties, municipalities and other clients on water resources management, especially crafting water sharing agreements and water infrastructure agreements.
While most of his work involves federal and state laws in the United States, his practice also has important international dimensions. He regularly represents Japanese clients in connection with their U.S. operations and investment opportunities, particularly in the energy world. He also represents Australian clients in real estate deals, particularly in the wine industry, and generally advises clients in the wine industry and others on tariffs, especially for imports and exports to and from Europe. In addition, he worked on filings under the Hague Evidence Convention and took depositions of individuals in France for a complex civil litigation matter in San Francisco. He expects the international aspects to his work to grow over time in light of the firm’s extensive portfolio of international clients, disputes, and transactions.
During his years at Lewis & Clark, Olivier took advantage of many opportunities available through the international and environmental law programs. A highlight for him was working with the Global Law Alliance for Animals and the Environment (formerly known as IELP), helping to guide the implementation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in various African Countries and bring compliance issues before the Secretariat of the Convention. In the process he acquired deep knowledge about the Convention and the international trade of species of fauna and flora. As part of his work he also attended COP21 in Paris in 2016, participating in climate change negotiations on behalf of small island states. He considers these experiences particularly valuable in preparing him to deal with a variety of competing legal and judicial systems, as well as exposing him to different cultures, which is an important part of practicing law at the international level.
According to Olivier, his coursework at Lewis & Clark gave him a strong foundation for the work he is doing today, and particularly Public International Law, International Dispute Resolution, Legal Research: International & Foreign, and International Business Transactions. As he puts it: “These courses allowed me to acquire a certain comfort level working on international legal matters, while still being able to develop an expertise on domestic environmental and energy law. They provided valuable background and concrete examples of the work that an attorney involved on international disputes may have to face, including not only the broad legal framework of conventions and treaties, but also the particularities of certain countries, as well as invaluable skills in issue-spotting that allow me to better advise clients today.”
Olivier received a French law degree from the University of Montesquieu in Bordeaux, followed by a BA in Political Science from Gonzaga University, a JD from Lewis & Clark, and then an LLM in Environment, Natural Resources & Energy, also from Lewis & Clark.