Robert Wilkinson is a litigator and trial attorney who has developed a broad practice in real estate and construction law, with extensive experience handling construction disputes including construction defect and property damage claims. He has successfully represented clients in design and construction defect claims in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Utah, including the owners of condominiums, townhomes, apartments, affordable housing communities, single family homes, hotels, retirement centers, and commercial buildings.
Mr. Wilkinson’s representative construction experience includes:
- Successful jury trial for a 63-unit condominium community focused on improperly installed stucco siding.
- Successfully represented a townhome project on the Oregon coast with construction defects that were so severe that the decks had to be condemned by the town authorities.
- Successfully represented many groups of single family homes in lawsuits focused on construction defect claims against developers, general contractors, and subcontractors.
- Successfully represented homeowners in Idaho with extensive construction defects including leaking windows and improperly installed stucco siding.
- Successfully represented a Utah-based general contractor in a payment dispute arising from the construction of a hotel in Idaho.
In addition to construction disputes, Mr. Wilkinson also handles real estate issues, such as those arising from commercial landlord-tenant relationships. Mr. Wilkinson co-authored the Oregon Real Estate Deskbook Chapter 35, “Commercial Lease Disputes and Remedies” for the Oregon State Bar, and he has successfully prosecuted breach of commercial lease matters on behalf of local and national owners, managers, and lessees of commercial space. In addition, Mr. Wilkinson has represented owners in various types of real property disputes, including a trial over an easement road that ended with success for the clients.
Mr. Wilkinson oversees Ball Janik’s community association general counsel and collections practice, providing legal advice and counsel to association clients, and managing collection efforts on behalf of their communities. Mr. Wilkinson is a long-standing member of the Education Committee of the Community Association Institute (CAI) of Oregon.
Mr. Wilkinson has authored articles on construction law, and is a frequent speaker at continuing education seminars and organization meetings. Mr. Wilkinson helped establish Ball Janik’s Construction Law Watch Blog, and continues to write and edit for the blog. Mr. Wilkinson is a member of the Construction Section of the American Bar Association, the Inns of Court and the Construction Section of the Oregon State Bar. Mr. Wilkinson devotes volunteer time to Legal Aid Services of Oregon in representing victims of domestic violence in contested restraining order hearings. In 2005, Mr. Wilkinson received the Pro Bono Award of Merit from the Multnomah Bar Association for this work. Mr. Wilkinson is also a volunteer for Habitat for Humanity in the Portland area.
Before joining Ball Janik LLP as an associate attorney, Mr. Wilkinson worked as a federal law clerk in Portland, Oregon. Prior to law school, Mr. Wilkinson served for two years in the Peace Corps in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, West Africa, where he taught agricultural skills and coordinated well-digging projects. He also spent time in New Mexico with an organization providing residential services to at-risk youth impacted by gang activity. Mr. Wilkinson resides in Portland with his wife, three children, and two big dogs.
Honors
Oregon Super Lawyers list, 2015-2016
2005 Pro Bono Award of Merit,
Multnomah Bar Association
