Beaverton Portland Divorce Mediator Matthew House, J.D.: Child-Centered Divorce Without Attorneys
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  • Home
  • Why Mediate?
    • Portland Oregon Divorce Mediation: The Short Version
    • Save Time and Money
  • Why You Need Matthew
  • Choosing a Mediator
    • Qualifications
    • Experience
    • Concern for Kids
    • Accessibility
  • Matthew's Experience and Approach
    • About Matthew
    • Education & Training
    • True Stories: Inspiration >
      • Take Me to My Mommy NOW!
      • Lost in Philly
      • The Reds Runner
      • The Jump Rope Team
    • Media: TV, Radio, Print
    • Juvenile Justice Writing >
      • Juvenile Justice Initiative
  • Issues Settled in Divorce Mediation
    • Child Custody and Parenting Time
    • Child Support
    • Child Support Scenarios
    • Joint Accounts
    • Spousal Support
    • Tax Matters
    • Retirement Accounts in Oregon Divorce Mediation: IRA, Roth IRA, 401(k), 403(b), SEP
    • Homes and Other Real Estate
  • Divorce Mediation: Step By Step
    • Arranging a Divorce Mediation Consultation
    • Divorce Mediation: What to Expect >
      • Child Custody and Parenting Time
      • Spousal Support, Child Support, and Budgeting >
        • Spousal Support Changes in 2019
      • Property Division (Asset Division) and Debt Division
    • Divorce Mediation Report
    • Filing Forms after Divorce Mediation
    • QDROs
    • Parenting Education Class
  • Kids & Teens
    • Kids and Teens in Divorce Mediation
    • Teen Depression
  • Becoming a Client: Details and Fees
    • Information to Prepare
    • Arranging a Consultation
    • Mediation Fees
    • Fee Discounts
  • Location
  • Contact

Portland Divorce Mediator Matthew House, J.D.:
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Education and Training

I have a law degree from the University of Idaho College of Law, which I completed in 2005.  At the University of Idaho College of Law, I specialized in family law, taking courses in Divorce, Property Division, Community Property, Children and the Law, Domestic Violence, and Juvenile Law.  I passed the Oregon Bar Exam in 2005 on my first attempt, but I chose not to enter the practice of law so I could focus on divorce mediation exclusively.  While I was in law school, I took a required semester course on Legal Ethics (also called Professional Responsibility), and I realized that the adversarial system produces more problems than it solves.

When I first set my sights on becoming a family law attorney, I intended to pursue positive outcomes for families.  I did not understand at the time that not all divorcing people had positive and selfless visions for the future of their families.  After completing my Professional Responsibility (Legal Ethics) course, I discovered that my ethical obligations as a practicing attorney could mean taking positions that I knew were unwise or unfriendly to the other members of the family, especially kids and teens, but if I were representing someone, I would have to pursue that person's chosen outcome as long as it did not conflict with the law or my professional ethics.  On that basis, I decided that I needed to apply my law degree in some other way -- one that would allow me to remain independent of an adult client who might have an agenda motivated by spite or resentment.  For that reason, I became a divorce mediator.


Some people, even a few in Portland, attempt to mediate divorces without the benefit of a law degree.  Three years of law school provided me not just knowledge of the law but also training in critical thinking about the law that I could never have gotten elsewhere.  I cannot imagine succeeding as a family law professional without that background, and I remain skeptical of those who try to practice mediation without a degree in the field in which the dispute arises.  

Law school provided me a strong foundation in a number of legal specialties.  Besides my comprehensive training in family law, additional courses that are part of the standard law school curriculum -- 
Taxation, Bankruptcy, Contracts, Business Associations, Creditors' Rights, , and Civil Procedure, Legal Research, and Legal Writing -- also help me daily in my work as a divorce mediator.  Even courses such as Torts, Criminal Law, and Constitutional Law enhance my ability to do this work because those topics occasionally come up in the decisions that I help my clients make.  It is always nice to be able to pull out knowledge I gained in law school many years ago and make it available to clients in a relevant scenario, even for certain topics that I never expected to use again after completing those courses.  

Including my training, I have 18 years of experience in mediation, and I have had my own divorce mediation practice in Portland and Beaverton since 2005.  Having earned a law degree, I have had extensive training in law and divorce mediation (more than 1500 hours) in Idaho and Oregon.

Prior to law school, I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Oregon in 2002.  I majored in Spanish and had planned to become a high school Spanish teacher before an offer came my way to attend law school on a full scholarship.  I jumped at the chance, and the past 15 years have rewarded me with hundreds of opportunities to lead my clients and their families out of stress and chaos, helping them create something more civil, financially stable, and forward-looking.
Matthew House, a Beaverton, Oregon divorce mediator with a law degree, provides child-centered metro Portland divorce mediation without attorneys.  Portland divorce mediator Matthew House helps divorce mediation clients with all aspects of an Oregon divorce: Asset division, property division, real estate, home equity, debts, taxes, income, spousal support, alimony, child support, child custody (joint custody and sole custody, legal custody and physical custody), parenting time, visitation, dividing retirement plans, using the Oregon Child Support Calculator and Oregon Child Support Guidelines, and arranging (with another professional) to have a QDRO prepared. Based in Beaverton, Matthew serves Oregon clients from Portland, Beaverton, Hillsboro, Tigard, Tualatin, Sherwood, West Linn, Wilsonville, and all cities in Multnomah County, Washington County, and Clackamas County. He also provides free tutoring, counseling, mentoring and academic coaching to teenage children of his clients. forrest collins, michael dwyer, linda scher, morra, stuart watson, kinnison, meg goldberg, divorce shoppe
Contact Mediator Matthew House today:  (503) 643-5284   matthewmhousejd (at) gmail (dot) com