Brenna Tanzosh
Portland, OR
Licensed for 22 years
Law Degree
Awards
Primary Practice Area
Divorce and Family
Language
English
About
After building extensive litigation experience since 1999 and receiving mentoring from the top family law firms in Portland, I formed Tanzosh Family Law LLC in March of 2010 to provide optimal services for clients. My proactive and attentive practice style is designed to develop a team approach with each client in reaching the best resolution, whether through compromise or trial, together. If the other party is not going to be reasonable, there is a judicial system I trust. Those cases that need a judge or jury to decide, I represent clients in court effectively and with honor. I extended my practice to handling mediations. Assisting others in resolving controversy, with or without attorneys, requires a complimentary and advanced skill set, especially in family law. My mission is to attain the best outcome for clients with the least amount of destruction on the family. Uniting litigation and mediation is the way to achieving that goal.
Practices Areas
Child custody
Divorce and separation
Language
English
Contact
Reviews
Honest and Dependable Loyer gets the job done Very satisfied Never want to go through divorce again but definitely hire her again
I found Tanzosh Family Law after multiple calls to other attorney's in the area. Brenna was personable, answered my questions, and was very sympathetic and understanding during my consultation (divorce - mostly amicable). Her billing was accurate in time devoted to my case and I never felt she 'added on or made things longer' than they needed to be. Very fair in price and represented me very well. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing assistance in Family Law. Side note: She also decided to hire an assistant during the time I was utilizing Brenna's services. She is also knowledgeable, timely and efficient. Great team. Thank you for all you have done for me. I was so appreciated.
Brenna & Michael took my case a couple of years ago and it was complicated, and at the time very emotional with the circumstances and challenges. They got me in the right mental frame of mind with their support. Then we meticulously went through our options, and devised a plan. We reached a settlement that was fair and equitable for both sides which is all I could have asked. It didn’t get messy because Brenna & Michael were empathetic to the factors in our case. I’m forever grateful for the outcome. They are top shelf professionals that know the law and the reality. I highly recommend them to the serious person that desires a fair shake, and is willing to put in the time to get there. Sincerely, Jeff Johnson
This law office helped me immeasurably in my mind in my emotions in my soul and my spirit as my advocate during a very difficult time of life. Brenna and Michael stood in the gap, answered questions and were strongly in my corner. A 5 star rating I completely endorse and recommend this Family law office. Sincerely David Sinkler
If you are fortunate enough to have your case handled by Brenna Tanzosh, know that you are in good hands. Look no further. Over most of three years, throughout a contentious, difficult, nightmare of a divorce, Brenna Tanzosh frequently proved herself to be the most qualified lawyer in the room, and sometimes appeared to be the only one with definitive legal knowledge in court. Using her education, intelligence and clarity of vision, she no less than convinced a judge to rethink a hasty, damaging and unfounded ruling. Beyond that, she exacted an apology from the court, on my behalf. It was a stunning accomplishment. She stood up to irrational, badgering lawyers and brought sheer dedication, commitment and illuminative information to the discussion and negotiations until my case was resolved. This was no easy task. Far from it. She remained honest and in integrity even in the face of countless misrepresentations from the opposing side. She was easy to talk to, open to new information, always receptive and alert, and most of all, she was (is) kind. She was tireless and determined. I worked with two other lawyers before Brenna Tanzosh. Experience with other lawyers informs my opinion and fuels my certainty: Ms. Tanzosh is worthy of awards and accolades, for the work she is doing. Family law is full of problems. She brings a clear head, a dedication and a level of integrity which is reassuring and ultimately empowering. I stand in all gratitude for my chance to work with her.
During my recent divorce proceedings I had the opportunity to work with Ms. Tanzosh and I felt that she did an excellent job in her role as a mediator and attorney for my children. In my divorce case, both my ex and I had representation from our own attorneys, but our teenage children were not represented and were not happy with the situation. Ms. Tanzosh was asked to represent and protect the rights of our children and she did an excellent job. In addition, she was able to help facilitate communication between my ex and me, and in doing so Ms. Tanzosh was able to help us come to an out of court settlement. I highly recommend Brenna Tanzosh and I would not hesitate to hire her for future issues.
Wow, I had a completely different experience than another person who wrote a review. I am self employed and have crazy hours, and Brenna made herself available to me late at night, on weekends, and holidays. She even came to my home to accommodate me when I didn't have child care. She communicated with me promptly and in several different ways.......email, texting, phone calls, meetings. Another attorney I worked with took my money and then became very hard to get ahold of. I actually had to make an appointment to HAVE A PHONE CALL WITH HIM, and it would be days out. I had an extremely complicated case and Brenna encouraged me to be as involved as I wanted to be. I asked to proof read and approve every court document and piece of discovery before it was sent out, and she obliged. Because of the complicated nature of my case, I wanted to be by her side during every meeting she took with the opposing attorney, and I played an active role in the negotiations and settlement agreement. While I wouldn't recommend this to most people going through a divorce (because of the emotional nature of the subject matter) she recognized that there was value in my contribution. I recognized the importance of deferring to her expertise, and that I had better conduct myself in a dignified and professional manner, or I would only be hurting myself. My favorite thing about Brenna was her refusal to play dirty and her preparedness. My guess is that she's never had to resort to playing dirty because she knows the law. She's incredibly smart, but she also made the effort to fully understand my case so that she could do the proper research, and be prepared when the time came to deal with it. The finances in my case were so complicated that I didn't think it was possible for another person to even comprehend all of it, but she did. She understood the individual pieces, how they worked together, and what they meant to the big picture. She amazed me a few times when she accurately recalled facts or details that I had only touched on, and it had been months or years beforehand. We butted heads a few times, and I had moments of feeling like she wasn't fighting hard enough for me. But now that some time has elapsed, I can see that even when I thought she wasn't my advocate, she actually was. When I thought she was trying to get things over and done with (when I wanted to put up a fight), I see now that she was looking at things objectively, and I was not. She was trying to stop me from spending thousands of dollars fighting over personal crap that wasn't worth half of what I would spend fighting over it. If you want a "yes person" who will teach you how to play dirty, tell you you're justified and right when you conduct yourself in an undignified and unproductive manner, and encourage you even when you are not being rational, she is NOT the person for you. If you want someone who will give you realistic expectations, and talk you off of the ledge when you are about to do or say something stupid, then she's your gal. My husband's attorney saw dollar signs, inflamed him when he was angry and irrational (rather than calming him down), convinced him that he could get absurd amounts of money from me, and (I believe) advised him to take actions that were detrimental for our young children. I know that integrity and the truth don't always prevail. But your odds are much better when you have a knowledgeable, hard working, and prepared attorney who is respected by her peers and the court. More importantly, when it is all said and done, I can hold my head high and know that I conducted myself in a dignified manner at every turn, and I am grateful to Brenna for guiding me down that path.
I was quite fortunate to have a friend recommend Brenna to me for my divorce and separation case. My divorce was somewhat more complex than the typical case because of a joint business my wife and I owned. Brenna worked tirelessly to address questions and was exceptionally patient in dealing with me & my situation. Throughout the entire process, I felt like I had an advocate for my my best interests, as well as someone who genuinely cared about my welfare in addition to the technical issues surrounding my case. I have actually revised my opinion of attorneys ( They are real people! Who knew...), and now I feel a slight pang of guilt whenever telling attorney jokes. I admit it's slight, but it's there. I highly recommend Brenna. I plan to engage her her services on all my future divorces.
My ex-spouse hired Ms. Tanzosh after approaching our daughter to let her know that there were people that could speak for her needs if she would like. Our daughter who was 16, wanted a car, and I had felt that she needed to work for it first. My ex-husband disagreed. He also disagreed with my wanting more than 50% parenting time. Thus, my husband hired the children a lawyer. In this situation, my ex had just returned from four months of drug rehab in California, while I had been at home by myself with the children. I had been the primary care giver for 16 years and there was no child abuse or active drug abuse on my part. My daughter and I had been recently arguing over her car, her father's lack of communication, etc... Some of our arguments got heated. At this point, I ran out of money and we all (my ex, myself, the attorneys, and Ms. Tanzosh) decided to sit down and come to a settlement. Brenna decided that there was too much conflict in my home and awarded my ex 80% temporary custody, with the expectation that it would go to 50/50 when reevaluated within a month. We also have a 12 year old son, who she lumped into this decision. I agreed reluctantly, believing that my daughter and I would be able to have some cool off time and then the parenting time would then increase as promised. The month, came and went, and come to find out, Ms. Tanzosh had no intention of reevaluating the parenting time. My attorney told me that since I agreed to the decision that my only course of action was to hope my ex fails as a father somehow or take it to court in the future for a modification, which will then cost more money. I feel that I was manipulated, lied to, misled, and since her fees were being paid by my ex, there was extreme bias toward my ex getting more parenting time rather than a decision being made in the best interest of the children. In all our interactions, she came across as genuinely caring and trustworthy, which led me to believe that she would make an informed and fair decision. Since the outcome, the relationship between my children and I has suffered greatly and they are exhibiting lower grades in school, less participation in their extracurricular activities, and difficulty socially. My attorney has brought these issues to Ms. Tanzosh's attention and she has not responded. If you are looking for a child advocate to fight for YOUR needs, rather than your children's, look no further. Be very careful with trusting her decisions and agreements. I feel like I sold my children out.
I need to update a previous review for Brenna. I found out after my settlement from another attorney that Brenna was misleading about the options I had for settlement and that what she had told me was "bs". Brenna had told me that had I gone before a judge for my divorce settlement, I could wind up with no cash at all and that the judge was unpredictable. I've since heard from other attorneys that this was bs. Brenna was upset that the settlement conference was happening during a family visit ( and sent me an email stating that she would much prefer spending the time with her family than me ) and I suspect just wanted to end the case quickly, especially since I was short of cash and quite likely unable to pay for additional services. Attorneys aren't required to be humanitarians, but I fail to see how anyone with a conscience could act this way. I was devastated, as I had thought that Brenna was someone I liked and thought I could trust. The settlement was probably 50k under what it should have been, resulting in a bankruptcy much sooner than would have happened, if at all, had I gotten an equitable settlement ( ie, had assets been split evenly ). In my case, I was being left with a failing business by my ex. If I had additional time, I possibly could have sold it to someone who could turn it around. As the settlement left me with only a month's expenses, the business failed and I was left with all the aftermath. Brenna did nothing to help protect me from back taxes and lease defaults, allowing my ex to walk away from a joint business with little financial penalty. In the final tally, I paid over $28,000 for a settlement that was worse than had I simply gone before a judge with no representation. And no, Brenna was not willing to lower fees and even filed a claim with the bankruptcy court to collect the balance of what she was owed for her legal work. The fact that I had to file bankruptcy and will probably lose my home as a result is apparently irrelevant. I am just stunned. Someone that I thought I could trust and was a friend was in fact the epitome of what people don't like about attorneys. I have filed a complaint with the Bar.
Honest and Dependable Loyer gets the job done Very satisfied Never want to go through divorce again but definitely hire her again
I found Tanzosh Family Law after multiple calls to other attorney's in the area. Brenna was personable, answered my questions, and was very sympathetic and understanding during my consultation (divorce - mostly amicable). Her billing was accurate in time devoted to my case and I never felt she 'added on or made things longer' than they needed to be. Very fair in price and represented me very well. I would highly recommend them to anyone needing assistance in Family Law. Side note: She also decided to hire an assistant during the time I was utilizing Brenna's services. She is also knowledgeable, timely and efficient. Great team. Thank you for all you have done for me. I was so appreciated.
Brenna & Michael took my case a couple of years ago and it was complicated, and at the time very emotional with the circumstances and challenges. They got me in the right mental frame of mind with their support. Then we meticulously went through our options, and devised a plan. We reached a settlement that was fair and equitable for both sides which is all I could have asked. It didn’t get messy because Brenna & Michael were empathetic to the factors in our case. I’m forever grateful for the outcome. They are top shelf professionals that know the law and the reality. I highly recommend them to the serious person that desires a fair shake, and is willing to put in the time to get there. Sincerely, Jeff Johnson
This law office helped me immeasurably in my mind in my emotions in my soul and my spirit as my advocate during a very difficult time of life. Brenna and Michael stood in the gap, answered questions and were strongly in my corner. A 5 star rating I completely endorse and recommend this Family law office. Sincerely David Sinkler
If you are fortunate enough to have your case handled by Brenna Tanzosh, know that you are in good hands. Look no further. Over most of three years, throughout a contentious, difficult, nightmare of a divorce, Brenna Tanzosh frequently proved herself to be the most qualified lawyer in the room, and sometimes appeared to be the only one with definitive legal knowledge in court. Using her education, intelligence and clarity of vision, she no less than convinced a judge to rethink a hasty, damaging and unfounded ruling. Beyond that, she exacted an apology from the court, on my behalf. It was a stunning accomplishment. She stood up to irrational, badgering lawyers and brought sheer dedication, commitment and illuminative information to the discussion and negotiations until my case was resolved. This was no easy task. Far from it. She remained honest and in integrity even in the face of countless misrepresentations from the opposing side. She was easy to talk to, open to new information, always receptive and alert, and most of all, she was (is) kind. She was tireless and determined. I worked with two other lawyers before Brenna Tanzosh. Experience with other lawyers informs my opinion and fuels my certainty: Ms. Tanzosh is worthy of awards and accolades, for the work she is doing. Family law is full of problems. She brings a clear head, a dedication and a level of integrity which is reassuring and ultimately empowering. I stand in all gratitude for my chance to work with her.
During my recent divorce proceedings I had the opportunity to work with Ms. Tanzosh and I felt that she did an excellent job in her role as a mediator and attorney for my children. In my divorce case, both my ex and I had representation from our own attorneys, but our teenage children were not represented and were not happy with the situation. Ms. Tanzosh was asked to represent and protect the rights of our children and she did an excellent job. In addition, she was able to help facilitate communication between my ex and me, and in doing so Ms. Tanzosh was able to help us come to an out of court settlement. I highly recommend Brenna Tanzosh and I would not hesitate to hire her for future issues.
Wow, I had a completely different experience than another person who wrote a review. I am self employed and have crazy hours, and Brenna made herself available to me late at night, on weekends, and holidays. She even came to my home to accommodate me when I didn't have child care. She communicated with me promptly and in several different ways.......email, texting, phone calls, meetings. Another attorney I worked with took my money and then became very hard to get ahold of. I actually had to make an appointment to HAVE A PHONE CALL WITH HIM, and it would be days out. I had an extremely complicated case and Brenna encouraged me to be as involved as I wanted to be. I asked to proof read and approve every court document and piece of discovery before it was sent out, and she obliged. Because of the complicated nature of my case, I wanted to be by her side during every meeting she took with the opposing attorney, and I played an active role in the negotiations and settlement agreement. While I wouldn't recommend this to most people going through a divorce (because of the emotional nature of the subject matter) she recognized that there was value in my contribution. I recognized the importance of deferring to her expertise, and that I had better conduct myself in a dignified and professional manner, or I would only be hurting myself. My favorite thing about Brenna was her refusal to play dirty and her preparedness. My guess is that she's never had to resort to playing dirty because she knows the law. She's incredibly smart, but she also made the effort to fully understand my case so that she could do the proper research, and be prepared when the time came to deal with it. The finances in my case were so complicated that I didn't think it was possible for another person to even comprehend all of it, but she did. She understood the individual pieces, how they worked together, and what they meant to the big picture. She amazed me a few times when she accurately recalled facts or details that I had only touched on, and it had been months or years beforehand. We butted heads a few times, and I had moments of feeling like she wasn't fighting hard enough for me. But now that some time has elapsed, I can see that even when I thought she wasn't my advocate, she actually was. When I thought she was trying to get things over and done with (when I wanted to put up a fight), I see now that she was looking at things objectively, and I was not. She was trying to stop me from spending thousands of dollars fighting over personal crap that wasn't worth half of what I would spend fighting over it. If you want a "yes person" who will teach you how to play dirty, tell you you're justified and right when you conduct yourself in an undignified and unproductive manner, and encourage you even when you are not being rational, she is NOT the person for you. If you want someone who will give you realistic expectations, and talk you off of the ledge when you are about to do or say something stupid, then she's your gal. My husband's attorney saw dollar signs, inflamed him when he was angry and irrational (rather than calming him down), convinced him that he could get absurd amounts of money from me, and (I believe) advised him to take actions that were detrimental for our young children. I know that integrity and the truth don't always prevail. But your odds are much better when you have a knowledgeable, hard working, and prepared attorney who is respected by her peers and the court. More importantly, when it is all said and done, I can hold my head high and know that I conducted myself in a dignified manner at every turn, and I am grateful to Brenna for guiding me down that path.
I was quite fortunate to have a friend recommend Brenna to me for my divorce and separation case. My divorce was somewhat more complex than the typical case because of a joint business my wife and I owned. Brenna worked tirelessly to address questions and was exceptionally patient in dealing with me & my situation. Throughout the entire process, I felt like I had an advocate for my my best interests, as well as someone who genuinely cared about my welfare in addition to the technical issues surrounding my case. I have actually revised my opinion of attorneys ( They are real people! Who knew...), and now I feel a slight pang of guilt whenever telling attorney jokes. I admit it's slight, but it's there. I highly recommend Brenna. I plan to engage her her services on all my future divorces.
My ex-spouse hired Ms. Tanzosh after approaching our daughter to let her know that there were people that could speak for her needs if she would like. Our daughter who was 16, wanted a car, and I had felt that she needed to work for it first. My ex-husband disagreed. He also disagreed with my wanting more than 50% parenting time. Thus, my husband hired the children a lawyer. In this situation, my ex had just returned from four months of drug rehab in California, while I had been at home by myself with the children. I had been the primary care giver for 16 years and there was no child abuse or active drug abuse on my part. My daughter and I had been recently arguing over her car, her father's lack of communication, etc... Some of our arguments got heated. At this point, I ran out of money and we all (my ex, myself, the attorneys, and Ms. Tanzosh) decided to sit down and come to a settlement. Brenna decided that there was too much conflict in my home and awarded my ex 80% temporary custody, with the expectation that it would go to 50/50 when reevaluated within a month. We also have a 12 year old son, who she lumped into this decision. I agreed reluctantly, believing that my daughter and I would be able to have some cool off time and then the parenting time would then increase as promised. The month, came and went, and come to find out, Ms. Tanzosh had no intention of reevaluating the parenting time. My attorney told me that since I agreed to the decision that my only course of action was to hope my ex fails as a father somehow or take it to court in the future for a modification, which will then cost more money. I feel that I was manipulated, lied to, misled, and since her fees were being paid by my ex, there was extreme bias toward my ex getting more parenting time rather than a decision being made in the best interest of the children. In all our interactions, she came across as genuinely caring and trustworthy, which led me to believe that she would make an informed and fair decision. Since the outcome, the relationship between my children and I has suffered greatly and they are exhibiting lower grades in school, less participation in their extracurricular activities, and difficulty socially. My attorney has brought these issues to Ms. Tanzosh's attention and she has not responded. If you are looking for a child advocate to fight for YOUR needs, rather than your children's, look no further. Be very careful with trusting her decisions and agreements. I feel like I sold my children out.
I need to update a previous review for Brenna. I found out after my settlement from another attorney that Brenna was misleading about the options I had for settlement and that what she had told me was "bs". Brenna had told me that had I gone before a judge for my divorce settlement, I could wind up with no cash at all and that the judge was unpredictable. I've since heard from other attorneys that this was bs. Brenna was upset that the settlement conference was happening during a family visit ( and sent me an email stating that she would much prefer spending the time with her family than me ) and I suspect just wanted to end the case quickly, especially since I was short of cash and quite likely unable to pay for additional services. Attorneys aren't required to be humanitarians, but I fail to see how anyone with a conscience could act this way. I was devastated, as I had thought that Brenna was someone I liked and thought I could trust. The settlement was probably 50k under what it should have been, resulting in a bankruptcy much sooner than would have happened, if at all, had I gotten an equitable settlement ( ie, had assets been split evenly ). In my case, I was being left with a failing business by my ex. If I had additional time, I possibly could have sold it to someone who could turn it around. As the settlement left me with only a month's expenses, the business failed and I was left with all the aftermath. Brenna did nothing to help protect me from back taxes and lease defaults, allowing my ex to walk away from a joint business with little financial penalty. In the final tally, I paid over $28,000 for a settlement that was worse than had I simply gone before a judge with no representation. And no, Brenna was not willing to lower fees and even filed a claim with the bankruptcy court to collect the balance of what she was owed for her legal work. The fact that I had to file bankruptcy and will probably lose my home as a result is apparently irrelevant. I am just stunned. Someone that I thought I could trust and was a friend was in fact the epitome of what people don't like about attorneys. I have filed a complaint with the Bar.