After 31 years of legal work in Philomath, Jim Brewer earlier this month attended his final City Council meeting. Three city managers, four police chiefs and numerous city councilors consulted with Brewer on everything from municipal court cases to major land-use decisions.
During a March 20 interview at a coffee shop located in the same block where the law firm he shares with David Coulombe is located in Corvallis, Brewer didn’t have to think for more than a few seconds when asked if any Philomath-related case stood out above the rest.
“I would say that the land-use case for the couplet was a pretty big deal — it was a big deal for the city, it was a big deal for ODOT and of course, the business owners were concerned about it and it was a big deal for them,” Brewer said. “And anytime that you work with ODOT, things are very time consuming.”
The controversial couplet project was completed by the Oregon Department of Transportation in 2007.
And that’s just one case. Brewer could likely go on for hours about some of the issues he’s seen and cases he’s argued in the best interests of Philomath. His association with the city dates all the way back to when he was a third-year law student and worked as a clerk performing municipal court prosecutions.
Brewer publicly shared news of his March 2024 retirement in a City Council meeting last summer to give Philomath plenty of time to hire a replacement. In November, the city hired Beery, Elsner and Hammond for city attorney duties and Ivers, Miller and Mazhary-Clark for prosecutorial services.
Brewer and Coulombe decided last year that they would retire and close up shop. Not only are Brewer and Coulombe the same age — just a few months apart — but they discovered it would be very difficult to hire their replacements.
Brewer said over the past eight years, they’ve hired four associates. A conversation with each of them was that they were both aging and basically looking for someone who might be able to take over the practice.
But each of those prospects moved on to better jobs, Brewer laughed. And with the economy coming out of the pandemic and with various other factors, it’s been a challenge.
“It is simply hard to hire people,” Brewer said. “And at some point, you say, ‘you know, we’re not going to be successful hiring a third and maybe a fourth person under these circumstances.”
Compared to other possibilities in the profession, the hours vs. compensation part of it all comes into play as well.
“I think we were probably the lowest-paid attorneys by the hour if you’re thinking of seat time in meetings,” Brewer said, adding that the position has changed through the years with remote work entering the picture and attorneys not necessarily needed at every meeting.
“What we’ve done with Philomath and Corvallis, it’s a flat rate for a monthly bucket of services,” Brewer explained. “I would say the cities have done a really good job of maximizing the value of those contracts.”
A Kansas native, Brewer’s interest in the law did not materialize until he was in his 30s. He earned a master’s degree from Wichita State University.
“I did eight years of teaching and felt like I needed to do something else. I admire people who are good teachers and I’m not one,” said Brewer, serving up an example of his self-deprecating humor.
Unsure of his plans, he figured he’d go back to school and pursue a doctorate in education.
“Then I talked to somebody who said, ‘well, you know, no matter what you want to do, a law degree … It teaches you how to think in a particular way and it will give you some valuable skills. It’s only three years, give it a shot, see what happens.’”
With a little money saved up from consulting work he had done, Brewer sent out several law school applications. Life was heading in a direction he hadn’t anticipated.
“I’m not sure I ever met a lawyer before I went to law school,” Brewer said.
Brewer’s wife, Nancy, is from Corvallis and while they were visiting her parents for Thanksgiving, he received a suggestion to check out Willamette University. So, he headed up to Salem to see the school’s campus, which was pretty much empty because of the holiday week.
Brewer recalled the visit: “They were clear and said, ‘yeah, we’re not the largest law school, we don’t have the largest law library but we are across the street from the Supreme Court — wanna go meet a Supreme Court justice?’”
Brewer said he wasn’t sure if he was sophisticated enough for such a conversation but he agreed. His chat turned out to be with the chief justice.
“The chief was Wally Carson, who had a huge impact on every part of Oregon government,” Brewer said. “He was this affable, nice guy and he’s talking to me about ‘yeah, go to Willamette and we’re right here if you’re interested.’”
The commute to Salem seemed doable and his wife, who has a degree in public administration and finance, landed a job pretty easily in Corvallis, Brewer said. Everything fell into place and he started studying at Willamette University’s College of Law.
“One of the benefits of being in law school was you can get court certified as a third-year law student and do trial work under the supervision of a lawyer,” Brewer said. “Scott Fewel hired me — Scott was the Philomath city attorney since the early ’80s and he had just gotten hired in ’93, maybe ’92, by Corvallis as well — so I worked for him as a clerk.”
Brewer found himself doing municipal court prosecutions in Philomath and Corvallis. He also crossed paths with Jim Eickelberg, a former Corvallis city attorney who shared a private practice with Fewel until his retirement in 1995, and someone he called a tremendous resource.
Brewer was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1994, the year he joined the Eickelberg and Fewel full-time. He took over as deputy city attorney in Philomath and Corvallis and within four months was working on his first Oregon Land Use Board of Appeals case.
Brewer eventually advanced to city attorney during Randy Kugler’s time as Philomath city manager, positions he also held in Corvallis and Harrisburg. In addition, he’s represented various other entities, such as Sodaville and Waterloo on a transactional basis, the Oregon Cascades West Council of Governments and others.
Over the years, representation of municipalities has represented the bulk of his practice.
Brewer’s representation of Philomath increased over the years as the city has grown.
“I would say it was more common for Philomath to have one council meeting per month under the prior city manager,” Brewer said. “Chris (Workman) keeps a pretty busy agenda and the city is growing, too, so it’s more active and more likely to have two meetings.”
Asked what he was going to do in retirement, Brewer joked that he might go back to college again. Or was he joking?
“That’s always possible,” Brewer said. “When I was finishing my law degree, I said to my wife, ‘you know, maybe I should go to medical school.’ That was not received well at the time.”
But on a more serious note, he does intend to enjoy more time with her.
“My wife still wants to do stuff with me, which is nice after 46 years,” he said, later adding, “I don’t really have a plan. I’ve had a very scheduled life with a lot of external deadlines and I kind of like the idea of some time when I’m not scheduled and I’m walking the earth having adventures.”
