As a young girl growing up in Romania under the dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu Adina Matasaru learned early on about the injustice discrimination and persecution in the world She also knew by the time she was 5 that she wanted to become an attorney “My father always taught us that laws should be just and made to ensure protection “I wanted to do good and bring justice in an unjust place Matasaru’s family fled Romania and took shelter in a German refugee camp Matasaru moved to New York with her father They stayed for about three months before the violence in their Queens neighborhood convinced them to move elsewhere Matasaru’s family had a friend in Dallas who encouraged them to move south where her parents could work in a print shop “I was 17 when we arrived (in Texas) didn’t understand the culture and didn’t have any support from anyone I went to summer school to learn English and then started my senior year at South Garland High School in Garland I felt as if I had landed on another planet,” Matasaru says Amid the strangeness and the culture shock Matasaru met the young man who would one day become her husband a shy Korean-American boy who sat behind her in physics class Matasaru’s parents informed her that the family was moving to Portland I had a near-perfect GPA and I wanted to go to college,” she says “My older sister had gotten married by then But my parents needed my brother and I because they didn’t speak English the family again trekked across the country with their belongings in a U-Haul and the promise of a job for Matasaru’s father he was told he didn’t speak English well enough for the job The 18-year-old Matasaru and her family became homeless “We would go from a friend’s house to another acquaintance’s house whoever was merciful enough to let us sleep on the floor,” she says adding the family slept in its Chevy Astro van when they felt they had worn out their welcome with friends Matasaru and her mother eventually found work in an adult foster-care home whose owner let the family sleep in the attic at night the women took care of five adults who had brain injuries and Matasaru attended Mount Hood Community College at night She then transferred to the University of Portland where she earned a bachelor’s degree in interdisciplinary studies that allowed her to combine her interests in philosophy Matasaru continued to help care for her parents They had returned to Texas and she would fly back to visit them as often as she could He told me he sent me flowers after I left and I never got them because we were homeless,” Matasaru says “I didn’t have any contact with him for a long time but I kept posting notes on our high school alumni board and asking acquaintances about him I called every Schulze in the state of Texas.” Matasaru received an email from Daniel’s sister who hadn’t known of Matasaru’s search for her brother but merely wanted to reconnect and wish her happy holidays “I called Daniel and he made me wait three days before he called back,” she says adding he moved to Portland three months later and the pair was married in 2005 “Being married to Daniel is like living in a fairy tale every day; he sustains me through it all.” Matasaru knew she wanted to do transactional work She had spent a semester abroad at a private law school in Hamburg where she learned about international transactions And she worked for a year as a case assistant in mergers and acquisitions at Stoel Rives “Adina was the first law clerk I hired Although English is her third language (after Romanian and German) she speaks and writes English better than most people,” says Ortega “Between that and her native charisma I pegged her for a trial lawyer pretty quickly — but she did not believe herself to be headed in that direction I like to take credit for redirecting her,” she notes with a smile Matasaru laughs as she recalls her preference for the “clean law” of transactions rather than the “dirty law” of litigation “Judge Ortega very wisely and gently pointed out what my strengths were and the one thing she asked me to do was find a firm that would let me do both litigation and transactions,” she says and within six weeks I started doing litigation for Frank Moscato and never looked back Frank taught me everything I know about being a professional and practicing with integrity “After being out of practice for a couple of years Chock’s trust and belief in me was so important; it gave me courage to prove that women can return to active practice after an absence and still accomplish great things,” she says Matasaru decided to join Chock and another Dunn Carney colleague She says it presented an opportunity to have greater control over her career and to build a firm that is grounded in diversity The firm is over 75 percent female and made up of lawyers and staff who are Native American “Every person brings something unique to the table and it’s amazing how much better we are when everyone offers a different perspective,” Matasaru says emphasizing complex civil cases like large fraud and RICO claims or wrongful death cases She is currently defending a variety of Uniform Trade Practices Act claims and also handles some “garden variety insurance defense” — anything from car accidents to officers’ and directors’ liability to mold exposure which keeps me learning something every day.” Most recently she has had to become an expert in family day cares and views all of it as opportunities to be challenged daily my clients and my profession,” she muses Between all that and caring for her parents too Matasaru admits she doesn’t have much free time She does have a favorite pastime when the opportunity arises Daniel and I don’t have much time for it Only 16 more years until the youngest leaves for college,” she says with a laugh Copyright �1997new Date().getFullYear()>2010&&document.write("-"+new Date().getFullYear()); Oregon State Bar���All rights reserved | ADA Notice | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use Builder Breakfast – Town Hall: Building a Better Business Model for Housing No one 118 years ago could have foreseen just how much labor law would evolve over the coming decades Dorianna Phillips has joined the board of directors of Portland State University’s Center for Women Lee Kell has owned many vehicles over the years yet he’s proof that most people do remember their first It's been said that there's no time like the present But where we are now is often the result of[...] As she prepared for the birth of her first child in December Jennifer Sabovik wondered how she could be a[...[...] Even as a new class of future lawyers descended upon Lewis & Clark Law School last week Sign up for your daily digest of DJC Oregon Daily News BRIC is proud to announce Octavio Gutiérrez’s promotion to associate principal BRIC is proud to announce Ed Herrera’s promotion to associate principal Sundt Construction welcomes the addition of Devanta Black as project manager for its growing Northwe[...] Hacker has promoted John Dalit to associate He is a registered architect and a member of NOMA with [...] Hacker has promoted Sophia Tan to associate She contributes to diverse projects spanning civic Jason Murakami has been promoted to preconstruction manager at R&H Construction Sara Stone is now vice president/project manager of Pioneer Waterproofing Company Christine Schlicker has been named chief operating officer of Deacon Construction Daily Journal of Commerce provides 24/7 legal news coverage and events honoring top legal professionals Get our free DJC Oregon Daily News & breaking news notifications Subscribe for access to the latest digital and special editions Working to sustain the natural world for the benefit of people and nature WWF® and ©1986 Panda Symbol are owned by WWF You are using an outdated browser. Please upgrade your browser to improve your experience The Chisinau Court of Appeal rejected on Thursday the complaint of the former lawyer Ala Popa against the activist Anatol Matasaru regarding the alleged violation of the right to protect her own image The complaint was filed after Anatol Matasaru contributed to the journalistic investigation into prosecutor Igor Popa the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office filed a criminal case against Igor Popa for illicit enrichment The appellate court upheld the decision that was handed down last autumn by the Chisinau District Court This is not the only complaint filed by Ala Popa against Matasaru after he had helped the Center for Investigative Journalism to conduct the investigation into Igor Popa the Chisinau District Court rejected as unfounded another complaint in which Ala Popa demanded 15,000 lei from Matasaru for violating the right to protect her image and privacy prosecutors in the Chisinau Central Prosecutor's Office issued an order not to follow up on Ala Popa's complaint against Matasaru after filming for the investigation of the Center for Investigative Journalism The ordinance was challenged by Ala Popa in court and was admitted by Judge Victor Ratoi The decision of the court of first instance was challenged in the hierarchically superior court prosecutors replied to a complaint by Ala Popa against Matasaru and filed a criminal case against him for violating the inviolability of her personal life during the period when the activist was helping to carry out the investigation The trial started in March 2020 and several hearings postponed the five-year term of Magistrate Irina Paduraru expired and the case was transferred to another judge who resumed the examination of the case from scratch We remind that the activist Anatol Matasaru is not the only target of Ala Popa's complaints She has lodged several complaints with various institutions and against the Center for Investigative Journalism In July 2021, the CIM published the investigation "VIDEO // Fictitious divorce and the hidden property of prosecutor Igor Popa", about how a well-known and controversial prosecutor resorted to a fictitious divorce in order to hide the properties which he could not have covered from his salary at the prosecutor's office After the removal of Alexandr Stoianoglo from the leadership of the General Prosecutor's Office the Anticorruption Prosecutor's Office filed a complaint against the subjects from the investigation and started a criminal case against Igor Popa for illicit enrichment Textele de pe pagina web a Centrului de Investigații Jurnalistice www.anticoruptie.md sunt realizate de jurnaliști cu respectarea normelor deontologice și sunt protejate de dreptul de autor Preluarea textelor știrilor și a investigațiilor jurnalistice se realizează în limita maximă de 500 de semne instituţii media sau bloguri) trebuie indicat şi linkul direct la articolul preluat de pe www.anticoruptie.md în primul alineat iar în cazul posturilor de radio și TV – se citează obligatoriu sursa Preluarea integrală a textelor se poate realiza doar în condiţiile unui acord prealabil semnat cu Centrul de Investigații Jurnalistice DOC// Who is the judge sent to the dock for false statements in asset declarations DOC // What the court responded to the mayor of Bălți regarding his request to dissolve Moldovagaz as a legal entity End of honorary consul career. Former Civil Aviation director Valentin Vizant loses lawsuit against foreign ministry Laundromat case: compensation awarded to former judge Igor Vornicescu challenged DOC// Vlad Plahotniuc’s ex-wife continues legal fight over seized assets. Requests case transfer Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest information