Our Story

        Butler & Looney is a firm of "Eastern Oregon Sagebrush Lawyers," to use the term coined by our founder, Charlie Swan. The firm had its roots in the 1930's when Charlie moved from the Willamette Valley to Vale, Oregon.  Bob Butler began practicing with Charlie in 1967, and Cliff Looney joined the firm in 1970. We have a long history of being a strong, stable law firm, now representing many families into the third and fourth generations.

        Our practice is varied and depends upon the needs of our clients. We often say, somewhat tongue in cheek, that we do everything except admiralty law (the law of the high seas.) I suppose if we had the right kind of admiralty case, we would associate with an admiralty firm on the west coast and learn something about admiralty law. The point is, we serve the needs of our clients and if necessary, associate the best experts in unique practice areas.

        Vale is the county seat of Malheur County, which is primarily an agricultural area. Much of our business is related to agriculture including business and estate planning and real estate work. We also have a strong practice in family law including divorce and custody matters. In addition, Cliff Looney is certified in mediation. We have a strong litigation practice that includes business and real estate litigation as well as personal injury and wrongful death matters.

        Eastern Oregon is also the location of a great deal of mining activity dating back to the gold rush days. There is still a substantial amount of mining activity going on in Eastern Oregon and we have continued to maintain a substantial mining law practice.

        Because of our proximity to Idaho, a substantial portion of our work crosses the border into Idaho. One of the members of our firm, David Butler, is also licensed to practice in Idaho.

        Besides practicing law in Eastern Oregon, we also live here by choice. Eastern Oregon is a diverse and interesting area with fishing, hunting, camping, rock hounding and many other activities available for the family. Vale is located on the Oregon Trail and is the first stop on the Oregon Trail in the state of Oregon. The hot springs, which break out in the Malheur River on the edge of Vale, was a place for the pioneers to stop, do their laundry and rest as they prepared to head north and west toward Hells Canyon and the timber country. Vale has become famous for its murals depicting many of the events and activities in the early history of the area.

 We invite you to visit some of the following sites to learn more about Eastern Oregon