Since 1996, Ron Ridehalgh has been defending people and families.  In early 1997, Mr. Ridehalgh began doing so in Washington County Oregon.  We are now a nine attorney law firm specializing in Adult Criminal Defense and Juvenile Court Defense.  Today we are leading providers in Washington County for the defense of DUII cases, Domestic Violence cases and Juvenile Law cases.  Should you be dealing with a first time DUII or Domestic Violence case, Ron Ridehalgh is the 'Advisory Counsel' and 'Deferred Sentencing Counsel' the court references.  Should you have a 'Shelter Care Hearing' in juvenile court, we are one of the main firms contacted by the court to represent parents and children.  Necessarily, our office also helps people with family law litigation (divorce/child custody/support).

 

Our Mission

If you have been accused of a crime or DHS is involved with your children, you may be feeling alone and overwhelmed.  To proceed with confidence, you need an experience criminal law and juvenile law defense attorney.  Our office believes that justice requires an aggressive defense.  Plans for that defense must begin promptly upon an accusation.  Our mission is to provide aggressive strategy based defenses to allegations and to advise our clients on how to best and most quickly achieve their goals all while ensuring that the legal system treats our clients with the dignity that every member of our society deserves. 

 

an INDEPENDENT REVIEW of OUR FIRM

In 2015, the Oregon Public Defense Services Commission performed an in-depth review of criminal and juvenile defense law firms in Washington County.  The review brought in attorneys from around Oregon to interview "nearly 50 people including judges, court staff, prosecutors, Sheriff's staff, provider administrators, attorneys and staff, Juvenile Department personnel, representatives of the Probation and Parole Division, case workers with the Department of Human Services, a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) supervisor and others."  Page 3 Washington County Service Delivery Review September 2015.  Regarding our firm, the Commission made findings that "Attorneys with the Ridehalgh firm are said to be knowledgeable, prepared and committed to doing good work.  Mr. Ridehalgh was specifically praised for his work with both the domestic violence deferred sentencing docket and the DUII diversion docket, and for his management of the firm.  The firm's work in juvenile dependency cases was described overall as very good, and the firm was noted as one that provides excellent training and oversight."  Page 19 Washington County Service Delivery Review September 2015.

“Every attorney in our office is a Trial Attorney! We are most at home in the Courtroom.”

Our Attorneys

  • Ron Ridehalgh became an attorney in 1996 and has practiced criminal defense and juvenile dependency (child abuse and neglect) ever since. Today, he is the primary defense attorney for the Washington County Domestic Violence Deferred Sentencing Program and as the Washington County DUII Advisory Counsel for people eligible for the DUII Diversion Program.

  • Kylie Cin joined us after leaving Colorado’s Nineteenth Judicial District Attorney’s Office. Before being a prosecutor for the Nineteenth Judicial District, she had been a prosecutor for Colorado’s Eleventh Judicial District. Now that Ms. Cin has come to Oregon, she has joined our firm. Since she spent her career as a prosecutor, we have her focused on our felony criminal defense. Since she also handled Juvenile Delinquency (criminal law for kids) cases as a prosecutor, she has started handling some of those matters for us as well.

  • Tyler Beach has been with our firm since 2013. Like all of our attorneys, he is a trial lawyer. He litigates criminal defense and family law (divorce, custody, restraining orders, etc.) cases. Previously, he worked as a Deputy District Attorney in the Polk County District Attorney's office and also as a clerk for the Clackamas County Circuit Court. Mr. Beach is currently also the president of the Washington County Bar Association.

  • Toni Gonzalez comes to us after working twenty-three years in the corporate world. In 2022 she opened her own law firm as a solo practitioner and in 2024 we managed to convince her to join our office. With our firm, she is focused on expungements and general criminal defense. Ms. Gonzalez is also licensed in Colorado and is fluent in Spanish.

  • Angus Dunlavey joined our firm after having worked in the Hillsboro office of the Metro Public Defender office. His focus in our office is trial level misdemeanor cases - with a significant focus on DUII defense.

  • Jennifer Kinzey joined our office after experiencing life in both criminal defense and criminal prosecution. She handled criminal defense for the Drake Legal Clinic in Des Moines and later functioned as a deputy district attorney for the Multnomah County District Attorney’s office specializing in Community Court. In our office, we have her focused on Juvenile court.

  • Gabriel S. Walsh joined our office in 2021. Mr. Walsh is focused on criminal defense trial work, the DUII Diversion Advisory Counsel program, and the Domestic Violence Deferred Sentencing Program. Prior to joining our office, Mr. Walsh worked on civil litigation projects primarily focused on mass tort claims.

  • Joe Metaclfe, a Cum Laude graduate of Harvard Law School, began his criminal defense career at the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia from 1994 through 2000.  Before joining Ridehalgh & Associates, he was also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center and an Assistant Professor at the University of Oregon School of Law where he taught criminal law, criminal procedure, and trial practice.

  • Ryan Lhotsky came to our office after having been an extern with the Boise City Prosecutor’s Office and having spent nearly three years handling family law cases in Oregon. In our office, Mr. Lhotsky is focused on misdemeanor cases.

  • Matthew P. Crusen came to our office from BK Law Group in Bloomington Minnesota where he helped bolster the criminal defense team and it’s footprint in the Twin Cities.  Prior to that time, he worked in another Minnesota firm handling personal injury and medical malpractice cases.  At R&A, Mr. Crusen’s focus is on felony trial level criminal defense.