CVK Donates $7,500 to Commemorate 75th Anniversary

Retired partner, Randall B. Kester, explains the history behind the scholarship:

The History of the Cosgrave Vergeer Kester LLP Scholarship

            Seventy-five years ago, when Bob Maguire and Roy Shields formed a law firm, which became the predecessor of Cosgrave Vergeer Kester,  the country was still in the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s.  Considering the times, they were certainly optimistic; but the subsequent growth and diversification of the firm showed that their optimism was justified.
At the same time there was a small, local college in Albany, Oregon, known as Albany College;  and in the course of time it moved to the Portland vicinity and became known as Lewis & Clark College.
And there was a small, proprietary law school that used rented space in Portland office buildings, which was known as Northwestern College of Law.  Its classes were in the evenings, because most of its students held daytime jobs;  and its part-time instructors (before being known as adjunct professors) were practicing lawyers and judges.  Its graduates included many of Oregon’s outstanding lawyers and judges;  and in time it became a part of Lewis & Clark College.
Some of the instructors at Northwestern were members of this firm, including me;  and some of its graduates became associates and partners of this firm;  so there has always been a close relationship.  Both Walter Cosgrave and Duane Vergeer were graduates of Northwestern, and each received its Distinguished Alumnus Award.
In recognition of that relationship, and in memory of Walter Cosgrave and Duane Vergeer, the firm has established a scholarship fund, to be used at the Dean’s discretion, to assist deserving students who are attending law school while also holding full-time jobs, as was the case of both Cosgrave and Vergeer.  Without limiting the Dean’s discretion, it is suggested that motherhood may be the equivalent of a full-time job.
This scholarship was started with a contribution at our 70th Anniversary celebration;  and it is now our pleasure and privilege to renew and continue it with another.