About Thomas
Thomas Coan trained as a lawyer at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he earned his J.D. in 1988. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1980 with a B.A. in economics. Those academic years set the stage for a career spent largely in criminal defense. He has combined courtroom work and appellate practice over several decades.
After law school Coan established himself in Oregon. He is admitted to practice in Oregon and is also authorized to appear before the Ninth Circuit and the United States Supreme Court. That range of admissions has allowed him to handle matters from local trials up to federal appeals. He has worked cases at different levels of the system rather than staying in a single courtroom.
Coan has been active in professional associations that center on criminal defense. He holds a life membership in the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, a status he has carried since 1993. He is also a member of the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers, where his membership dates back to 1991. Those ties have kept him connected to developments in criminal law and to other defense practitioners across the state and the nation.
His practice name is Thomas K. Coan, Lawyer at Law. Over the years he has taken on a variety of criminal matters. He handles trial-level representation as well as appellate filings. The admission to the Ninth Circuit and the Supreme Court means he can file appeals and petitions in those courts when cases warrant appellate review.
Colleagues and clients have encountered him most often in courtrooms and in motions practice. He has litigated cases, argued motions, and prepared appellate briefs. He is comfortable in jury trials and in the written advocacy required at the appellate level. That combination has guided the types of matters his office accepts and the services they provide.
Outside the courtroom Coan has kept a steady presence in the criminal defense bar through continuing membership and participation. His career spans the period after he completed his legal education in the late 1980s to the present day. He currently practices criminal defense at Thomas K. Coan, Lawyer at Law.
