Josh Soper

Josh Soper joined BEH in 2022. Prior to joining the firm, he spent over a decade as in-house counsel for local governments in Oregon, including serving as County Counsel for Coos County and as City Attorney for the City of Sherwood. His practice is primarily focused on land use issues. He regularly represents municipalities at land use hearings and on appeal, advises clients relating to development review and long-range planning efforts, and drafts development code amendments to address changes in law or policy and to reduce legal risk. He is also frequently involved in the development of state land use legislation. Complementing his land use practice, he is well versed in economic development and infrastructure financing issues, including urban renewal, system development charges (SDCs), local improvement districts (LIDs), and reimbursement districts. Josh also has extensive experience with municipal utility issues, including advising municipal broadband utilities, negotiating complex multi-party water agreements, and responding to DEQ and EPA enforcement actions. In addition, Josh has a broad background working with general municipal law issues, including public meetings, public records, elections, tort liability, risk management, government ethics, and constitutional law. He has drafted numerous ballot measures, charter provisions, ordinances, and regulations and is a frequent speaker at statewide conferences on local government issues. He has represented clients in municipal court, state circuit court, U. S. District Court, the Land Use Board of Appeals, and the Oregon Court of Appeals. Josh lives in Damascus with his family and is passionate about spending time outdoors, the arts, and the Michigan Wolverines.