Jim Eagar, Counsellor & Attorney at Law

Jim’s Background

I have a varied background that has given me broad skills and experience in teaching, counseling, and problem solving. I have worked in ministry, in the active and reserve Air Force, and as an attorney. In the Air Force I have served as a chaplain and a judge advocate (attorney).  I recently retired from the Air Force Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel with over 33 years of service. I have earned advanced degrees in theology and law, serving on the law review staff at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland, and publishing an article in the Gonzaga Law Review in Spokane, WA.

While active duty in the Air Force my family and I lived in a number of locations including Colorado, North Dakota, Athens Greece, and Washington. After spending 14 years in the Portland area, my wife and I moved to the Rogue Valley in 2007 to enjoy the beauty and lifestyle of this area. We enjoy hiking and backpacking, and traveling to the redwoods and ocean. Lanette and I have been married for 38 years, are best friends, have four children and nine grandchildren.

Family Law Conflicts

For my first 10 years as an attorney, I focused my practice in the area of family law. I represented clients in divorces and custody battles. I thought that my background in counseling and ministry would be a good fit, and allow me to effectively help clients solve problems who were in tough emotional situations.

I soon learned that some of the people involved in custody fights and divorces didn’t really care about the kids and didn’t want to reach reasonable settlements with the other side; it was really all about trying to hurt the ex. I found that some attorneys didn’t help much. Rather than providing a voice of reason and calming down their clients, they adopted their client’s nasty attitudes and acted rude and aggressive. Spouses bad-mouthed each other in court and while one side or the other may have won the battle for themselves in the short term, they lost the war for their entire family.

One time I had worked for months on a nasty divorce case, and finally worked out a settlement that was agreeable to both sides. But when it came time to sign the judgment, my client refused!  She didn't really want to settle the case, but wanted to use the divorce to continue to hassle and hurt her former partner. Enough was enough! 

I knew I needed to make a change and practice in a different area, but I hesitated.  I had a lot of experience and knowledge in family law and could make a good living.  I didn't want to start all over in a new area.  However, the more I thought about continuing to practice family law, the more depressed I felt.  Life was too short. There had to be a better way!

Estate Planning – Long Term Relationships & Helping Families

I had always done some simple estate planning as a part of my practice, and I realized it was an area I really enjoyed. However, the “normal” model of estate planning seemed to be one where the attorney is in the business of selling documents. After only an hour or two of counseling, the attorney produces a somewhat cookie-cutter word-processed document. The plan is never funded or updated, and when the client dies, the trust must be settled (costing the survivors) and the unfunded property must be probated (costing the survivors even more). Traditional estate plans often don’t work the way the clients intended, and attorneys make a lot of money selling documents and probating estates.

In addition, most estate plans do not focus at all on the transfer of non-financial wealth, such as life memories, experiences, and wisdom.  People die and leave beneficiaries money, but their life wisdom dies with them.  Beneficiaries inherit items that were of great value and meaning to the deceased, but since the inheritors don't know the stories that give the items their meaning these items are often considered "junk," to be sold or given away.

This didn’t seem like it helped people much, but then I found a better option. I learned about the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys. They had come up with a different way of doing estate planning, one that really worked to help clients, and focused on results, using the Three Step Planning Strategy™. Their process starts out with free education for the clients, and they spend hours counseling with clients to learn about them and their families. They talk about planning options most clients never knew existed, help the clients to make informed choices, and produce custom and highly personalized documents designed to achieve those values and goals. They professionally fund trusts and have a formal update and continuing education plan to ensure funding is kept up to date and changes in the client’s values or family or the law are reflected in the documents. When the client becomes disabled or dies, they are able to work with the survivors at a substantial savings in cost because the estate is already organized.

I’m excited about being able to help my clients effectively transfer both their financial and nonfinancial wealth, and to establish long-term caring relationships with my clients and their families.  I’ve implemented my own version of the Three-Step Planning Strategy, which I call the LegacyBuilder Planning Process™. I love to teach, and enjoy helping people to achieve their goals.  I appreciate the excellent legal/technical training I have received from the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys, the continuing education I receive on cutting-edge developments in estate and legacy planning, and the ongoing support I receive from colleagues never further away than an email or phone call.