Simon J. Harding

Until October, 2025, Simon’s practice for 33 years focused on personal injury defense, automotive and general liability defense with a smattering of plaintiff’s personal injury, catastrophic injury and wrongful death claims.  Over the course of his active litigation practice, Simon defensed individuals, insurers, businesses and non-profit organizations in Oregon and Washington.  Simon handled thousands of cases, several hundred through arbitration or trial.

Simon concluded his litigation practice at the end of September 2025 and now serves exclusively as a mediator and arbitrator and is regularly selected to serve as a third-seat arbitrator on binding panel arbitration panels as well as serving as the claimant’s or respondent (insurer’s) arbitrator. Simon also frequently serves as the sole arbitrator both in binding arbitration matters and in non-binding, mandatory arbitration matters.

Simon very frequently serves as a mediator and enjoys the process of helping parties efficiently and fairly resolve their cases in a direct, efficient, and always respectful fashion with attention to the important and often overlooked details. Simon’s upbringing instilled in him the values of hard work, the value of a dollar and the importance of being considerate of others in all contexts. His English mother gets full credit for this.

Simon grew up broke near Estacada, Oregon, graduating high school there in 1984 before going off to the big city (Portland) to attend Lewis & Clark College. In high school and through college he worked in a number of positions from bucking hay, operating farm equipment, splitting firewood, retail store clerk, service station attendant, running a grass seed mill, shearing, spraying and harvesting Christmas trees and at a sawmill in Molalla, Oregon (where he was grateful to be the scrawnier of two hires that day – the other guy was sent to pull green chain).  With his four kids off the nest, Simon enjoys cooking, cutting firewood, working on his 1976 F-250, travelling, and seeing his kids when the three of them who don’t live locally are in town. His son Henry Harding is a family law lawyer at the firm. While he attended the University of Oregon law school, he’s more a Beaver than a Duck. His life partner is mostly ok with this. She’s a Duck fan.