Stephen Janik

Practice Areas

Steve Janik is a founding partner of Ball Janik LLP. His principal areas of practice are real estate, real estate finance, and land use law, with an emphasis on large, high-profile projects. He has guided private and public clients through some of the region’s most important real estate projects, including mixed-use, multi-block developments, major office towers, hotels, and major league sports arenas and stadiums. Mr. Janik has argued several of Oregon’s landmark land use cases.

Mr. Janik has been recognized by his clients and peers in The Best Lawyers in America since it was first published in 1983 and has been selected as a Portland, Oregon “Lawyer of the Year” in 2010–2013 in several areas related to real estate and land use. He is perennially ranked by Chambers USA as an industry leader in real estate and land use, and has led Ball Janik’s Real Estate practice group to Chambers USA’s top-tier ranking every year since Chambers started reviewing Oregon firms. Chambers has ranked Mr. Janik as a “Star Individual” lawyer in real estate since 2007, a ranking given to lawyers with exceptional recommendations in their field. Chambers commentators widely agree that Mr. Janik is “the best real estate lawyer in town,” with one going so far as to call him “a meteoric superstar” of the real estate market. Mr. Janik has been recognized as one of Oregon’s “Top 10” attorneys by Oregon Super Lawyers Magazine. He has also earned the AV® Preeminent™ Rating from Martindale-Hubbell®, American Registry.

Mr. Janik has mentored many of the firm’s attorneys and has helped create a culture characterized by superior professional work, client loyalty, camaraderie and community service. In 2007, 2010, and 2013 Ball Janik was recognized as one of the region’s “Most Admired” professional services firms in a survey of CEOs conducted by the Portland Business Journal.

Mr. Janik represented the developers of South Waterfront, the largest urban redevelopment project in the history of the City of Portland. He has represented the State of Oregon, the City of Portland and other regional cities on a variety of high-impact real estate projects. He has established the firm as a leader in helping large businesses successfully take advantage of Oregon’s Strategic Investment Program (SIP).

Mr. Janik has developed special knowledge in public/private partnerships and stadium financing. He represented the City of Portland in the development and financing of the Rose Garden Arena (home of the NBA Portland Trailblazers), the remodeling of PGE Park for AAA Baseball, and the recent renovation of the park for Major League Soccer. He also represented the Washington State Public Stadium Authority in the $430 million development, construction and leasing of Seattle Seahawks Stadium.

Mr. Janik was elected to the American College of Real Estate Lawyers in 1990. He has served as the Chairman of the Oregon State Bar Real Estate and Land Use Section and as an editor of the Bar’s multi-volume treatise Real Property. He lectures frequently on a broad range of real estate and land use topics at professional seminars.

In 2007, Mr. Janik received the Oregon State Bar President’s Membership Service Award for his work on the Court Facilities Task Force. At the request of the Chief Justice of the Oregon Supreme Court, Mr. Janik participated in the task force addressing Oregon’s statewide lack of funding for rehabilitation or reconstruction of the state’s county courthouses, most of which are more than 70 years old. His efforts led to the creation and funding of an interim legislative task force to address court facility issues and to bring proposed legislation to the 2009 Oregon Legislature. As a follow-up to this work, Mr. Janik has provided pro bono service to a Multnomah County committee charged with developing a plan for funding the much-needed new Multnomah County Courthouse.

Mr. Janik has served on numerous civic boards, regional task forces and special projects. He was most recently elected as Chair of the Board of Trustees at the OHSU Foundation in June of 2018. Similarly, he has served as a Trustee of the Portland School District Real Estate Trust; a member of the Board of Pioneer Courthouse Square, 2000-2006; President of the Board of Pioneer Courthouse Square, 2004-2006; Trustee of the Oregon Health & Science University Foundation, 2011-present; Oregon Health & Science University Foundation Nominating Committee Chair, 2016; Vice Chairman of Oregon Health & Science University Foundation, 2016; Trustee of the Portland Art Museum, 2009-2015; Chair of the Portland Art Museum Governance Committee, 2012-2015; Knight Cancer Council Board Member, 2013-present.