Ashley Vaughn, Partner

Advocating for people who have been mistreated or victimized is Ashley’s legal passion. At Dumas & Vaughn, Ashley Vaughn focuses on representing survivors of child sexual abuse, adult sexual assault and harassment, and domestic violence in civil litigation. She also handles plaintiffs’ employment-related sexual harassment and discrimination claims, and civil Title IX cases against educational institutes. Ashley has represented clients in federal and state courts in Oregon, Washington, California, Texas, Idaho, Iowa, Montana, New York, and New Mexico, including actively handling several appeals to state supreme courts. Ashley approaches her work with ingenuity—she strives to find creative and effective solutions to complex legal issues and enjoys finding unconventional routes in cases where it seems like all roads to justice are closed.

But Ashley’s favorite part of her job is developing close, personal relationships with her clients and their families. She strives to be more than just their legal advocate, but also their friend. She listens to her clients and tries to help them find solutions that work with all aspects of their life.

Ashley graduated cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2011. During law school, she kept busy by clerking for the District Attorney’s office, where she worked on a wide range of criminal cases and took several cases to trial; volunteering with the National Crime Victims Law Institute, an organization at the forefront of developments in victims’ rights nationwide; and serving as a Lead Article Editor for the Lewis and Clark Law Review. After law school, she became an associate attorney at O’Donnell Clark & Crew LLP, where she gained substantial civil litigation experience in abuse and employment cases.

Ashley is an active member of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, an organization comprised solely of plaintiffs’ attorneys in Oregon; the Oregon State Bar; the Multnomah Bar Association; and Oregon Women Lawyers. She does pro bono work for the Victims Rights Law Center, and is a volunteer coach for Franklin High School students in the “We the People” national constitutional law competition. She is a board member of the National Crime Victim Law Institute.  She was previously a board member of the American Constitution Society Oregon Lawyers Division and Reading Results, a local nonprofit committed to improving the reading skills of underprivileged youth by third grade. She spends most of her free time hanging out with her pets and husband, reading, and trying new recipes.

If you are interested in speaking with Ashley about a potential case, send her a confidential message.

Education

• Lewis & Clark Law School—J.D., cum laude, 2011

Lead Article Editor, Lewis & Clark Law Review

• University of Tennessee-Chattanooga—B.A. Honors English, 2008

Professional Memberships

• Oregon State Bar
• Multnomah Bar Association
• Oregon Trial Lawyers Association
• Oregon Women Lawyers
• National Crime Victims Bar Association

Awards & Recognitions

2019 Arthur H. Bryant Public Justice Award—Oregon Trial Lawyers Association

Panels & Presentations

• Co-Presenter, “Just Answer the Question: Combating Discovery Abuse,” Oregon Trial Lawyers Association: New Lawyer Power Hour, 2019
• Panelist, “Sexual Assault Claims,” Multnomah Bar Association, 2018
• Panelist, “Professionalism in Discovery,” Multnomah Bar Association, 2018
• Presenter, “Alleging & Proving Vicarious Liability,” Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, 2018
• Panelist, “Recognizing Elder Abuse Claims,” Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, 2016
• Presenter, “Mandatory Child Abuse & Elder Abuse Reporting in Oregon,” Lawline, 2015
• Co-Presenter, “Fraud Claims in Child Sexual Abuse Cases,” National Crime Victims Bar Association Annual Convention, 2014

Publications

“Interviewing Sexual Assault Survivors,” Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, Trial Lawyer (Fall 2018)