About Us

Meet Beau D. Harlan, Vancouver WA Personal Injury Lawyer

Beau’s Story

Beau Harlan is an Oregon native and a graduate of Lake Oswego High School. But his road to law didn't start in a classroom. It started on a football field. After high school, Beau chased a dream of playing college football. He earned All-American honors as a tight end at Santa Rosa Junior College, going on to play at the University of Nevada. 

Then, during his second season, everything changed. Beau began suffering serious low back pain, with numbness and pain radiating down his legs. No one in his program ordered the MRI that would have revealed what was wrong.

When Beau came home to Portland that summer, his own doctor took a single X-ray that revealed a devastating diagnosis: two catastrophically ruptured discs in his lumbar spine. He needed surgery—and his football career was over. To add insult to injury: the college administrators tried to argue that Beau's injury was not a football-related injury, which removed both his scholarship and the medical support he had been counting on.

At just 21 years old—injured, away from home, and suddenly on his own—Beau had to fight a powerful institution just to be treated fairly. With his lawyer's help, he eventually recovered compensation, but he never forgot what it felt like to be taken advantage of by people who should have looked out for him. 

This experience is why he became a lawyer: to stand up to powerful institutions on behalf of the people they overlook. More than 20 years later, it's still what drives him.

Beau’s Professional Career

Beau Harlan has been practicing law for more than 20 years. He earned his bachelor's degree in business finance, with a minor in psychology, from the University of Nevada in 1990, then went on to graduate from the University of Puget Sound School of Law in 1993. Beau began his legal career as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney in Benton County, Washington, handling cases in District Court and the Juvenile Division of the Superior Court, and quickly became one of their rising stars. 

In 1997, Beau was joined the Clark County Drug Unit, where he charged and prosecuted felony drug offenses. It was during his work with the Clark-Skamania Drug Task Force that he earned the moniker "The Hammer" for his aggressive prosecution style. After 18 months, he moved to the general trial team, prosecuting felony offenses. There, he tried a three-week case involving 50 witnesses that resulted in a first-degree murder conviction: a high-stakes courtroom experience that very few personal injury attorneys can claim.

In 2000, Beau entered private practice as a criminal defense attorney with Baumgartner, Nelson & Price, P.S. The following year, he co-founded Harlan & Brace, P.S. with Michael Brace, practicing personal injury, criminal defense, and family law. During those years he secured a string of not-guilty verdicts and dismissals, including an acquittal for a client wrongfully accused of murder.

In 2006, Beau founded his own law office, Harlan Law Firm, with a focus on representing injured people in the Vancouver area. His mission has stayed the same for the last 20 years: holding people and companies accountable when they endanger the public by ignoring basic safety standards.

When he's not in the courtroom, Beau is a proud father raising his two children in Camas, Washington. He spent six years coaching Clark County youth football; nowadays, he and his family stay active in local youth soccer, baseball, basketball, and cheerleading programs. Away from the office, you'll often find him skiing, golfing, fly fishing, or traveling.

Beau Harlan: Serving Vancouver, the Portland Metro, and Beyond

Beau Harlan and his team represent injured people throughout Clark County and Southwest Washington. We take cases in Vancouver, Camas, Battle Ground, Washougal, Ridgefield, Stevenson, White Salmon, Longview, Kelso, and Long Beach, as well as across the river in Oregon. We are proud to represent injured people in Portland, Gresham, Beaverton, Tualatin, Wilsonville, Hillsboro, Sandy, Astoria, and Seaside. 

Beau is licensed in Washington, Oregon and Idaho.

A Vancouver Trial Lawyer with the Experience You Need

Beau believes that a jury trial is a lot like game day: after months of preparation, a trial lawyer walks into the courtroom with no guarantee of how it will end, then waits for a jury to come back with a verdict that can mean everything to a client. It is perhaps most intense, demanding endeavor in the legal field: meaningful victories, painful lows, and not much in between.

It's also a challenge most lawyers avoid. Plenty of attorneys call themselves "trial lawyers" without ever having tried ten cases to a jury—and insurance companies know exactly who will go the distance and who will fold. A lawyer who won't go to trial does their clients no favors, because carriers simply offer them less. Beau has built his career on being the lawyer insurers don't want to see across the courtroom.

The Harlan Law Firm has recovered in excess of $40,000,000 since 2009. With more than 100 jury trials to his name, and thousands of satisfied clients, Beau Harlan stands ready to help after a serious accident.

The Harlan Law Firm has recovered in excess of $40,000,000 since 2009. With more than 100 jury trials to his name, and thousands of satisfied clients, Beau Harlan stands ready to help after a serious accident.

Injured? Call Beau Harlan for a Free Consultation

We know that a personal injury can be overwhelming in every way: physically, emotionally, and financially. Beau Harlan and his staff stand ready to protect your rights, battle insurance companies, and fight for every dollar you're owed. You never pay any upfront costs, and we collect no fees unless we win.

Call Harlan Law Firm today at (360) 735-8200 or after hours at (360) 281-3530.