STEVEN M. CARPENTER is a Claims Attorney with the Oregon State Bar Professional Liability Fund in Portland, Oregon, a position he has held for 12 years.  He graduated as a Cornelius Scholar from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College in 1991, and was admitted to the Oregon State Bar that same year.  While in private practice, he represented plaintiffs in personal injury cases, as well as defending physicians, medical practices groups, hospitals, and school districts in special education and medical malpractice cases. He is admitted in Oregon, the U.S. District Court for Oregon, and before the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.   Currently his work focuses on the defense of legal malpractice claims.  He specializes in working with lawyers impaired by a number of problems or conditions.