Crystal Usher has transitioned to of counsel. Please contact us regarding your legal matters with Crystal Usher or any of our team of attorneys.

Crystal Usher’s interest in the law began in college. Always interested in helping people, she switched her major from nursing to a double major in criminal law and psychology so that she could have a greater impact on people’s lives. In the more than four decades of her law practice, Crystal’s desire to help others, and to teach them to help themselves, has continued to inform her work. In her early years of practice at a private firm and as a staff attorney for Linn County Advocates, Crystal discovered an affinity and aptitude for family law. She continued to hone these skills, as well as to gain experience in other areas of civil law, during several years in private practice. In 1998, she joined the firm now known as Nazette, Marner, Nathanson & Shea, LLP, where she has been a valued attorney ever since. Crystal understands that, in her practice areas, the people who seek her help are under a great deal of stress and often experiencing extremes of emotion. She is able to be supportive and compassionate while also helping clients consider their situations objectively. This perspective allows them to begin problem-solving and recover a sense of control over their circumstances. Clients appreciate Crystal’s approach to empowering them, and find that it often helps them to make choices that reduce conflict going forward. As Crystal herself has said, “I teach clients to make good decisions for themselves, so they don’t need a lawyer all the time.” This approach has been particularly helpful in Crystal’s family law practice. Reducing conflict and learning to negotiate fairly during a divorce almost always help clients to be more successful co-parents afterward. While Crystal knows that litigation is sometimes unavoidable, whenever possible, she endeavors to help clients resolve their family law matters by less conflict-laden means. To Crystal, the goal is not simply completing the legal proceeding, but helping her clients minimize stress and move forward successfully with their lives. Crystal is also a trained family law mediator and parenting coordinator.