Succession plan

Coldren and Frantz is now Coldren, Frantz and Sprunger.

The longtime Portland attorneys are merging into a successor law firm with Cory and Allison Sprunger of Berne.

“We are not retiring yet,” Phil Frantz and John Coldren told clients in an email. “This gives us the vehicle to do so at whatever pace we choose … and provide continuing service to existing clients.”

Frantz added this week, “Everybody retires some day, but we intend to be here a while.”

The Sprungers are both 2014 graduates of California’s Pepperdine Law School.

Cory is originally from Berne, while Allison grew up in California.

“We chose to live here because we don’t want to raise a family in California,” said Cory. “We’re not big city people.”

The two met on their first day at Pepperdine, which the Sprungers describe as the nation’s highest rated Christian law school.

Cory established a practice in Berne handling business law, estates and other civil matters, while Allison worked for a year and a half for the Allen County prosecutor’s office. She then joined Sprunger and Sprunger, focusing on family law and criminal defense work. She has served as a public defender in Jay, Adams and Wells counties.

Sprunger and Sprunger has also established an office in Bluffton, where attorney Grace Vitatoe is part of the legal team.

“We do intend to hire another attorney or two,” said Cory. “Right now, we need to get these three offices fully staffed.”

Coldren and Frantz established their practice on June 1, 1971, having been friends in law school and as undergraduates.

“They came to us at the right time,” said Frantz.