Litigation

OVERVIEW

When navigating through the unfamiliar and risky waters of litigation, having the right attorney by your side can have a make-or-break impact on whether you arrive at your destination. Our experienced litigation team handles disputes for individuals, small businesses, and large corporations alike, all with the same dedication to pursuing our clients’ goals. With an appreciation for the time and expense that disputes can cost a business, we tailor the desired approach for maximum efficiency. Whenever possible, we seek solutions outside the courtroom. When litigation is necessary, we provide a holistic approach with seasoned experience, allowing us to focus on achieving our clients’ goals.

Each industry we serve has specific needs when it comes to entering the courtroom. Our litigation team consists of a deep bench of attorneys with litigation experience across many industries and jurisdictions.

FOCUS AREAS

• Arbitration and Mediation

  Not every dispute ends up being resolved in a courtroom. Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options can make sense in many circumstances as they tend to be less costly than trial and can often lead to results more quickly. Only about two percent of all civil cases in the U.S. actually go to trial, which makes it that much more important to have a litigator with strong dispute resolution skills on your side regardless of the approach you take to resolve your dispute. Our litigation attorneys take a strategic approach using their skill and familiarity with the various forms of ADR to bring disputes to a quick and effective end point. Many of our attorneys have also served as arbitrators or mediators so we know this process from all angles. If a matter cannot be resolved through ADR, we are also prepared to go to jury trial, if necessary.

  • Baseball arbitrations
  • Binding arbitration (single or multiple arbitrators)
  • Commercial arbitration
  • High-low arbitrations
  • Insurance property damage appraisals
  • Judicial arbitration and mediation service (“JAMS”) arbitrations and mediations
  • Judicial settlement conferences
  • Mediations
  • Non-binding arbitration
• Construction Litigation

  Construction litigation involves a broad range of issues from procurement of construction services under public contracting requirements to claims resolution, which makes it distinct from other types of litigation. Success in construction litigation requires an understanding of public contracting requirements, construction contracts, alternative dispute resolution, and, most importantly, the effects of construction litigation on our clients. We coach our clients on how to negotiate and get results without litigation so that they may move on to the next project.

  We have litigated, arbitrated, and mediated hundreds of construction disputes and serve as a pilot, navigating our clients through the Alternative Dispute Resolution process. We prosecute, defend against, and resolve a variety of claims, including professional liability, bond, construction liens, differing site conditions, and impact and delay claims. Our team includes an attorney who handled ODOT litigation while working for the Oregon Department of Justice. We also represented the joint venture general contractor in one of the largest manufacturing plant disputes in Oregon.

• Creditors' Rights and Bankruptcy Litigation

  Our bankruptcy attorneys practice in all areas of creditors’ rights and insolvency law. We represent a range of clients including credit unions, banks, commercial finance companies, secured and unsecured creditors, creditors’ committees, and bankruptcy trustees. Our attorneys work on behalf of clients to protect their contract rights, recover monies owed to them, and ensure they understand their rights and options. Whenever possible, we pursue out-of-court options to resolve our clients’ matters quickly and efficiently. When a debtor is not cooperative, our experienced litigation team will litigate and use the state and federal statutes to collect the debt. If you have to collect on a judgment, our team will educate you on your options. Whether issuing garnishments, foreclosing liens, seizing assets, or forcing a debtor into involuntary bankruptcy, our team has experience with the state and federal tools available to collect the debt.

• Employment and Labor Litigation

  Employment and labor disputes can take on a wide range of forms, from disputes between business entities involving non-compete, non-solicitation, intentional interference claims, to disputes between the employer and employee over contract, wage, or work environment claims. Disputes may also arise with government agencies related to an employment relationship. Regardless of the type of employment or labor dispute, our employment team is ready to assist.

• Environmental, Natural Resources, and Water Litigation

  Environmental, natural resources, and water litigation generally involves challenging or defending state or federal agency decisions. These cases involve administrative proceedings, judicial proceedings, or in many cases, a unique blend of both.

  We typically use our established agency relationships and the administrative process to seek resolution without resorting to litigation. This is a more efficient and certain path to achieve our clients’ goals. Through this process we develop an administrative record in support of our desired outcomes. We also use the process to think several steps ahead as we develop our litigation strategy.

  When the administrative process cannot achieve your goals, we will go to battle for you. We have years of experience in state and federal courts on environmental, natural resources, and water matters. This includes state Court of Appeals and Supreme Court cases on water law issues of first impression, as well as work in the federal trial court and appellate court system on complex water and natural resources cases.

• Fiduciary Services Litigation

  Bankruptcy trustees, receivers, personal representatives, trustees, and other fiduciaries run the risk of ending up as a party to a lawsuit. If that happens, it is necessary to have a lawyer on your side who understands both your obligations and protections under the law. Whether we are defending or prosecuting a claim against a fiduciary, there is usually a probate estate, bankruptcy estate, or other administered property that may be diminished by the fiduciary’s attorneys’ fees. Therefore, it is paramount in these cases that all sides work to achieve a resolution as efficiently as possible.

  Our attorneys have years of experience advising and defending such fiduciaries against all types of claims, including undue influence, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, negligence, challenges to trustee appointment, and other claims related to a position as a fiduciary.

  We help our clients understand their options and pursue claims to protect their rights when they are subject to a receiver, a trustee, or are otherwise reviewing a fiduciary’s decisions. Practicing in state and  federal courts throughout the Pacific Northwest, our litigators pursue claims against fiduciaries in probates, trusts, receiverships, and more.

  Our team brings a unique set of skills and includes a current bankruptcy trustee, a former judge, the past chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Client Security Fund (which investigates embezzlement claims against attorneys), trustees of numerous trusts, and attorneys who have prosecuted and defended hundreds of claims involving fiduciaries.

• Insurance Coverage and Defense Litigation

  Our attorneys have extensive experience representing insurers and businesses on insurance coverage and defense issues and have achieved outstanding results for both. We represent clients throughout the United States, both as coordinating counsel and trial counsel. When insurance litigation cannot be avoided, our attorneys are experienced in declaratory relief litigation and perform extensive work in the state and federal trial and appellate courts. With deep experience in insurance coverage litigation and appeals, we provide insurance carriers with reliable coverage opinions and analysis. As a result of our wealth of experience, clients also seek our advice on policy drafting and regulatory issues.

• Real Estate and Land Use Litigation

  We understand that real estate deals must keep moving forward and litigation can mean delays and can kill a deal. Like the owners, investors, and developers we represent, our attorneys have worked for decades to earn a strong reputation in real estate. If a dispute arises, our real estate litigators move quickly to offer practical advice and work with the efficiency and effectiveness that comes from really understanding the business and industry.

  Land use litigation is a complex process typically involving defense of entitlement decisions or challenge to project denials. The work often begins with building a strong record at the local government level supporting our client’s case. At this stage we develop strategy, advise clients on retention of appropriate experts, manage required studies, coordinate live testimony, and prepare expert and lay witnesses. Here in the Pacific Northwest, Washington and Oregon have unique processes and timing for pursuing land use decisions. Our knowledgeable and experienced attorneys help clients prepare their best defense and work with them through the process of ensuing land use litigation and appeals.

  Title litigation can take many forms. Whether your dispute involves a boundary, an easement, title insurance coverage, or a fight over title, our litigators have the experience inside and out of the courtroom to explain the issues, help you set a realistic goal, and negotiate or litigate to help you achieve that goal. The history of a piece of property may be lengthy and convoluted and our team has the knowledge base to unravel that history and help you get past the dispute so that you may use, and enjoy, your property.

OUR TEAM

TEAM MEMBERS