All Topics

• Accidents Involving Drunk Drivers

  Staff Writer | January 05, 2006 4:42 PM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  New Years Eve was a few days ago. Drunk drivers were involved in collisions in Oregon and the Portland area. That has consequences for the drivers in terms of legal liability and may have consequences for the people serving them as well.For the drunk drivers, impairment is a form of recklessness. It is also referred to in the caselaw with a number of colorful terms like wantonness and gross...

• Liability and The Rear End Auto Accident Collision

  Staff Writer | December 27, 2005 5:36 PM | 1 CommentPortland, OR

  Most people have heard that rear-end collision type auto accidents are the fault of the driver who hits the person in front of them. In almost every case that is true. But why?The general rule of the common law forbids creating unreasonable risks of harm to others, which is Oregon's formulation of negligence law. In most automobile collision cases, the specifications of negligence include...

• Uninsured and Underinsured Motorist Claims Basics

  Staff Writer | December 20, 2005 5:00 PM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  Part of Oregon's mandatory insurance coverage is Uninsured Motorist (UM) and Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage. Basically what that coverage says is that your insurer will pay for compensatory damages which the uninsured or underinsured motorist is legally obligated to pay. That general grant of coverage is riddled with exceptions and qualifications. And the insured must comply with the...

• Oregon Auto Insurance Policies

  Staff Writer | December 16, 2005 10:45 AM | 1 CommentPortland, OR

  Oregon's Financial Responsibility Law requires that all automobile insurance policies have certain provisions. They fall into three parts: (1) liability, (2) uninsured/ underinsured motorist, and (3) personal injury protection.Liability policies pay for the consequences of the insured's negligence. Basic driving errors like failures of lookout, speed, and control, and failure to obey traffic...

• Damages Caps in Medical Malpractice and Other Areas

  Staff Writer | November 16, 2005 2:48 PM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  Caps "fix" high jury verdicts by cutting down the ones where the jury finds that the reasonable amount of the damages is a number larger than the cap. Caps do not fix high premiums. States with caps have premiums that are similar to those without caps.High malpractice premiums have to do with how insurance companies work. Long ago, I thought the formula was premiums less claims and...

• Delay and Compromise: the Insurer's Tools

  Staff Writer | November 16, 2005 12:12 PM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  So the insurance company tried to ignore your claim as long as they could? Wouldn't return voicemails? When they did reply, the offer was way too small. And the adjuster acts like you're asking the world for a trivial injury. And that cases like yours settle for their lowball amount every day. Sound familiar?The insurer is using their two most common and potent tools to save money: delay...

• Premises Injuries on Commercial Property

  Staff Writer | November 16, 2005 11:38 AM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  I have spoken with and represented a number of people who were injued on commercial premises like Fred Meyer, Albertson's, Home Depot, Burger King, and other stores, restaurants, and commercial properties. While most people think premises liability cases are a slam dunk, the law is actually rigged in favor of the premises owner and occupier.Oregon's law of premises liability follows the...

• Medical Expenses in Bicycle and Pedestrian Cases

  Staff Writer | November 10, 2005 3:59 PM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  In Oregon, your medical expenses from a car accident are ordinarily covered under your own personal injury protection (PIP) policy and paid as you go rather than at the end of the claim. So what happens when you do not have a PIP policy but get hit by a motor vehicle? The Oregon PIP statutes require PIP to cover pedestrians who are struck by a motor vehicle, and define bicycles as pedestrians...

• How do I get my medical expenses paid as they are incurred?

  Staff Writer | November 04, 2005 11:54 AM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  In most auto accidents and in some premises injuries, no-fault insurance will come into play. A no-fault policy says it will pay when certain conditions are met, without regard to who is at fault for the injury. In Oregon, Personal Injury Protection (PIP) is part of the mandatory minimum auto insurance coverage. It pays the first $15,000.00 or first year of related and reasonable medical...

• Portland Defective Products Liability

  Staff Writer | November 04, 2005 10:54 AM | 0 CommentsPortland, OR

  The following information regarding defective products is brought to you as a public service by the lawyers of the State of Oregon. The material presented is general legal information intended to alert you to possible legal problems and solutions. If a defective product causes an accident that results in death, injury or property damage, the manufacturer, distributor, retailer, and lessor of the...