The Northwest Policyholder
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Insurance Implications Loom in Oregon's New Negligent-Construction Statute of Limitations
Last Thursday, the Oregon Supreme Court issued its opinion in Goodwin v. Kingsmen Plastering, Inc., 359 Or 694 (2016), holding that the deadline to file a negligent construction-defect claim is two years from the time a plaintiff knew or should hav...
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Oregon Supreme Court Overrules 40-Year Precedent on Covenant Judgments
Good news for policyholders today from the Oregon Supreme Court: the court overruled the 42-year-old Stubblefield decision, making it much easier for defendants in litigation to protect themselves if their insurance company fails to reach a reasonabl...
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Why a Decision on the Construction Statute of Repose Matters for Coverage in Oregon
My colleagues Stacey Martinson and Christi Taylor posted an excellent summary on our From the Ground Up blog of a new Oregon Supreme Court decision—Shell v. Schollander Companies, Inc., 350 Or 552 (2016)—on when Oregon's ten-year statute of...
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New Law in Oregon Means Policyholders Should Now Report Bad Behavior to Insurance Commissioner
This week, Oregon's governor signed into law SB 1591A, which permits the Insurance Commissioner (part of the Department of Consumer and Business Services, or DCBS) to release complaints made to DCBS about insurance company claims handling practices,...
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Oregon Court Rejects Insurer's "Trained Monkey" Defense
In order to avoid providing a defense to an insured, insurance companies often argue that the complaint or demand does not clearly allege covered damage. I call this the "trained monkey" defense - essentially, the insurance company's position...
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Oregon District Court Provides Clarification on Environmental Coverage Issues
In the most recent opinion in the ongoing Marine Group litigation, Judge Acosta clarified two issues that recur in complex environmental insurance litigation: first, which party has the burden of proving that incurred defense costs were reasonable an...
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