In the February 2024 issue of Multnomah Lawyer (published by the Multnomah Bar Association), Stephen Leggatt analyzes the Oregon Supreme Court’s recent landmark decision affirming that policyholders harmed by insurance companies’ unfair claims settlement practices may sue their insurers for negligence and may seek award of emotional distress damages. Read the article here; view the opinion here ..read more

Oregon Supreme Court Affirms that Policyholders May Sue Insurance Companies for Emotional Distress (and Likely Other Extra-Contractual Consequential Damages) Where the Insurer Engages in Unfair Practices Such as Unreasonable Delay, Inadequate Investigation, and Underpayment of Claims On December 29, 2023, the Oregon Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, SC Case No. S069409. View opinion here. The new opinion affirms the Oregon Court of Appeals’ groundbreaking January 26, 2022 opinion, which for the first time recognized a private cause of acti ..read more

In the November 2023 issue of Multnomah Lawyer (published by the Multnomah Bar Association), Stephen Leggatt discusses the lessons to be learned from three recent significant attorney fee decisions by Oregon courts. Read the article here ..read more

In the July/August 2023 issue of Multnomah Lawyer (published by the Multnomah Bar Association), Stephen Leggatt addresses noteworthy aspects of the just-released Oregon State Bar 2022 Economic Survey. Read the article here ..read more

In the Spring 2023 issue of Trial Lawyer (published by the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association), Robert (“Bob”) Bonaparte discusses some of his more memorable career cases involving attorney fees. Read the article here ..read more

Judge Melvin Oden-Orr recently issued an attorney fee ruling (Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law) in Ciferri v. State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. Multnomah County Circuit Court Case No. 21CV14243. Plaintiff Seth Ciferri is a tattoo artist who suffered a theft loss of an estimated $55,000 in vintage tattoo machines from the trunk of his car. State Farm applied a $1,500 business property limitation to the loss. State Farm initially prevailed on its business property theory at court-annexed arbitration. However, following its assessment of plaintiff’s draft motion for partial summary judgme ..read more

On September 20, 2023, Stephen Leggatt gave an MBA-sponsored CLE presentation discussing the differences between federal and Oregon procedural rules, the ways the rules shape federal and state-court litigation practice, and the pros and cons of litigation in federal vs. state court.  The presentation is available for viewing here ..read more

A Bonaparte & Bonaparte client is featured prominently in this Oregonian article regarding the devastation wrought by the 2020 wildfires in the Santiam Canyon area. Many Oregonians lost their homes in those fires, and many have faced serious challenges in connection with rebuilding their homes.  As the article relates, thousands of Oregonians lost their homes in the 2020 fires, and only a fraction of the destroyed homes have been rebuilt to date. In many instances, affected homeowners have been unable to rebuild their homes due to the failure of their insurance companies to comply wit ..read more

On May 13, 2022, Bob Bonaparte and co-presenter Rob May (Kilmer Voorhees & Laurick) gave an MBA-sponsored CLE presentation analyzing the ways in which the Oregon Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, 317 Or. App. 233 (January 26, 2022; view opinion here) is changing the ways insurance litigation is practiced in Oregon – and the ways in which it is not.  The presentation is available for viewing here.  ..read more

In a fire loss case against State Farm in Baker City, plaintiffs Cassie and Johnny Owens requested leave of court to file a motion to amend their complaint in Owens v. State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, U.S.D.C. Dist. Of Oregon Case No.: 2:22-cv-00119-HL to include a claim for negligence per se under the Oregon Court of Appeals’ recent decision in Moody v. Oregon Community Credit Union, 317 Or. App. 233 (January 26, 2022). Plaintiffs’ proposed amended pleading also included a claim for punitive damages arising out of the same conduct giving rise to plaintiffs’ proposed Moody claim. State Fa ..read more