We successfully represented a commercial property owner whose building had been severely damaged by a major drain pipe backup. Our client’s insurance company refused to reimburse our client for damages it paid to a commercial tenant whose business had been affected by the flooding in the property. The insurer relied on a “pollution exclusion” in its policy in refusing to pay our client. We sued the insurer and, on an issue of first impression in Oregon, the court denied the insurer’s pollution exclusion defense. The insurer settled by paying our client’s entire claim.

In a construction defect case, we successfully sued a bankrupt contractor and its insurer who wrongfully refused to defend or indemnify the contractor. Employing novel claims and statutory procedure, we obtained a favorable settlement for our client.

In an indemnification lawsuit brought against our business client, we brought cross claims against our business client’s insurers for failure to defend and indemnify. We prevailed at summary judgment on those claims. We continued to represent our client before the Oregon Court of Appeals, which affirmed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment against the insurers. Port of Portland v. Starplex, Oregon Court of Appeals Case No. A128666.

We represented a federal credit union in making a claim on the fidelity bond of its former chief executive officer, who had assisted a customer in running up huge overdrafts that would be extremely difficult to collect. The bond company paid 100 percent of our client’s claim.