Christine Reinert Recognized as “Rising Star” by Super Lawyers Magazine
MacMillan, Scholz & Marks, P.C. is pleased to report that partner Christine Reinert was selected as a Rising Star in the state of Oregon by Super Lawyers Magazine for the fourth year in a row. Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers who have...
Washington Court of Appeals Protects Insurer’s Privileged Information in UIM Bad Faith Case
In Richardson v. Government Employees Insurance Company, 200 Wash.App. 705, 403 P.3d 115 (2017), the Washington Court of Appeals held that an insurer’s post-litigation documents and information protected by attorney-client privilege or work product doctrine are not...
Washington Federal Court Grants Summary Judgment in Favor of Insured on Breach of Duty to Defend and Bad Faith
In 2FL Enterprises, LLC v. Houston Specialty Insurance Company, the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington examined whether insurer Houston breached its duty to defend and whether that breach constituted bad faith. On April 20, 2016, MCS...
Oregon Supreme Court Grants Review in Noneconomic Damages Cap Case
On November 20, 2017, MacMillan, Scholz & Marks posted the following: On November 1, 2017, the Oregon Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Vasquez v. Double Press Mfg. Plaintiff had been rendered paraplegic as a result of an industrial accident. A jury...
Oregon Supreme Court Rejects “Wrongful Life” claim
On February 8, 2018, the Oregon Supreme Court issued its opinion in Tomlinson v. Metropolitan Pediatrics, LLC et al. Plaintiffs Kerry and Scott Tomlinson (“parents”) had two children, M and T, born with Duchenne’s muscular dystrophy in 2003 and 2008. M’s physician...
Washington Supreme Court Denies Review in Case Involving Default Judgment
In Vanderstoep v. Guthrie, the Clark County Superior Court had entered a default judgment against defendants which included approximately $70,000 in economic damages and $300,000 in noneconomic damages. After the Superior Court refused to set aside the default, an...
Summary Judgment Granted on Workers’ Compensation Immunity Defense
Leslie Kocher-Moar of MacMillan Scholz & Marks obtained summary judgment last week in a Multnomah County Circuit Court case involving a temporary worker who was injured on the job and received workers’ compensation benefits. Plaintiff sued the employer to whom he...
Oregon Court of Appeals AGAIN rules noneconomic damages cap unconstitutional as applied
On January 4, 2018, the Oregon Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Rains v. Stayton Builders. Plaintiff Kevin Rains had fallen 16 feet on a work site and was rendered paraplegic. The jury returned a verdict in favor of Kevin Rains and his spouse Mitzi Rains,...
Defense Verdict in Clackamas County Rear-End Auto Accident
MacMillan Scholz & Marks Shareholder, Leslie Kocher-Moar, obtained a defense jury verdict for her client in a Clackamas County Circuit Court trial concluding on November 29, 2017. Plaintiff had claimed over $300,000 in damages, including the costs of a cervical...
Oregon Court of Appeals Holds That Insurer’s Duty to Defend General Contractor Under Subcontractor’s Policy is Limited by ORS 30.140
A new Oregon case, Security Nat. Ins. Co. v. Sunset Presbyterian Church, 289 Or App 193 (Dec. 6, 2017), holds that a subcontractor’s insurer is not obligated to pay all of a general contractor’s defense costs in an additional insured setting, but only those costs that...
Oregon Court of Appeals Holds That a Social Host is Not Entitled to Immunity From a Claim By a Guest Who Voluntarily Becomes Intoxicated
ORS 471.565(1) provides, in relevant part, that: “A patron or guest who voluntarily consumes alcoholic beverages served by *** a social host does not have a cause of action, based on statute or common law, against the person serving the alcoholic beverages, even...
Oregon Court of Appeals Rules Non-economic Damages Cap Unconstitutional As Applied
On November 1, 2017, the Oregon Court of Appeals issued its opinion in Vasquez v. Double Press Mfg. Plaintiff had been rendered paraplegic as a result of an industrial accident. A jury returned a verdict in excess of $10,000,000, which after reduction for...