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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In Washington, Coverage for Sole Proprietorship Must Include Broad Definition of "Insured"
I ran across a cautionary tale recently in a new Washington federal-court decision in Staheli v. Chicago Insurance Company. The lesson: in Washington, or any other community-property state, a liability policy covering a sole proprietorship must...
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Different Approaches to the Duty to Defend in Oregon and Washington
May 23, 2016
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Oregon and Washington are often viewed as sister states, similar in their climates, policies and attitudes. Yet, while the two states share a border and a uniquely Pacific Northwest culture, their approaches to insurance law differ greatly. In pa...
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From the UP Blog: Portland Harbor Superfund Litigation Has "Super" Implications For Policyholders
I was privileged enough to be invited to write the following guest blog post on May 2, 2016 for the blog of United Policyholders, an advocacy organization for commercial and personal-lines policyholders. Our firm has had the privilege of writin...
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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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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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