Practice Areas · Litigation and Appeals
Trials
In all civil cases the right of Trial by Jury shall remain inviolate.
Oregon Constitution, Article I, Section 17
In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.
United States Constitution, Amendment VII
We try civil cases for plaintiffs and defendants, to juries and to judges, in the circuit courts of the eight Eastern Oregon counties we regularly serve and in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon in Pendleton and Portland.
We handle contract and business disputes, real property cases, injury and wrongful death claims, and property damage claims. We represent parties from the complaint or the answer through discovery, motions, trial and the judgment.
Because our clients’ goals are fair and efficient resolution of the dispute, the possibility of settlement is discussed in every case, at the settlement conference the court orders or directly with the other side.
Services we provide
- Discovery: documents, depositions and experts
- Summary judgment and the pretrial motions
- Jury selection and trial
- Post-trial motions and the judgment
Statutes and rules
- Oregon Constitution, Article I, section 17, and Article VII (Amended), section 5the right to a civil jury in the state courts, and the rule that three-fourths of a civil jury may return the verdict.
- Oregon Rules of Civil Procedurethe rules a civil case runs on, from the complaint through discovery, motions, the offer to allow judgment (ORCP 54 E) and trial.
- ORS chapter 10, Jurieswho may serve on a jury and how a jury is drawn.
- ORS chapter 40, Evidence Codethe Oregon Evidence Code: what a jury may hear, and how a document, a photograph or an expert's opinion gets in.
- Uniform Trial Court Rulesthe rules of practice in every Oregon circuit court, with each court's supplementary local rules.
- ORS chapter 17, Compromise; Settlementthe statutes on settling a claim, including settlement conferences and the release of a claim.
Resources
- Oregon Judicial Departmentthe circuit courts; each county page on this site links its own court.
- United States District Court for the District of Oregonthe federal trial court, which sits in Pendleton for Eastern Oregon cases.