Notable Insurance Dispute Cases — Insurance Litigation Lawyer

The attorneys of Bonaparte & Leggatt have litigated hundreds of insurance dispute actions, many of which resulted in groundbreaking decisions by the state and federal courts. The firm’s cases have led to some of the most important leading cases in Oregon in the insurance-dispute context. The following list contains some of the firm’s most notable insurance dispute cases:

Farmers Ins. Co. v. Trutanich, 123 Or. App. 6, 858 P.2d 1332 (1993). The leading case in Oregon establishing that attorney fees incurred before an action on an insurance policy is filed are recoverable, so long as they are reasonably related to the action itself.

Largent v. State Farm Fire & Cas. Co., 116 Or. App. 595, 842 P.2d 445 (1992). Establishing that the courts will not interpret an insurance policy coverage exclusion in such a way as to negate or largely negate the policy’s principal coverage; the first case in Oregon to establish that a coverage exclusion for “contamination” does not exclude coverage for damage caused by a tenant’s use of an insured’s home for a methamphetamine laboratory.

Douglass v. Allstate Ins. Co., 152 Or. App. 216, 953 P.2d 770 (1998). The first case in Oregon establishing a policyholder’s right to attorney fees for nonpayment of uninsured motorist claims, as well as that a policyholder’s participation in mandatory court-annexed arbitration does not preclude award of attorney fees to the policyholder under O.R.S. § 742.061.

Dockins v. State Farm Ins. Co., 329 Or. 20, 985 P.2d 796 (1999). The first case in Oregon establishing that any communication which contains sufficient information to trigger the insurance company’s duty to investigate a claim is sufficient to satisfy an insurance policy’s proof of loss requirement both for purposes of collecting on the policy and for purposes of obtaining attorney fees following a successful recovery from the insurance company.

Fleming v. USAA, 329 Or. 449, 988 P.2d 378 (1999), modified, 330 Or. 62, 996 P.2d 501 (2000). Establishing that insurance policy coverage exclusions must be specified in the policy and must be preceded by explanatory titles in sufficiently large typeface, and in case of inadequate specification or absent explanatory titles, the coverage exclusion provisions will be disregarded.

Dockins v. State Farm Ins. Co., 330 Or. 1, 997 P.2d 859 (2000). Establishing several principles governing attorney fee disputes, including that court review of requested fee awards is framed by the opposing parties’ objections, that in the absence of timely objections fee awards will issue in the amount requested, and that there is no requirement of proportionality between petitioning parties’ and opposing parties’ time expenditures or hourly rates.

Larsen v. Genworth Life and Annuity Ins. Co., United States District Court, District of Oregon Case No. 08-CV-948-ST (2008). One of the first cases in Oregon to challenge the suicide exclusion based on unexpected reaction to antidepressants.

Parks v. Farmers Ins. Co., 347 Or. 374, 227 P.3d 1127 (2009). The first case in Oregon establishing that notwithstanding any contrary policy provision, an insured’s submission of proof of loss to the insurance company need not be in writing, but rather can be a telephone call, both for purposes of collecting on the policy and for purposes of obtaining attorney fees following a successful recovery from the insurance company.

Dewsnup v. Farmers Ins. Co., 349 Or. 33, 239 P.3d 493 (2010). Establishing that homeowner policyholders have a right to jury determination of the meaning of undefined policy terms including the term “roof.”

Thom Martin v. Oregon Mutual Insurance Company, Jackson County Circuit Court Case No. 09-3201-E3 (2015). The first case in Oregon establishing that if a business owner is not given notice in writing of the opportunity for a hearing prior to cancellation of a fire insurance policy, the cancellation is void and the policy remains in effect.