Oregon Personal Lines – 2020 Year in Review

Smith Freed Eberhard Partners Josh Hayward and Cliff Wilson discuss major Personal Lines cases of the past year in Oregon with a focus on the impact these cases will have on Personal Lines claims management. In this hour-long webinar presentation, Josh and Cliff discuss recent developments in Oregon law including:

• (HB 4212) The statute of limitations on most civil claims is extended indefinitely due to COVID-19.
• (Vasquez) Case allowing more than $500,000 in noneconomic damages for claims subject to workers’ compensation statute.
• (Busch) Case holding that Oregon’s $500,000 noneconomic damages cap is unconstitutional as applied to claims other than those for wrongful death.
• (Martinez) Case providing that, in the context of reasonableness of medical expenses, the expenses themselves must be shown to be reasonable in addition to the treatment itself.
• (Oregon Mutual) Case explaining the definition/test for when a policy is an “excess policy”.