Jeffrey Eberhard

With a career spanning over 25 years’, successfully representing a wide range of clients in complex and high profile cases, the Managing Partner Jeff Eberhard is a recognizable and reputable force within the industry.

Jeff’s practice focuses on civil litigation throughout Oregon and Washington, with an emphasis on the defense of complex liability claims including dram shop, liquor liability. For over 25 years, Jeff has worked on civil litigation cases and represented a wide range of clients in complex and high-profile matters.

Relevant Cases
By successfully defending hundreds of cases, Jeff’s knowledge Oregon’s Dram Shop Act is established in the state of Oregon. In Deckard v. Bunch – the most significant liquor liability case decided in the last 20 years – the Oregon Supreme Court cited extensively to Jeff’s amicus curie brief, which detailed more than 35 years of legislative history of Oregon’s Dram Shop Act. The court ultimately adopted Jeff’s position that the legislature intended the Dram Shop Act to shield commercial alcohol providers from liability, thus rejecting the position of the entire plaintiffs’ bar (and the court of appeals) that the dram shop act had created a new, plaintiff-friendly “statutory liability” claim, and bringing much needed clarity to this area of law.

In two subsequent, unrelated cases – Mason v. BCK corporation and Balzer v. Moore – Jeff was able to secure summary judgment on all claims against his clients under the complicity doctrine of the Dram Shop Act. In each case, the plaintiff suffered catastrophic injuries after leaving a tavern as a passenger in another patron’s vehicle. In both cases, the court ruled in Jeff’s client’s favor, finding that as a matter of law the plaintiff could not recover when he had substantially contributed to that driver’s intoxication – not by buying alcohol, but instead by drinking with the driver at the tavern. The plaintiff in each case has appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals, where Jeff continues to represent his clients.

Self-Insured Businesses
In Shields v. Enterprise Leasing Company, Jeff established new law in that a self-insured rental car company does have to provide liability insurance to a renter. In Shields, the renter had rejected all insurance products and was later involved in an accident. The renter subsequently brought claims against Enterprise to determine insurance coverage and also sought Bad Faith and Consumer Protection Act claims. The court ultimately held in Shields that the Financial Responsibility Act did not require a self-insured rental car company to provide minimum third-party liability coverage. Because there was a reasonable basis to deny insurance coverage to the renter, the trial court also properly dismissed the Bad Faith and CPA claims.

Publications & Thought Leadership
Jeff prepares and delivers a number of presentations on civil litigation and professional liability defense matters for various insurance companies and trade organizations, including multiple presentations at the national CLM and PLRB Conferences. Jeff serves as the editor of the firm’s Claims Executive Reporter - a weekly periodical that provides claims professionals with updates and reviews of new and significant case law that affect claims in Oregon and Washington.