Oregon Injury Attorney Blog

Attorneys and clients can enter into many different types of fee agreements. For personal injury cases in Oregon, a contingent fee agreement is the norm. Contingent fee agreements allow injured Oregonians access to a lawyer without having to pay up front for legal help.

We use contingent fee agreements with our Oregon and Washington personal injury clients. In this type of agreement, the attorney fee is based on a percentage of any recovery made for the client on their injury claim. So, if the attorney is not able to recover any money for the client on the injury claim, there is no fee. However, if there is a recovery, then the attorney charges a percentage of the amount recovered. There are other aspects to the fee agreement worth mentioning.

First, our agreement specifies that any offers of settlement are reported to our client, and that our client has the last say on whether to resolve a personal injury claim. This is required, and it's a good thing. Of course, our clients seek our advise, and we ensure that a client has all of the information she needs to make the right decision.

Most all contingent fee agreements include a provision that talks about costs. Costs are things that we spend money on to prepare the personal injury case for a settlement demand, a legal suit, or a trial. Our office will usually pay these costs up front. Then, that the case's conclusion our clients reimburse us for any costs that we advance.

The Oregon Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of an Oregon auto insurance policy holder who made a claim for "diminished value." In this case, the car owner claimed that even after the insurance company paid for the repairs to his pick up truck, the truck was still not worth as much as it was prior to the auto collision. In other words, the pick up truck owner claimed "diminished value."

The insurance company refused to pay for the reduced or diminished value of the truck. In 1999, the pick up truck owner filed a class action lawsuit. This is a lawsuit that allows you to file a case not only on your own behalf, but also on behalf of any other person who was denied the same type of claim. The trial court dismissed the case, but the Court of Appeals reinstated the suit. The Oregon Supreme Court agreed, paving the way for possible recovery for most insurance-covered repairs in Oregon since 1993. That's a lot of claims.

More recently, insurance companies have specifically excluded diminished value claims from their policies. However, that's only been the case since about 2003.

Even more interesting is that this case may not only affect claims against Farmers Insurance, the defendant in this class action suit, but claims with Allstate, State Farm, and Progressive.

Stay tuned.

This past weekend, The Oregonian reported that a young Oregon man died when he lost control of his motorcycle in Clackamas County, and slid into an oncoming truck pulling a fifth wheel. The motorcycle rider was wearing his helmet, but unfortunately, he had not obtained his Oregon motorcycle endorsement. Many motorcycle riders posted comments to the story, expressing sadness, and the fact that the accident may have been preventable.

An Oregon motorcycle endorsement is part of an Oregon driver's license that allows a person to operate a motorcycle. There are two ways to obtain an endorsement. If you are over 21 years old, you can schedule a test with the DMV, and take the test in their parking lot. If you are younger, or if you want to learn more about safe riding, you can take a class through Team Oregon.

This is an excellent program, developed in 1984 as a cooperative project between the Oregon Department of Transportation and Oregon State University. Experienced Volunteers teach motorcycle safety in in the classroom, and on a training course. They even provide a motorcycle for the road course. There are classes for beginners, intermediate, and advanced riders.

If you are a new rider, or need a refresher, take this course.

The backlog continues. My Oregon Social Security disability clients are waiting nearly two years for a hearing date. Congress has held hearings, newspapers have written stories, and I even saw a major story on the CBS Evening News. Even though the Social Security Administration is addressing the topic, there is no relief in sight.

We work closely with our clients to keep in touch during this long wait, and I have even had success in getting a hearing scheduled more quickly, or having Social Security decide a case for my clients without the need for a hearing. At the very least, we have built a policy making sure we are ready to go as hearing approaches.

If you are experiencing a dire need (food, housing, medical care), the Social Security Judge at the hearing office may allow an expedited hearing. It's not easy showing dire need, especially when you consider that most people waiting for a hearing are without income, and unable to pay their bills. However, we have done it.

In certain cases, we will also contact doctors early in the case, obtain a needed report, and ask the hearings office to consider finding for our client. Again, this will not work in every case, but if the evidence is there, we have been successful.

I have helped hundreds of people in Washington and Oregon with their Social Security Disability claims. In Oregon, like many other states, a Social Security Disability claim involves a lot of paper work, and several levels of appeal. Here is a basic breakdown.

The first step is the application. Many Social Security claimants will contact their Local Branch Office to set up an appointment to apply for benefits. Oregon has several branch offices throughout the state, and the Social Security web site can help you find the office closest to your home. Just go to the site, and type in your zip code.

If you live in Oregon, Social Security will send the file to Oregon's Disability Determination Services (also called "DDS"). This agency obtains medical records, sends forms for you and family members to fill out, and has doctors and other experts review the file to see if you meet the requirements for disability. DDS may even set up an appointment for you with one of its doctors to obtain an opinion on your medical condition.

If the DDS finds that you are not disabled, then Social Security will deny your application. You will receive a denial letter, and this is why you need to keep Social Security updated on your current address. You have sixty days to appeal this decision by filing a "request for reconsideration." After you make this appeal, DDS should obtain updated records, and it may even send you to see a doctor. DDS then looks at your file as if it were the first application, and decides whether the initial decision was correct. I have seen statistics showing that only one third of all reconsideration requests are granted.

If your request for reconsideration is denied, you can then request a hearing. This is usually the part of the case where I will get involved. Like the initial denial appeal, you have only sixty days to request a hearing. After the request for hearing, the file is sent to the nearest Social Security Office of Disability Appeals and Review, also called "ODAR" This is the hearings office. Our closest ODAR office is in Portland. Currently, Claimants are waiting almost two years on average for a hearing date. At any time prior to the hearing, or even after the hearing, you can submit new evidence for the Judge's review. When a hearing is scheduled, you can testify and present other evidence to an Administrative Law Judge, who then makes a decision on your case.

After the hearing, the Judge will issue a "Decision." It is either "Unfavorable" (you lose), or "Fully Favorable" (you won). Sometimes, you may receive a "Partially Favorable Decision" (you won on some issues, but lost on others). Like the prior decisions, this one can be appealed. You must file the appeal within sixty days with the Appeals Council.

The Appeals Council reviews all of the evidence in your case, including your testimony, to see if the Judge properly reviewed the evidence, and followed the law in making a decision on your case. I have written several briefs to the Appeals Council, and often, we are able to get the case sent back to the Judge for another hearing.

Even if you do not win at the Appeals Council, you have a right to file the matter in the United States District Court. This is the federal court. Our office does not handle federal court cases, but we work closely with attorneys who limit their practice to fighting these cases in federal court.

I recently read an article discussing a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study finding that car accidents are the leading cause of death for teens. In the past two years, 83 teens have died in Oregon auto collisions. This struck me, because the longer I have practiced personal injury law, the defendants I meet get younger and younger. I recall one wrongful death case where the young driver did not survive the collision.

Oregon law now requires 100 hours of supervised driving for a teen without taking driver’s education, and only 50 hours for those who have completed a course. The article cites recent studies showing those teens taking the driver’s ed. course are 20% less likely to be involved in a car accident.

I am convinced that a driver’s ed course for your teen is cheap insurance, and may pay for itself many times over. Check out the Oregon DMV website at for an accredited driver’s education instructor in your area. You can also check with your insurance carrier for premium discounts for young driver’s taking a course.