| Our firm's litigation practice has been recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business. The 2008 guide includes the following quotes from our clients.
"Stands out as the region's principal firm"
"Delighted with the levels of communication and responsiveness"
"Real problem solvers – these guys really deliver"
"The degree of experience of the senior attorneys is absolutely remarkable"
"You go there when you simply must have the best" |
Our Litigation Group includes individuals who are accomplished trial lawyers in jury and bench cases, who specialize in appeals or administrative proceedings, and who are experienced arbitrators and mediators. These lawyers are licensed in a number of jurisdictions outside the Northwest. In addition to the areas listed below, our litigators are experienced in a number of specialties, including bankruptcy, construction and design, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and utilities.
Administrative and Public Law
The firm has handled administrative proceedings before numerous federal agencies (e.g., Securities and Exchange Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency) and state agencies (e.g., departments of insurance, environmental quality, natural resources, forestry). In addition, the firm has been litigation counsel to various government agencies and private parties in cases involving public law and constitutional issues.
Antitrust; Unfair Competition
The firm provides lead litigation counsel in numerous antitrust cases, including civil and criminal cases brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Trade Commission enforcement cases, civil investigative demands, grand jury investigations and state and private cases. Under appropriate circumstances, the firm also represents antitrust claimants.
Appellate
The lawyers in our appellate group have handled cases in a wide range of subject areas, including antitrust, bankruptcy, contracts, securities laws, business torts, products liability, insurance, intellectual property, real estate, labor and employment, environmental, and constitutional and civil rights law. We represent clients ranging from public and private companies to partnerships and individuals, and from governmental and non-profit organizations to industry groups.
Business Torts
We have handled many cases involving allegations of improper conduct in business transactions, including fraud, negligent misrepresentation, interferences with contractual or economic relations, and bad faith and unfair dealing. The firm has represented clients in cases involving claims under special statutes such as federal and state RICO laws, consumer protection laws, and laws relating to unfair trade practices.
Class Action
Our litigators defend businesses in consumer class actions, including manufacturers and distributors of all types of consumer and industrial products, banks, financial institutions and technology companies. Our combined resources and geographic presence, staffing and the latest technology provide our clients with thorough and focused representation in state and nationwide class action litigation.
Commercial; Contract
Our lawyers handle numerous cases involving commercial contracts in a wide range of areas such as the purchase and sale of businesses, utility contracts, contracts for the sale or development of intellectual property, construction contracts, and partnership disputes. We are experienced in litigating all types of cases under the Uniform Commercial Code, including contracts for the sale of goods, security interests, loan transactions, banking, procedures and investment.
Corporate; Securities
We have substantial experience in corporate and securities litigation, including shareholder disputes, derivative suits and suits under federal and state securities laws, including class actions and tender offer cases.
Employers; Workers' Compensation
The firm handles claims on behalf of employers relating to labor-management issues, unfair competition, pensions, contracts, wrongful discharge, civil rights, federal and state occupational safety laws, wage and hour laws, and other disputes. In addition, we handle workers' compensation claims for a number of self-insured clients, as well as clients insured through private carriers.
Energy
We represent independent power clients and utilities in state and federal courts, in administrative proceedings, and in arbitrations involving a wide range of matters, including power purchases and sales, fuel supply arrangements, transmission tariffs, project finance agreements, acquisition agreements, plant outages, ownership agreements, O&M agreements, antitrust issues and condemnation proceedings.
Environmental
Our lawyers have handled many complex cases involving claims under environmental legislation such as NEPA, CERCLA, RCRA, and state and federal clean air and water laws, as well as disputes over insurance coverage for such claims. In addition, we are experienced in defending cases for toxic torts including claims for personal injury, property damage, and economic loss.
Franchise
Our Franchise Law team has experience in the negotiation, mediation, arbitration and litigation of franchise disputes involving or between franchisors and franchisees.
Insurance
Our insurance litigation practice encompasses all areas of insurance, from advising insureds on questions of coverage and duty to defend, to prosecuting insurance coverage cases including bad-faith litigation for failure to defend. We regularly litigate issues involving general liability, directors and officers, errors and omissions, accident and health, life, title, construction, surety, logging and workers' compensation insurance policies.
Product Liability; Tort Claims
The firm represents several manufacturers of consumer and industrial products in cases involving claims of loss or injury due to claimed defects. In addition, we represent a number of clients, both insured and self-insured, in cases of tort claims, including both personal injury and property damage.
Professional Liability
We handle cases concerning professional liability, including hospital, medical, legal, accounting, architectural and engineering clients.
Real Estate; Natural Resources
We represent clients in all types of litigation involving real property, including leases, contracts for the sale or purchase of real property, quiet title actions, and condemnation. We also have litigated many cases involving disputes in areas such as coal, oil and gas, precious metals, forest products, and other natural resources.
While Stoel Rives has extensive experience taking complex litigation through trial, we believe that most disputes have the potential for amicable and/or less expensive resolution if the issues and objectives are clearly identified at the outset. To that end, early on in any engagement we attempt to develop strategies to position a case for early settlement consistent with the client's objectives and to make use of alternative dispute resolution procedures wherever appropriate.