Overview

Lou Ferreira has more than 30 years of complex trial experience. Lou regularly advises companies on a wide range of risk management issues including regulatory compliance, contractual allocation of risks as well as advising clients about the procurement of a wide range of insurance products necessary to deal with their unique issues.

Best Lawyers in America® has consistently recognized Lou as one of the leading lawyers in insurance law. Lou has successfully recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from insurance companies for his clients. He has represented clients seeking coverage under commercial general liability policies, errors and omissions (E&O) professional liability policies and directors and officers (D&O) policies. He has also represented clients seeking to recover under their property policies for catastrophic losses involving the complete loss of manufacturing facilities as a result of fires or explosion.

Lou is also AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™ for Energy & Environmental, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for professional ability and ethical standards. He has tried cases under both the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Recovery Act (CERCLA) and Washington’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) and advised clients with sites on the Superfund National Priorities List regarding cleanups. In one matter he defended a client in a CERCLA and MTCA case brought by the Washington State Department of Transportation involving a former manufactured gas plant in Washington State. Although the client admitted it was technically liable under CERCLA, the trial court denied recovery for the approximately $6 million spent on cleanup due to its failure to comply with the regulations in the National Contingency Plan. The case was upheld on appeal by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In a subsequent case involving the same gas plant site, Lou sued the Washington State Department of Transportation under MTCA on behalf of the same client and won a $7.6 million judgment based upon the Department of Transportation’s actions at the site having contaminated an adjacent waterway. Lou also represented this client in obtaining insurance recovery for its environmental liabilities.

Lou has represented a number of clients in OSHA and other types of regulatory enforcement actions or investigations involving workplace fatalities and catastrophic explosions and fires and understands how to manage multi-agency investigations, coordinating evidence preservation and making sure his clients’ rights are protected. He also frequently represents manufacturers with regard to Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) matters.

Before joining Stoel Rives, Lou served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and as an honors intern in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environmental and Occupational Disease Litigation Section. He also served as a Special Forces medic in the U.S. Army.

Education

University of Idaho College of Law, J.D., 1989, summa cum laude

Washington State University, B.A., 1985

Academy of Health Sciences, Graduate, Special Operations Medical Supervisor (U.S. Army), 1986

Admissions

Oregon

Washington

United States District Court of Oregon

United States District Court of Eastern Washington

United States District Court of Western Washington

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

United States Court of Federal Claims

Experience

Insurance Matters

  • Representation of national daycare operator in a number of lawsuits against insurers, obtaining coverage for serious injuries, alleged child abuse cases and coverage for punitive damages.
  • Successful representation of a trucking company hit with a jury award of $280 million, suing an auto insurer for bad faith refusal to settle the case. The insurers ultimately paid the entire judgment, including the portion of the judgement that was in excess of the policy’s limits.
  • Representation of car dealerships, gas station owners, dry cleaners, utilities, pole treating companies, steel mills, trucking companies, forest products companies, various manufacturing companies and municipal government entities recovering many hundreds of millions in insurance proceeds to cover the costs of environmental cleanups.
  • Representation of numerous owners, developers and contractors in coverage litigation related to construction defects including representing VanPort Homes, Inc. in a precedent setting bad-faith action awarding extra-contractual damages upheld by the Washington Supreme Court.
  • Representation of the Pacific Lumber Company in obtaining insurance coverage of lawsuits seeking various types of environmental damage arising from a long legacy of logging redwoods in Northern California.
  • Representation of large apartment owner in obtaining insurance coverage for class action lawsuit alleging carbon monoxide exposure and wrongful death.

​Environmental Matters

  • Representation of Fortune 500 manufacturing entity as plaintiff against seller of multiple manufacturing facilities across the United States in action that recovered costs of cleaning up chlorinated solvent contamination at those facilities based upon the seller’s failure to disclose the contamination at time of sale.
  • Representation of a client with respect to environmental issues posed by former pole treating site. This included engaging in emergency response actions in response to a Unilateral Order from the EPA and in administrative proceedings culminating in a consent decree and advising on a broad scope of sediment remediation issues.
  • Representation of clients in a number of different environmental cleanups under MTCA and defense of related nuisance/trespass, Clean Water Act Citizen Suits, and related breach of lease claims.

Safety & Health Matters

  • Representation of a mine operator in MSHA inspection and civil matters arising from a catastrophic accident in which four miners were killed.
  • Representation of wind farm owner in OSHA investigation and enforcement action arising out of the collapse of a wind turbine resulting in a fatality, and in another wind turbine accident involving serious electrical burns to a wind farm technician.
  • Representation of steel mills in numerous fatality inspections by Oregon and federal OSHA. Successfully defended a steel mill from an enforcement action dealing with alleged toxic exposure and resulting in one of the largest civil penalties ever sought in Oregon. The majority of the state’s allegations were ultimately dismissed.
  • Representation of a large public utility in multiple wrongful death actions and OSHA investigations involving a wide variety of electrical issues.
  • Representation of several paper mill clients nationwide in various governmental agency investigations and civil actions arising out of fatal and serious accidents, toxic tort exposures, and releases of hazardous substances.
  • Representation of several large metal products manufacturers in enforcement actions arising out of catastrophic explosions at titanium mills.
  • Representation of a Fortune 500 aerospace manufacturing client and its numerous subsidiaries in regard to a number of fatal and serious accidents at its facilities across the United States and in providing ongoing compliance advice on complex OSHA and risk management issues.
  • Representation of TriMet regarding investigations into several fatal accidents during light-rail construction work and in developing safety management programs for construction and tunneling operations.

Insights

Insights & Presentations

  • “Ore. Employers Must Heed Challenged Heat, Smoke Rules” (co-author), Law360, August 2, 2022
  • “Environmental Claims” chapter of Insurance Law in Oregon, 2020
  • “Guidance on COVID-19 Policies and Job Site Safety for Contractors” (co-author),” Daily Journal of Commerce, May 14, 2020
  • “All is Not Well with Oregon’s ELL,” Daily Journal of Commerce, December 19, 2014
  • “Don’t Neglect to Understand Insurance Jargon,” Daily Journal of Commerce, April 16, 2014
  • Lou is a frequent speaker on environmental, insurance coverage, and risk-management issues.

Recognition

  • Included in The Best Lawyers in America® (Insurance Law), 2013–present
  • AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rating™ from Martindale-Hubbell
  • Selected as a “Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation

Affiliations

Civic

  • Fire District No. 13, Clark County, Washington, Commissioner
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