Jennifer Smith

Oregon Supreme Court (3 summaries)

Troubled Asset Solutions v. Wilcher

The gross negligence element of contract reformation requires “considering whether reformation would prejudice the other party to the transaction or a third party, as well as whether other equities may favor one party over the other.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Contract Law

Powell Street I v. Multnomah County Assessor

“If the owner of a shopping center has driven out tenants by mismanagement, then that mismanagement is a characteristic of the owner and generally should not affect the property’s real market value for ad valorem tax purposes.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Tax Law

State v. Riley

Under ORS 136.440(1), “‘the corroborative evidence must be independent of the testimony of the accomplice.’” State v. Brake, 99 Or 310, 313, 195 P 583 (1921). “Other evidence is required by the statute, ‘so that it can in truth be said that his conviction is not based entirely upon the evidence of the accomplice.’” Id.

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

Oregon Court of Appeals (14 summaries)

Windmill Inns of America, Inc. v. Cauvin

“To make out a case of waiver of a legal right there must be a clear, unequivocal, and decisive act of a party showing such a purpose.” Assn. of Oregon Corrections Emp. v. State of Oregon, 353 Or 183, 295 P3d 46 (2013) (quoting Metropolitan Edison Co. v. NLRB, 460 US 693, 708, 103 S Ct 1467, 75 L Ed 2d 387 (1983)).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Corporations

Concienne v. Asante

Under ORS 12.110(4), “a medical malpractice action accrues ‘when the injury is first discovered or in the exercise of reasonable care should have been discovered.’” Kastle v. Salem Hospital, 284 Or App 342, 347, 392 P3d 374 (2017).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Bankruptcy Law

Bank of New York Mellon Trust Co. v. Sulejmanagic

“[T]here is nothing in the plain language of ORS 100.450(7)(c) that requires such an action to be pending . . . rather the operative language in ORS 100.450(7)(c) turns on whether the lender has or has not ‘initiated judicial action.’”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Consumer Credit

Providence Health Plan v. Allen

Under ORS 750.005(4)(a), an entity is a health care service contractor when it is “‘intimately connected with a group of doctors [and hospitals] licensed by this state’ and provides all the medical benefits to the plan’s participants.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Insurance Law

Hulme v. City of Eugene

Pursuant to Eugene Code EC 9.2750, net density is defined as “the number of dwelling units per acre of land in actual residential use and reserved for the exclusive use of the residents.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Land Use

Bearden v. N. W. E., Inc.

"[W]hen the plaintiff claims that a co-worker created a hostile environment through sexual harassment, the employer is liable if the employer knew or should have known of the harassment and failed to take prompt remedial action ***." Harris v. Pameco Corp., 170 Or App 164, 177, 12 P3d 534 (2000).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Employment Law

Card and Card

ORS 107.105(1) “generally does not authorize a court to award property as spousal support” unless “the assets awarded in the property division may also generate new income that may be considered in determining future spousal support payments.” Johnson and Price, 280 Or App 71, 79, 380 P3d 983 (2016).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Family Law

Eberhardt v. Providence Health and Service

A “trial court d[oes] not abuse its discretion by granting summary judgment without giving plaintiff additional time to submit” a response to pleadings when “[t]he court had already granted plaintiff additional time to file [the] response and made it clear to plaintiff that it would not allow any additional postponements.”

Area(s) of Law:
  • Civil Procedure

Bethlehem Construction, Inc. v. PGE

The parties enter into a continuing contract when “the various items listed in the notice of lien were contemplated by the parties to be considered as part of one continuous contract.” Spaeth v. Becktell, 150 Or 111, 120, 41 P2d 1064 (1935).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Contract Law

Summit Real Estate Management v. Mid-Century Ins. Co.

“If there is more than one plausible interpretation [of an insurance policy], we examine the word or phrase in the context in which it is used in the policy and the broader context of the policy as a whole.” Bighorn Logging Corp. v. Truck Ins. Exchange, 295 Or App , 828-29, 437 P3d 287 (2019).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Insurance Law

State v. Sprow

“Evidence commenting on a suspect’s invocation of the right to remain silent or the right to counsel may require a mistrial ‘if it raises the impermissible inference that the defendant did so because he was guilty.’” State v. Hunt, 297 Or App 597, 600-601 (2019).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Moravek

The trial court [has] an obligation to instruct the jury on passive resistance only if it is either an element of interfering with a police officer, State v. Gray, 261 Or App 121, 129, 322 P3d 1094 (2014), or a defense other than an affirmative defense that the defendant ‘raised’ at trial.State v. Abram, 273 Or App 449, 456, 359 P3d 431 (2015).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Kamph

“[T]he ‘critical question’ that must be asked in determining whether the [dog] sniff violates the Fourth Amendment is whether the sniff ‘adds time to’ the [traffic] stop.” State v. Rosales, 291 Or. App. 762, 769, 423 P3d 112 (2018) (quoting Rodriguez v. United States, 135 S. Ct. 1609, 1616, 191 L. Ed. 2d 492 (2015).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Criminal Law

State v. Minor

Under ORS 137.106(1)(a), “the State is free to seek restitution damages, and the defendant is free to oppose them.” State v. Heisser, 350 Or 12, 27, 249 P3d 113 (2011).

Area(s) of Law:
  • Remedies

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