Louis A. Ferreira

Experience

Lou Ferreira is a partner of Stoel Rives LLP, where he has practiced for 20 years. As a private timberland owner who manages his own forest, he understands the industry and has significant Forest Practices Act experience. He has represented numerous forest products companies in a broad range of matters including insurance coverage cases, landslides, wrongful death cases, and agency enforcement actions with respect to forest fires, environmental issues, mining, litigation with the U.S. Forest Service over timber purchase agreements, as well as a wide variety of contracting issues.

Before joining the firm, Lou served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1989-1990, and as an honors intern in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Occupational Disease Litigation Section, 1987. Before that he was a special forces medic in the U.S. Army.

Representative Work

• Represented paper and lumber mills and other wood products companies nationwide in OSHA investigations and enforcement actions, environmental enforcement matters, and wrongful death matters.
• Represented defendants in civil actions brought by the Oregon Department of Forestry seeking recovery for fire suppression costs associated with forest fires that burned thousands of acres of forest land and in civil actions brought by landowners whose homes or property were damaged by fires.
• Represented Pacific Lumber Company in several lawsuits successfully obtaining insurance coverage for lawsuits alleging legacy environmental damage associated with landslides and erosion resulting from logging of redwoods in California.
• Represented Oregon Forest Industries Council with respect to a federal Clean Water Act citizen suit case seeking to regulate forest roads as point sources.
• Represented buyers of federal timber in civil litigation involving various contract disputes with the U.S. Forest Service.
• Represented forest owners in civil actions arising out of landslides, alleging pollution of rivers and streams, product liability actions, and wrongful death actions.
• Represented pole treating companies with respect to alleged toxic exposure, products liability lawsuits, environmental cleanup ligation, and insurance recovery actions.

Presentations

• Lou is a frequent speaker on environmental, insurance coverage and risk-management issues

Civic Activities

• Commissioner, Fire District No. 13, Clark County, Washington
• Special Forces Association

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
• U.S. District Court of Oregon
• U.S. District Court of Eastern Washington
• U.S. District Court of Western Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

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Experience

Lou Ferreira is a partner of Stoel Rives LLP and a member of the firm's Litigation group. Lou's environmental experience includes litigating state and federal cost recovery actions resolving natural resource damages claims and developing restoration projects. He assists clients with contaminated soil and sediment issues at the state and federal administrative level. Lou has had substantial success in insurance recovery actions involving environmental contamination. In addition, he has defended citizen suits brought under the federal Clean Water Act.

Before joining the firm, Lou served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1989-1990, and as an honors intern in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Occupational Disease Litigation Section, 1987. Before that he was a special forces medic in the U.S. Army.

Representative Work

• Defended a public utility in a CERCLA case brought by the Washington State Department of Transportation involving a former manufactured gas plant. Although the client was found liable under CERCLA, the State of Washington was denied any recovery for the approximately $6 million spent on environmental 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, Lou sued the Washington State Department of Transportation under Washington's Model Toxic Control Act on behalf of the utility and won a $7.6 million judgment based upon the Department of Transportation's actions at the site having contaminated the adjacent waterway. Lou is currently representing this client with respect to natural resource damages claims asserted by the trustees for this site.
• Represented the City of St. Maries, Idaho with respect to a Superfund cleanup of a former pole treating site and in recovering from its insurers. This included engaging in emergency response actions, administrative proceedings culminating in a consent decree and resolving a number of sediment remediation issues.
• Represented trucking companies in environmental cleanups, insurance recoveries for the cost of cleanups, and defense of related nuisance and breach of lease claims.
• Represented a barge operator in civil and criminal investigation alleging environmental damage associated with the sinking of a barge in the Columbia River.
• Represented ship owners and operators in federal criminal investigations of environmental releases.
• Represented owner of a large aluminum smelter at an EPA Superfund site.

Presentations

• Lou is a frequent speaker on environmental, insurance coverage, and risk-management issues

Civic Activities

• Commissioner, Fire District No. 13, Clark County, Washington
• Special Forces Association

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
• U.S. District Court of Oregon
• U.S. District Court of Eastern Washington
• U.S. District Court of Western Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

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Experience

Lou Ferreira is a partner of Stoel Rives LLP and a member of the firm's Litigation group. Lou has extensive experience litigating toxic torts, negligence, contractual indemnity, and wrongful death matters. He draws upon this background to advise clients on a broad range of risk management, insurance and contractual risk transfer issues. Lou has represented clients seeking insurance coverage under Commercial General Liability ("CGL"), Property, Directors & Officers ("D&O"), Errors and Omissions ("E&O"), and has negotiated a number of manuscript policies allocating risks of environmental cleanups, tax liabilities, and games of chance.

Lou has handled a number of significant administrative enforcement actions brought by state and federal agencies (Oregon OSHA, Washington State Department of Occupational Safety and Health ("DOSH"), and federal OSHA). He has represented clients in investigations conducted by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health ("NIOSH"), and the Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA").

Before joining the firm, Lou served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1989-1990, and as an honors intern in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Occupational Disease Litigation Section, 1987. Before that he was a special forces medic in the U.S. Army.

Representative Work

• Represented a mine operator in a catastrophic accident in which four miners were killed, including participating in the  MSHA accident investigation and the subsequent administrative enforcement action.
• Represented wind farm owner in matters arising out of a collapse of wind turbine and tower, including a wrongful death action.
• Represented steel mills in several 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.
• Represented a large public utility in multiple wrongful death actions.
• Represented 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.
• Represented a wood products manufacturer in a NIOSH investigation of chemical exposures.
• Represented a paper mill in an enforcement action arising out of chlorine releases.
• Represented a large metal products manufacturer in an enforcement action arising out of an explosion that destroyed the mill.
• Represented an aerospace manufacturing entity in multiple enforcement proceedings involving toxic exposure, fatalities and other safety and health violations.
• Represented microchip manufacturer with regard to toxic exposure investigation by OSHA.
• Represented a coalition of business entities in litigation challenging WISHA's promulgation of Washington's ergonomics standard. The standard was overturned by voter initiative while the case was on appeal.
• Represented a public utility dam operator in a class action lawsuit alleging that improper operation of the dam resulted in millions of dollars of downstream flooding and property damage. The case was dismissed on summary judgment.
• Represented TriMet with regard to various agencies' investigations of fatality accidents during light-rail construction work and in developing contractor safety management programs.

Presentations

• Lou is a frequent speaker on environmental, insurance coverage, and risk-management issues

Civic Activities

• Commissioner, Fire District No. 13, Clark County, Washington
• Special Forces Association

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
• U.S. District Court of Oregon
• U.S. District Court of Eastern Washington
• U.S. District Court of Western Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

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Experience

Lou Ferreira is a partner of Stoel Rives LLP and a member of the firm's Litigation group. Lou started at Stoel Rives LLP as a member of the Real Estate and Construction group litigating construction disputes. Over the last 20 years he has represented owners, engineers, contractors and subcontractors in numerous disputes and product liability actions seeking damages for construction defects. Lou frequently assists clients in negotiating and drafting construction agreements, procuring insurance to cover major construction projects, including the negotiation of Owner Controlled Insurance Policies ("OCIPs"), Contractor Controlled Insurance Policies ("CCIPs"), Commercial General Liability ("CGL") policies, and pollution policies and offering advice on various bonding issues. He advises clients on risk management issues associated with large construction projects, contracting and contractual risk transfer issues. Lou frequently represents owners and contractors in lawsuits with their insurers over insurance coverage for construction defects and other claims. He has represented clients with respect to construction accidents, including fatality cases and catastrophic building failures, and toxic exposure cases involving indoor air issues, and he draws upon this experience in providing risk management advice to construction clients across the United States.

Before joining the firm, Lou served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1989-1990, and as an honors intern in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Occupational Disease Litigation Section, 1987. Before that he was a special forces medic in the U.S. Army.

Representative Work

Represented a painting contractor on the I-5 Interstate Bridge with regard to a barge sinking that resulted in a civil and criminal investigation. Also represented the same contractor in an action against the Oregon Department of Transportation arising out of the project.

Represents a large multi-family housing owner/developer nationally in construction defect matters, insurance recoveries, and various personal injury matters, including a class action lawsuit involving exposure to carbon monoxide and alleged multiple fatalities.

Represented numerous developers of condominiums in construction defect litigation and insurance coverage for construction defects.

Represented a municipal owner in a $20 million lawsuit brought by developers for breach of contract to develop a large mixed-use waterfront project. Judgment was entered for owner.

Represented engineering firm in action involving failure of tower crane that resulted in a fatality and significant property damage.

Represented contractors, owners and design professionals in drafting and understanding complex construction agreements.

Presentations

• Lou is a frequent speaker on construction contracting, construction risk, insurance coverage, and environmental risk issues.

Articles

• "Contribution and Indemnity" (coauthor), chapter of the Oregon Torts Manual, 1992, and supplemental updates, 1996, 1999, 2000, and 2004

Civic Activities

• Commissioner, Fire District No. 13, Clark County, Washington
• Special Forces Association

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
• U.S. District Court of Oregon
• U.S. District Court of Eastern Washington
• U.S. District Court of Western Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

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Experience

Lou Ferreira is a partner of Stoel Rives LLP, where he has practiced for 20 years as part of the firm's Litigation group. During the last 15 years, a significant focus of Lou's practice has been obtaining insurance coverage for insureds, including suing insurance companies for bad faith. He has handled significant coverage disputes arising out of environmental disputes, construction, wrongful death, building collapse, fires, toxic torts, and other types of civil litigation. As a result of this practice, he has discovered that clients frequently do not understand their insurance programs and their uncovered risks. This led Lou to develop an insurance procurement practice in which he assists clients in understanding the risks they face and what their policies do and do not cover, and helps them acquire the insurance they need. Lou frequently advises clients on procurement of all types of insurance policies and helps them negotiate the coverages necessary to deal with their unique risks. He assists clients in setting up insurance programs to cover major construction projects, including the negotiation of Owner Controlled Insurance Policies ("OCIPs"), Contractor Controlled Insurance Policies ("CCIPs"), Commercial General Liability policies, and pollution policies, and offers advice on various bonding issues.

Before joining the firm, Lou served as law clerk to the Honorable Stephen S. Trott, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1989-1990, and as an honors intern in the U.S. Department of Justice's Environmental and Occupational Disease Litigation Section, 1987. Before that he was a special forces medic in the U.S. Army.

Representative Work

• Represented daycare operator in insurance coverage litigation arising out of allegations of child abuse.
• Represented client in establishing and operating a captive insurance company several clients in rent-a-cell captive programs.
• Represented various car dealerships, gas station owners, dry cleaners, pole treating companies, manufacturing entities, trucking companies, forest products companies, and municipal governments to recover insurance proceeds to cover the costs of environmental cleanups.
• Represented a number of developers and contractors in coverage litigation over coverage for construction defects.
• Represented VanPort Homes, Inc. in a bad-faith action before the Washington Supreme Court and obtained extra-contractual damages for the bad faith of the insurer in refusing to defend.
• Represented the Pacific Lumber Company in various actions against its insurers for coverage of lawsuits seeking various types of environmental damage arising from a long legacy of logging redwoods in Northern California.
• Represented a number of clients in insurance coverage disputes arising out of property losses from fire, equipment breakdown, and toxic tort exposure to carbon monoxide, toxic bacteria, mold and other chemicals.
• Represented clients seeking coverage for various business-related lawsuits under Directors & Officers policies.
• Represented design professionals such as architects and engineering firms in litigation seeking coverage for professional malpractice.
• Represented large apartment owner seeking insurance coverage for class action lawsuit alleging carbon monoxide exposure and wrongful death.

Presentations

• Lou is a frequent speaker on insurance coverage, and risk-management issues

Civic Activities

• Commissioner, Fire District No. 13, Clark County, Washington
• Special Forces Association

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
• U.S. District Court of Oregon
• U.S. District Court of Eastern Washington
• U.S. District Court of Western Washington
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Federal Claims

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