About Lou
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 Peer Review Rated 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.
Prior to joining Stoel Rives, 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. He also served as a Special Forces medic in the U.S. Army.
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