The death of 27-year-old S.B. was the tragic final chapter of a man allowed to “fall through the cracks” repeatedly. The man’s situation included many institutional failures, but one of the biggest was the inadequate mental health care he allegedly received while behind bars in Douglas County. Inmates and detainees…
Any worker dying in a workplace accident is a tragedy. What makes many of these tragedies so profoundly frustrating is that after-the-fact investigations reveal that the worker’s death was entirely preventable. Many workers lose their lives on the job when, with better training, better supervision, and better safety protections, their…
Construction workers face many hazards on the job. Some are inevitable, but too many dangers – and serious or fatal accidents – arise because someone (or some entity) failed to do what they were required to do. Because major construction projects typically involve a variety of entities, including general contractors,…
The laws of physics tell us, among other things, that the force an object exerts equals its mass times its acceleration. That equation reminds us that faster-moving vehicles (and large, heavy vehicles) exert the most force in collisions. Those crashes often are the most damaging. If you’ve lost a loved…
Workers today utilize machines to perform (or facilitate) a broad spectrum of tasks. Machines are essential to the success of many industrial and manufacturing operations. For the human workers in those facilities, their safety hinges in large part on those machines being in proper condition. An unsafe machine can pose…
A fatal accident west of Corvallis is a tragic yet important illustration that not all fatal vehicle accidents are created equal from a legal standpoint. All wrongful death cases arising from vehicle crashes can benefit from the services of a skilled Oregon wrongful death lawyer but some are especially complex,…
Ten people died while in custody at the Multnomah County Jail in 2022 and 2023, as compared to zero deaths in the preceding two years. Too many times, preventable deaths – whether here locally or elsewhere – are the result of protocols not being followed or people otherwise not doing…
Insufficient medical treatment inside detention facilities is a significant issue around the country, including in Oregon’s jails and prisons. One major problem, a byproduct of the nationwide opioid epidemic, is an ever-increasing number of people entering lockup amid addiction. Whether as a result of a lack of diligence or a…
Many people think Oregon follows a “one bite” free rule before imposing owner liability in a dog attack case. That’s untrue; Oregon law generally holds dog owners strictly liable for attack injuries if the dog(s) had aggressive tendencies or a history of violence. That may mean a history of aggressive…
Oregon is the state with the largest number of logging businesses. (Washington is #5.) That fact alone should tell you that drivers on Oregon’s highways and byways often share the road with large logging trucks and trailers. These businesses require specially trained drivers and carefully maintained vehicles to ensure safety.…