Jeff grew up abroad and is a runner, cyclist and historian. Jeff and his wife are very proud parents of two college age sons. His practice emphasizes complex insurance coverage litigation and professional liability. He hopes to one day finish research for his book--and the book itself--on the lives of two of his heroes: La Fayette and his equally extraordinary but less well known spouse, Adrienne de Noailles.

• Jeff, a partner, has practiced law in Portland since 1981. He joined the firm in 2007.
  
  
• Jeff manages civil litigation in all courts but primarily in Oregon and Washington. He handles matters in areas of complex insurance coverage particularly including environmental, directors’ and officers’ liability and construction; casualty defense, including bodily injury, property damage claims and fire cause and origin; professional liability of insurance and real estate agents and other professionals; RICO; and general commercial litigation. Jeff has managed and tried complex matters, including trials lasting several months. He has been retained to handle cases in many states in addition to Oregon and Washington. He has managed the nationwide exposures to insurance clients in the areas of environmental liability, Federal Employer Liability Act (FELA) and securities law.

• Oregon
  Washington
  U.S. District Court, District of Oregon
  U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington

• J.D., University of Puget Sound, 1981
  B.A. (Economics), Washington State University, 1978

• Multnomah Bar Association
  Oregon Association of Defense Counsel
  Defense Research Institute
  Eagle International Associates, Inc.
  
  
• Jeff was born in San Francisco in 1955 and lived abroad prior to attending college and law school. He is a frequent contributor and speaker for national and international publications and events, primarily related to insurance law and trial practice. He has served on the Oregon State Bar lawyer disciplinary and legal ethics committees.
  
  
• Jeff and Bodyfelt Mount LLP are the Oregon attorney members of Eagle International Associates, Inc. (www.eagle-law.com), an international association of insurance attorneys and claims adjusters. This allows Bodyfelt Mount LLP to coordinate on matters with other Eagle members throughout the world drawing on a broad range of geographic and professional expertise. Jeff spoke in Paris, France in 2008 and in Brussels, Belgium in 2004 at the Eagle seminars concerning North American and European legal issues. These were entitled: Products Liability Claims in the United States And The European Union; La Responsabilité du Fait des Produits aux États-Unis et dans L’Union Européenne (Paris, October 2008) and Environmental Liability and the New European Directive; La Responsabilité Environnementale et La Nouvelle Directive de l’Union Européenne. His written materials: Trial Courts and Lawsuits in The United States, A General Overview; Les Juridictions de Première Instance et Les Procès aux États-Unis, Vue d’Ensemble and Environmental Insurance Coverage Litigation in the United States, A General Historical Overview; Litige sur La Couverture d’Assurance Environnementale aux États-Unis: Présentation Historique Générale, are available on the Eagle website.

Trial and appellate counsel for a principal defendant in Cascade Corporation v. American Home Insurance Company, et. al., 206 Or App 1, 135 P3d 450 (2006). Represented insurer in three month trial of major environmental insurance coverage claim. The case involved decisions on complex exhaustion and allocation issues, the impact of policyholder settlements on the policyholder’s share in allocation, as well as other defense and indemnity issues.

Trial counsel for plaintiff to a favorable conclusion in St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company v. McCormick & Baxter Creosoting Company, et. al. Multnomah County Case No. A88711-07096. Declaratory judgment action to determine insurance coverage for pollution at the policyholder’s wood treatment plants in Stockton, California and Portland, Oregon. The case, reviewed by the Oregon Supreme Court before trial, is the Oregon authority for many insurance coverage issues, including trigger, allocation and the pollution exclusion. 324 Or 184, 923 P2d 1200 (1996).

Trial and appellate counsel for primary defendant in City of Tacoma, WA v. Harbor Insurance Company, USDC Oregon Case No. CU 90-306 DA. Represented Directors and Officers Liability insurer for a northwest power generator sued in the Washington Public Power Supply System (“WPPSS”) bond default.

Trial counsel for a primary defendant in Union Pacific Railroad Corporation v. American Home Insurance Company, USDC Oregon Case No. 87-484-DA and USDC Wyoming Case No. C89-0069J. Represented a primary insurer for railroad in insurance coverage litigation in Oregon (employee hearing loss claims system wide) and Wyoming (pollution claims system wide).

• French