McDuffy v. Interstate Distributor Co. – Employment discrimination case (disability) filed against Interstate Distributor Company. Client was suspended for three months by his employer due to morbid obesity. Client was reinstated after intervention by legal counsel. Subsequent litigation resulted in a verdict for the client, plus costs and attorney fees. The verdict received national legal recognition as one of the first obesity discrimination verdicts in the United States and also received national mainstream media coverage.

Herbert v. Altimeter, Inc. – Appeal of an employment discrimination case (OSHA retaliation, disability discrimination, injured worker discrimination) resulting in a reversal of the trial court on all claims. The case was the first published opinion in Oregon establishing a cause of action for retaliation after requesting a reasonable accommodation for a disability in the workplace.

Weedman v. McGilvra – Contract dispute and fraud case filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court against a building contractor for design defects and failure to obtain required building permits, which the contractor fraudulently concealed from the owner. The case resulted in a jury verdict for the owner.

Swoboda v. Viterra Energy Services, Inc., et al. – Class action in Multnomah County Circuit Court against water-submetering companies and large residential landlords for charging approximately 30,000 Oregon tenants illegal late fees and administrative charges for submetering their water and sewer use in apartment complexes. The class action was successfully certified, including a claim for fraud. The case was settled after certification, and included a settlement fund with a cy pres donation to charity.  As a result, unclaimed funds were donated to the Oregon Law Center and were used to fund a three-year attorney position for fair-housing and fair-lending advocacy. Michael Ross received an award in recognition for the cy pres contribution by the Lawyers’ Campaign for Equal Justice.

Hines v. Verizon Northwest, Inc. – Class action in United States District Court of Oregon against a regional telecommunications carrier under the Stored Wire and Electronic Communications and Transactional Records Access Act (18 USC § 2702; USC § 2707) for providing customer telephone records for approximately 2,000,000 Oregon and Washington residents to the National Security Agency. The case was transferred to the District of Northern California after being consolidated with similar cases nationally in multi-district litigation. The case was ultimately dismissed following the enactment of federal legislation granting retroactive immunity to all defendant telecommunication carriers and after appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Christianson v. National Water and Power, Inc. – Class action filed against National Water and Power, Inc. in Multnomah County Circuit Court for charging approximately 10,000 Oregon tenants illegal late fees and administrative charges for submetering their water and sewer use in apartment complexes. The case resulted in a settlement fund for the Oregon tenants.