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Attorneys' Representative Cases in Oregon

The following is a selection of cases that represent the breadth of services of Arnold Law Office, including some interesting examples countered by some of the more "routine." The client names have been removed to protect confidentiality.

Personal Injury - DUII - Criminal Defense - Civil Litigation - Stalking/Restraining Orders - Family Law

Personal Injury

Product Liability - Zooma Scooter
Lawsuit against stand-up gas-powered scooter after handle bar welding failed, causing crash with elbow fracture. Plaintiff received a poor offer and then a dismal arbitration award. Plaintiff appealed to a jury trial. Jury trial result 25 times the arbitration award. Sometimes it takes a jury to sort out a case.

Product Liability/Wrongful Death - G-Max Motorcycle Helmet
Husband and wife were on their motorcycle when negligent driver pulled out in front of them. Wife's helmet strap webbing failed and her helmet came off. She died of head trauma. Six figure settlement with G-Max distributor.

MVA - Rearender Appeal from Arbitration by Farmers
Farmers appeals arbitration award for a young man with soft tissue injuries to back. Josephine County awards more than arbitration award and several times more than Farmers' offer. Defense counsel claims verdict is the highest soft tissue award ever for Josephine County.

MVA - Bike struck in crosswalk
Arbitrator rendered a defense verdict due to client riding bike faster than a walk and for entering crosswalk when it read "Don't Walk." Defendant was at a red light looking left when he made an unsignalled right turn without looking right. We appealed the arbitrator's defense judgment and won. Jury found in favor of our client and awarded the requested damages.

Nursing Home Death - Avamere
Complex litigation involving an Avamere CNA who failed to give anti-seizure medication to Vietnam War veteran several times. He died from seizure. Status: discovery ongoing; trial set.

ODOT dump truck crashes into car in work zone
An elderly woman was following a dump truck into a work zone. The flagger failed to stop traffic as they entered the work zone and the truck failed to radio ahead that there was traffic with him. The truck pulled off the road while in the work zone and then re-entered the roadway without looking and struck the car causing injuries to her shoulder (requiring surgery on both). ODOT denied liability and paid for expensive litigation with tax funds before paying a reasonable settlement amount. Our firm employed a civil engineer with years of work zone experience to analyze the lack of a proper safety plan.

Wrongful Death - Drunk Driver Kills Teenage Girl

Wrongful Death - Woman Crushed by Trash Truck

Drunk Driver rear ends SUV on interstate
Driver who was impaired by alcohol ran into the back of SUV while traveling at a very fast rate of speed. Both vehicles were totaled and client's back pain got progressively worse, resulting in a fusion surgery. The lawsuit alleged punitive damages for recklessness of driving drunk. Defendant filed for bankruptcy while case was pending. Ultimately the case settled for policy limits from the insurer and an excess judgment in bankruptcy court with a payment plan.

DUII (Driving Under the Influence of Intoxicants)

DUII - Eugene Railroad Tracks
Client accused of driving on to railroad tracks when officer finds client exiting from the driver's side of a vehicle stuck on tracks 1/4 mile from the nearest road. Case dismissed after jury trial after discovery that law enforcement failed to investigate homeless witnesses who remember a woman driving a car through bedroom at 3 a.m.

DUII - Cottage Grove Railroad Tracks
Client accused of turning down railroad tracks by mistake. Client claimed that the actual driver ran away from scene after getting stuck. Mistrial granted by judge then case dismissed after negotiations due to prosecutor failing to disclose a material witness who saw someone running from the direction of client's car a few blocks away from tracks.

DUII - Refusal Due to Fear of Law Enforcement
Client refused to blow after having one of friend's homebrew after work. Client's refusal of FSTs and intoxilyzer was due to lack of trust of law enforcement. Jury acquitted (found not guilty) after three hours of deliberations.

DUII - Springfield Tavern Collision
Client accused of driving his truck into the side of the bar causing damage and then fleeing scene. Law enforcement arrested him later at his home after he had some drinks at home. After a two-day Springfield Municipal Court jury trial, where cross-examination focussed on the police officers flawed investigation (by failing to investigate client's claims of drinking at home), and after less than thirty minutes of deliberation, the jury found him not guilty of DUII. Client did not testify.

DUII - Car Crash Dismissal

DUII - 0.10% BAC Dismissal

DUII - 0.07% BAC Dismissal

Criminal Defense

Harassment - Self-defense after being threatened by baseball bat and pepper spray
A Eugene Municipal Court jury found client not-guilty of physical harassment after 21 minutes of deliberations. Client accused of tackling a man in his estranged wife's home and throwing him into the bushes after man confronted client with baseball bat and pepper spray. Accusations stemmed from a child custody dispute between the client and his estranged wife. Client did not testify.

Assault, Harrassment, and Reckless Endangering - Self-defense against gas station owner at the coast
Client accused of assaulting gas station owner and running over woman's foot while leaving the scene. Vigourous cross-examination of the state's six eye witnesses and two police officers, showed flaws in the investigation, a rush to judgment, biases of the witnesses, and faulty memories or lies. Client did not testify. After 47 minutes of deliberating, a Lincoln County jury found him not guilty of all charges.

Sex Abuse 1 (75 month minimum prison), Assault 2 (70 month minimum), Sex Abuse 3, Coercion, Criminal Mistreatment in the First Degree x 2 - Custody case motivates false accusations against father
Client jailed with $1.68 million bail setting after being falsely accused of smothering his wife with a pillow and sexually assaulting two adoptive daughters, among other claims. The case eventually resolved with an Alford Plea to one count of coercion for allegedly forcing a remote control out of wife's hands, which is expungeable at the end of probation, no additional jail time, and a dismissal of all remaining charges. After the dismissal, client was able to resume parenting time with his biological daugther and continue to be an active father.

Unlawful Use of Weapon - Menancing with Knife at Motel
Desert Storm veteran goes off medications for PTSD and has mental breakdown at a motel. He breaks a window and scares everyone, including law enforcement with K-Bar military knife. Resolved with a guilty plea to misdemeanors, payment of restitution to motel, no probation and no additional jail.

Assault II - Fractured Skull from Kicking
Client accused of punching man on bike and then fracturing his skull by kicking him after drinking at bar. "Witness" calls police and says that client did it. Client says that witness did it. Original offer, 24-months prison. Prison offer continues throughout next court appearances. Prosecutor settles for no prison a few days before trial.

Possession of Meth - the Empty Chair
Client accused of possession meth. She says it belonged to boyfriend who was driving. We move for mistrial which was granted after officer makes a statement contrary to a pretrial order.

Kidnapping/Robbery - ATM Kidnapping
Three high-profile counts of kidnapping women and driving them to ATMs for them to withdraw money to fund heroin addiction. Prosecutor argues that client could face the rest of his life in prison but settles for 21-month lid. We conducted a several hours long sentencing hearing calling an expert witness on lack of future dangerousness as well as several witnesses to discuss client's home life and addiction.

Sex Abuse - Church Youth Group Sex Abuse of Minor
Client admitted to having sex with a teenager that he met at a church camp. Settled for the non-registerable offense of Coercion, which was expungable after three years.

Possession of Cocaine - No File Due to Bad Warrant
We obtained the search warrant return and affidavit prior to DA reviewing the case. After pointing out the deficiencies in the warrant, no charges were filed.

Dog-at-Large - Llama castration via pit bull: civil compromise
Client's pit bulls got loose and chased neighbor's prize-winning llamas. One had to be put down and the other was unable to continue being the herd's sire. The charges were dropped after a civil compromise was reached.

Delivery of Meth - Federal Court
Settled by an agreement to dismiss federal case in exchange for state court plea.

DUII/Assault II - Running over Man at Bar While Driving Drunk
Convinced the DA that driver was fleeing an attempted assault and that "victim" was trying to keep him from leaving. All charges dismissed.

DV/Felony Assault IV - Menacing with Bag of Potatoes
Client facing several years in prison for second assault conviction against his wife. Global settlement included less than one-year in prison and future parenting time with his children.

Criminal Trespass at Bar - Bar Fight Gone Bad: bail forfeiture and dismissal

Criminal Mistreatment I (Felony) - Elder Abuse at Nursing Home
Dismissal after our expert medical witness found that injuries were consistent with client's version of what happened.

Assault - Broken Nose at Football Game
Self-defense claim by college girl accused of punching season ticket holder in the nose with right cross. Diversion agreement; no conviction.

Civil Litigation

Sexual Harassment Defense - Hospital Administrator Stalking
Mike Arnold defended the administrator of a hospital who pursued a relationship with a young woman who was apparently giving him mixed signals. Before contacting our firm he was convicted of a criminal stalking charge and lost a stalking order trial. She then sued him for $500,000 claiming sexual harassment, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. In a Marion County jury trial after a brutal cross-examination of the plaintiff and picking apart their psychologist expert, we won a defense verdict.

Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings Defense - Elder Abuse Gone Bad
Mike Arnold defended a woman in United States District Court who as accused of wrongfully initiating an elder abuse case in state court. Plaintiff was wife of client's brother. Brother stole substantial assets from their father while he was infirm. Client received a large verdict against brother in state court but sister-in-law received a defense verdict. Sister-in-law then sued in federal court. We won a defense verdict after a jury trial in federal court.

Undue Influence - Stealing Mobile Home Park from non-profits
An elderly woman suffering from dementia was coerced into changing her will to leave all of her assets to the managers of the mobile home park she owned. Previously, the woman graciously left substantial assets to family and several non-profit organizations. Our firm represented several of the nonprofits. After a thoroughly diligent investigation by the firm turned up a material witness in California, depositions quickly turned into a settlement conference. A six-figure settlement occurred thereafter.

Civil Rights Violation - False Confession of Minor by Lane County Sheriff's Deputy (Federal Court)
The Lane County Sheriff's Office made some incorrect assumptions about the guilty of our twelve-year-old client and coerced him into a false confession for the shooting of a neighbor's dog. They even made him demonstrate how he did it with his pellet gun. Ballistics tests proved that his gun did not fire the bullet but the results were not disclosed to client's juvenile delinquency lawyer for an unreasonable amount of time. During that time, he faced ridicule and embarrassment. We sued the county and school district in federal court. After discovery and numerous depositions, the defendants agreed to have judgments entered against them and paid monetary damages.

Breach of Fiduciary Duty - Self dealing in business/land deal gone bad
Civil jury trial in Lane County district court.

Stalking Orders and Restraining Orders

Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings - False Stalking Order to Gain Custody
Received a $50,000 judgment through bankruptcy adversarial proceeding due to mother lying to get a stalking order.

Restraining Order - Lying about Fear to Gain Custody
Mother lied about being afraid of father. She dismissed it after being cross-examined and confronted with dozens of text messages she sent to father.

Stalking Order - Lying about Rape to Gain Custody
We won a dismissal after trial. Court made findings of fact that stalking order was brought for an improper purpose.

Sexual Harassment - Setting up co-worker for a sexual harassment lawsuit
Negotiated a dismissal and a mutual no-contact agreement after discovering that petitioner made similar allegations against another employer in California.

Stalking - Young woman files in spite after older man stops buying her things
Young woman lied about stalking incidents to gain a stalking order to spite her much older friend who bought her car, surgery, etc. Petitioner lied to the court; the firm proved the lies in trial and case dismissed.

Family Law

Custody - Alienation by Mother
Mother filed false stalking order against father. We won custody for father by showing that mother was making false accusations to gain advantage in the custody case.

Arnold Law Office, LLC, represents clients along the Oregon Coast and throughout Western Oregon, including in Portland, Eugene, Springfield, Salem, Corvallis, Cottage Grove, Albany, Newport, Oregon City, Beaverton, Clackamas, Wilsonville, Tigard, Hillsboro, Lake Oswego, Coburg, Creswell, Florence, Junction City, Lowell, Veneta, Oakridge, Roseburg, Brownsville, Halsey, Harrisburg Klamath Falls, Medford, Ashland, Grants Pass, Glendale, and Bend, and in the following counties: Lane County, Multnomah County, Washington County, Clackamas County, Linn County, Douglas County, Marion County, Coos County, Lincoln County, Benton County, Deschutes County, Josephine County, Klamath County, and Jackson County.

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