Summary of Filing
In the motion, PacifiCorp asks the Multnomah County Circuit Court to correct several legal errors that occurred during the recent class action wildfire case captioned James v. PacifiCorp. If the trial court fails to correct these errors, they will be appealed to the Oregon Court of Appeals. Here is a brief summary of the relevant issues:
PacifiCorp's Motion to Stay Any Phase II Trials
Summary of Filing
The Motion to Stay asks the Multnomah County Circuit Court to stay damages trials in the class action lawsuit pending resolution of the post-trial issues identified by PacifiCorp. Those issues include:
A decision in PacifiCorp’s favor on any of these critical issues—whether by the Multnomah County Court or an appellate court—will profoundly impact the damages trials. The Multnomah County Circuit Court denied this motion and set three damages trials in 2024. PacifiCorp will ask the Oregon Court of Appeals to stay the Phase II damages trials once the appeals are filed.
PacifiCorp’s Motion to Dismiss the Vineyards’ Smoke Damage Lawsuits
Summary of Filing
PacifiCorp filed the Motion to Dismiss the lawsuit filed by Bridgadoon Vineyards, LLC lawsuit in Lane County Circuit Court. Similar motions to dismiss were filed in the complaints brought by Retraite, LLC; Parlance, LLC ; Vendange, LLC; and Samuel Robert Winery, LLC. PacifiCorp presents the following arguments for the Circuit Courts’ consideration:
James case post-trial hearings: Case Management Order No. 8
On September 20, 2023, the judge in the James Multnomah County Court case entered Case Management Order No. 8 and set three phase II trials where plaintiffs will present evidence regarding their damages. Two of the trials will have 10-15 plaintiffs per trial. The third trial involves commercial timber plaintiffs. The first James phase II trial is set for January 8-17, 2024. The second James phase II trial is set for February 26 – March 1, 2024. The third trial regarding commercial timber interests is set for April 22-30, 2024.
James case post-trial hearings: Case Management Order No. 9
The Judge in the James case set the following post-trial hearings in Case Management Order No. 9: