CVN screenshot of plaintiff attorney Patrick Salvi delivering his closing argument
Portland, OR - An Oregon state court jury has returned a roughly $11 million verdict in the latest trial over utility provider PacifiCorp’s liability for widespread wildfires, and the full trial was recorded gavel-to-gavel by Courtroom View Network.
The April 29th verdict included awards ranging from $125,000 to $3 million for the nine plaintiffs who lost property in the 2020 Labor Day Fires. It comes after other juries in similar trials have returned verdicts totaling millions of dollars with more scheduled throughout the year.
The trials are taking place after an initial jury in 2023 found PacifiCorp liable for the fire, setting off a lengthy process to determine specific damages for discrete groups of plaintiffs. All the trials to date have been recorded by CVN and can be viewed with a video library subscription.
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The case marked the fifth damages verdict since the initial liability trial in 2023. The next trial is scheduled tor begin May 12.
Property owners accused PacifiCorp of failing to deactivate their power lines ahead of a predicted wind storm, but the company argued a full shutdown would have had a negative impact on hospitals and other first responder services.
PacifiCorp is appealing the 2023 liability finding.
The plaintiffs in the most recent trial were represented by Salvi Schostok & Pritchard PC.
PacifiCorp was represented by Houston Hennigan LLP and Stoel Rives LLP.
E-mail David Siegel at dsiegel@cvn.com
