OTLA Trial Lawyer Winter 2021

2 Trial Lawyer • Winter 2021 By TimWilliams OTLA Guardian F or several weeks this fall, I was driving back and forth from Bend to Eugene to support my oldest daughter, Emerson, and her participation in AAU basketball. It’s a sobering drive, especially once you begin the descent into the McKenzie River Valley. The burned-up trees, the flame-ravaged buildings, the rusting carcasses of cars. All are remnants of the fires that raged through our state in early September 2020. Oregonians lost nearly $1 billion in property during the September wildfires. Some 4,000 homes were lost. More than a million acres were burned. Worse, at least nine people lost their lives. As I drove past the devastation, it gave me a small bit of satisfaction to know the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association was assisting those in need. The fire project On September 13, I received an email fromOTLA Guardian Marc Johnston, a resident of Carver in rural Clackamas County. When the fires were at their worst, Johnston and his family were forced to evacuate. While their home was spared, the experience left Johnson sensi- tive to the needs of others who weren’t so lucky. In his email, he outlined a proposal. OTLA would start a pro bono program Using our advocacy skills to help to help folks with their fire loss claims. The goal was simple: Help those in need at no cost to them. It was a noble goal, but one that needed to be fleshed out. Johnston, myself and others worked on what the program would look like, taking cues from other trial lawyer as- sociations across the country that have dealt with natural disasters in their states. We followed up with Legal Aid Services of Oregon to model after its pro bono program. There were meetings with the PLF to ensure we had coverage for such a task. Johnston worked hard to refine and strengthen the plan. In the end, it was clear. The plan would work but we needed help— and lots of it — from our members. A primary concern was training our volunteers to become knowledgeable on fire loss cases — something that precious few of us handle. To that end, we turned to some of our fire loss specialists, at- torneys Bob Bonaparte, Doug Bragg, Tonna Faxon, Michael Knapp, Fred Mil- lard, Kyle Sturm, Clint Tapper and Nick Thede. They not only provided checklists and documents to aid victims, they re- corded videos advising the public on common issues in fire loss claims. They also provided a live 90-minute Zoom training session for our members on October 1 that was recorded for those volunteers who couldn’t attend. It was a fantastic program, and it quickly became clear our specialists know their stuff cold. Emily Teplin Fox of the Oregon Law Center pitched in to provide guidance on creating and participating in a pro bono program. With the aid of these folks and others, we set up a hotline for people in need to call into the program to ask questions or to set meetings with attorneys in the know. We also created intake sheets and a pro bono service agreement. At the same time, we wanted to be sure we were able to coordinate our vol- unteers regionally, to make sure all geographic areas in need were staffed with lawyer volunteers. The plan was set to assign regional coordinators to handle that task. To that end, Chris Cauble (southernOregon) OTLA President-elect Lara Johnson (Lane County), Robert Johnson (southern Oregon), Marc John- ston (Clackamas County), Faith Morse (southern Oregon), Travis Prestwich (Marion County), David Rosen (De- schutes County) and Adam Springer (Lincoln County) all stepped up to fill Early September fire near Leaburg Dam on the McKenzie River. President’s Message Tim Williams