Legal Resources
Oregon Legal Glossary
Understand the legal terms commonly used in medical malpractice, personal injury, wrongful death, and trucking accident cases in Oregon.
Bad Faith (Insurance)
An insurer's failure to deal fairly with its insured — including unreasonable denial of a covered claim, lowball offers unsupported by the evidence, or refusing to settle within policy limits when liability is clear. In Oregon, bad-faith conduct can expose the insurer to consequential damages beyond the policy limits.
Burden of Proof
The obligation to prove allegations in a lawsuit. In Oregon personal injury cases, the plaintiff must prove their claims by a "preponderance of the evidence," meaning it is more likely than not that the defendant's negligence caused the harm.
Causation
The legal requirement to prove that the defendant's negligent act or omission directly caused the plaintiff's injury. In Oregon medical malpractice cases, expert testimony is typically required to establish causation between the provider's breach of care and the patient's harm.
Certificate of Merit
A sworn statement, sometimes required at filing in other states, attesting that an expert has reviewed the case and believes malpractice occurred. Oregon does not require a certificate of merit. However, expert medical testimony is required to prove the standard of care and causation, so reputable Oregon firms vet cases with consulting experts before filing.
Comparative Negligence
Oregon follows a modified comparative negligence rule under ORS 31.600–31.620. If the injured party is partially at fault, their damages are reduced by their percentage of fault. However, if the plaintiff is more than 50% at fault, they cannot recover any damages.
Contingency Fee
A fee arrangement where the attorney is paid a percentage of the settlement or verdict rather than an hourly rate. The client pays nothing upfront and owes no attorney fees if there is no recovery. Huegli Law handles all personal injury and medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis.
Damages
Monetary compensation awarded to an injured party. Oregon law recognizes economic damages (medical bills, lost wages, future care costs), non-economic damages (pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life), and in some cases punitive damages under ORS 31.710–31.740.
Defendant
The person or entity being sued in a civil lawsuit. In a medical malpractice case, the defendant may be a doctor, hospital, or healthcare system. In a trucking accident case, the defendant could be the driver, trucking company, or vehicle manufacturer.
Deposition
Sworn, out-of-court testimony given by a witness or party during the discovery phase of a lawsuit. Depositions are recorded by a court reporter and can be used at trial. In medical malpractice cases, depositions of treating physicians and expert witnesses are often critical.
Discovery
The pre-trial phase where both sides exchange evidence, documents, and information relevant to the case. Discovery tools include interrogatories (written questions), requests for production of documents, and depositions.
Discovery Rule
An exception to the statute of limitations that starts the clock when the plaintiff discovers (or reasonably should have discovered) the injury, rather than when the injury actually occurred. Under ORS 12.110(4), Oregon medical malpractice claims have an absolute outer limit of five years regardless of discovery.
Duty of Care
The legal obligation to act with a reasonable standard of care to avoid causing harm to others. All drivers owe a duty of care to other road users. Healthcare providers owe a duty of care to their patients based on accepted medical standards.
Economic Damages
Objectively verifiable monetary losses resulting from an injury, including medical expenses, lost wages, future earning capacity, and property damage. Oregon does not cap economic damages in personal injury or medical malpractice cases.
Economic Damages Cap (OTCA)
Under ORS 30.272, claims against Oregon public bodies are capped at statutory dollar amounts that increase modestly each year for inflation. For OHSU malpractice claims and other state-defendant cases, the cap can leave even catastrophically injured patients with recovery well below their actual losses — a critical reason to identify whether a defendant is a public body before the 180-day notice runs.
Expert Witness
A professional with specialized knowledge who provides testimony to help the jury understand complex issues. Oregon medical malpractice cases require expert medical testimony to establish the applicable standard of care and how the defendant deviated from it.
Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR)
Federal regulations governing commercial trucks and their operators, including hours-of-service limits, vehicle maintenance requirements, and driver qualification standards. Violations of FMCSR are often key evidence in Oregon trucking accident cases.
Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA)
The federal statute (28 U.S.C. §§ 2671 et seq.) that governs tort claims against the United States and its employees. Doctors at Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) and at Veterans Affairs facilities are typically treated as federal employees, so malpractice claims against them follow the FTCA — including a 2-year administrative claim deadline and an SF-95 filing.
Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC)
A community-based health care provider that receives federal funds to provide primary care in underserved areas. Under the Federally Supported Health Centers Assistance Act, FQHC providers are deemed federal employees for malpractice purposes — meaning claims must be filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act, not in Oregon state court.
Informed Consent
A patient's right to be told about the risks, benefits, and alternatives of a medical procedure before agreeing to it. Oregon law (ORS 677.097) requires physicians to provide that information in terms a reasonable patient would understand. Failure to obtain proper informed consent can be grounds for a medical malpractice claim if a reasonable patient would not have consented had they been properly informed.
Joint and Several Liability
A rule allowing a plaintiff to recover the full amount of damages from any one of multiple defendants found liable, leaving them to seek contribution from each other. Oregon abolished pure joint and several liability for most claims under ORS 31.610, replacing it with proportional several liability — each defendant generally pays only its share of fault.
Liability
Legal responsibility for one's actions or omissions that cause harm. In personal injury law, liability is established by proving the defendant owed a duty of care, breached that duty, and caused damages as a result.
Loss of Consortium
Damages for the loss of companionship, affection, and intimate relations a spouse suffers when the other spouse is injured or killed by negligence. In Oregon wrongful-death cases, the surviving spouse and children may recover for loss of the decedent's society, companionship, and services under ORS 30.020(2).
Mediation
A confidential, non-binding settlement process where a neutral third party helps the parties negotiate a resolution. Most Oregon personal injury and medical malpractice cases reach a mediated resolution before trial, often through retired judges or experienced civil mediators.
Negligence
The failure to exercise the degree of care that a reasonably prudent person would exercise under similar circumstances. Negligence is the foundation of most personal injury, medical malpractice, and car accident claims in Oregon.
Negligence Per Se
A doctrine that establishes negligence as a matter of law when the defendant violates a statute designed to protect a class of people that includes the plaintiff, and the violation causes the type of harm the statute was meant to prevent. Oregon recognizes negligence per se — common examples include speeding, DUII, and FMCSR violations in trucking cases.
Never Event
A serious medical error that should never occur in a properly functioning health-care system, as defined by the National Quality Forum. Examples include wrong-site surgery, wrong-patient surgery, retained foreign objects, and severe pressure ulcers acquired in the hospital. Never events are strong evidence of negligence in Oregon medical malpractice cases.
Non-Economic Damages
Compensation for subjective, non-monetary losses such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of companionship, and diminished quality of life. ORS 31.710 once capped non-economic damages at $500,000, but the Oregon Supreme Court struck the cap as applied to personal-injury claims in Lakin v. Senco Products (1999) and reaffirmed in Busch v. McInnis Waste Systems (2020). No statutory cap currently applies to non-economic damages in non-death medical malpractice cases.
OHSU (Public Corporation)
Oregon Health & Science University is established by ORS 353.020 as a public corporation. As a public body, OHSU and its employed providers are covered by the Oregon Tort Claims Act — meaning malpractice claims trigger the OTCA's 180-day notice requirement, damages caps under ORS 30.272, and procedural rules different from claims against private hospitals.
Oregon Tort Claims Act (OTCA)
The body of law (ORS 30.260–30.300) governing tort claims against Oregon public bodies — the state, counties, cities, school districts, OHSU, and their employees. The OTCA imposes a shorter notice deadline than private suits, caps damages under ORS 30.272, and channels certain claims through specific procedures.
OTCA Notice
The formal written notice required under ORS 30.275 before suing a public body for tort damages. Personal-injury claimants generally must give notice within 180 days of the injury; wrongful-death claimants have one year. Missing this deadline typically bars the claim, even if the underlying statute of limitations has not yet run.
Personal Injury Protection (PIP)
First-party no-fault coverage that Oregon auto insurers must offer, governed by ORS 742.518–742.542. PIP pays reasonable medical expenses, a portion of lost wages, and certain other losses regardless of fault, up to coverage limits. PIP coverage is typically the first source of payment for medical bills after an Oregon car crash.
Personal Representative
The person appointed to bring a wrongful death lawsuit on behalf of the decedent's estate and surviving family members. Under ORS 30.020, only the personal representative of the estate can file a wrongful death claim in Oregon.
Plaintiff
The person who files a lawsuit seeking damages for injuries caused by another party's negligence. In personal injury cases, the plaintiff is typically the injured person or, in wrongful death cases, the personal representative of the decedent's estate.
Preponderance of the Evidence
The standard of proof in civil cases, including personal injury and medical malpractice. The plaintiff must show that it is "more likely than not" (greater than 50% probability) that the defendant's negligence caused the injury.
Punitive Damages
Damages awarded to punish a defendant for particularly egregious or reckless conduct, beyond compensating the plaintiff. Under ORS 31.730, Oregon requires clear and convincing evidence that the defendant acted with malice or reckless disregard for others' rights.
Res Ipsa Loquitur
Latin for "the thing speaks for itself." A doctrine allowing a jury to infer negligence from the nature of the injury itself, when the harm is the kind that ordinarily would not occur without negligence and the defendant had exclusive control of the instrumentality. Oregon courts recognize res ipsa, most commonly in retained-foreign-object and wrong-site-surgery cases.
Retained Foreign Object
A surgical sponge, instrument, or other item negligently left inside a patient's body. ORS 12.110(4) provides a narrow discovery-rule extension for retained-foreign-object cases — the statute-of-repose clock can extend until the object is or reasonably should have been discovered, unlike most other malpractice claims that face the 5-year ceiling.
SF-95
Standard Form 95, the administrative claim form used to start a Federal Tort Claims Act case against the United States or a federally-deemed provider (such as an FQHC physician or a VA doctor). The SF-95 must be filed with the appropriate federal agency within 2 years of the incident; only after the agency denies the claim (or 6 months pass without a decision) can suit be filed in federal court.
Standard of Care
The level of care, skill, and treatment that a competent healthcare provider in the same medical specialty would provide under similar circumstances. Failure to meet this standard is the basis for medical malpractice claims under Oregon law (ORS 677.095).
Statute of Limitations
The legal deadline for filing a lawsuit. Under ORS 12.110(1), Oregon generally allows two years from the date of injury to file a personal injury claim. Medical malpractice claims follow the same two-year period but with a discovery rule and a five-year outer limit.
Statute of Repose
An absolute outer deadline for filing a claim, measured from the date of the wrongful act rather than the date of discovery. ORS 12.110(4) imposes a 5-year statute of repose on Oregon medical malpractice claims — even a plaintiff who reasonably could not have discovered the injury sooner is usually barred at 5 years (with a narrow exception for retained foreign objects).
Statutory Beneficiary
A surviving family member specifically named by Oregon's wrongful-death statute (ORS 30.020(1)) as entitled to recover. The class includes the decedent's surviving spouse, children, stepchildren, parents, and stepparents who would have been entitled to inherit under intestacy law. Only statutory beneficiaries can collect wrongful-death proceeds, even though the personal representative files the suit.
Subrogation
The right of a health insurer, Medicare, Medicaid, or workers'-compensation carrier to be reimbursed from a tort settlement for medical bills it paid on the injured person's behalf. Oregon settlements typically have to account for and resolve subrogation liens before money can be released to the client.
Survival Action
A lawsuit brought by the estate of a deceased person for damages the decedent suffered between the time of injury and death. Unlike wrongful death claims, survival actions compensate for the decedent's own pain, suffering, and economic losses before death.
Tort
A civil wrong that causes harm or loss to another person, giving rise to legal liability. Personal injury, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases are all types of tort claims under Oregon law.
Tortfeasor
A party legally responsible for a tort — most commonly, the driver, doctor, hospital, or trucking company whose negligence caused the plaintiff's injury. "Joint tortfeasors" are multiple parties whose combined negligence caused a single harm.
Underinsured Motorist Coverage (UIM)
First-party auto coverage that pays for injuries caused by an at-fault driver whose liability limits are too low to cover the damages. Oregon insurers must offer UIM at limits equal to liability, and ORS 742.502 makes UIM "stack" on top of the at-fault driver's policy. UIM is often the most important coverage in a serious Oregon crash with an underinsured defendant.
Verdict
The formal decision of a jury (or judge, in a bench trial) at the end of trial — typically resolving liability and the amount of damages. Oregon civil juries are 12 members in Circuit Court and need a 9-of-12 supermajority to return a verdict.
Vicarious Liability
A legal doctrine holding an employer or principal responsible for the negligent actions of their employee or agent performed within the scope of employment. In trucking accidents, the trucking company may be vicariously liable for a driver's negligence.
Wrongful Death
A civil claim brought when a person dies as a result of another party's negligence or intentional act. Under ORS 30.020, Oregon wrongful death claims can recover economic damages, non-economic damages, and funeral expenses for the benefit of surviving family members.
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