Oregon Statute Does Not Reverse Preempt Federal Arbitration Act
Post 5208
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/federal-arbitration-provision-applied-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-9kjmc and at https:/zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200.
Litigation Over Costs to Clean Superfund Site Forced to Arbitration
Federal Arbitration Provision Applied
Read the full article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/federal-arbitration-provision-applied-barry-zalma-esq-cfe-9kjmc and at https:/zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200.
Oregon Statute Does Not Reverse Preempt Federal Arbitration Act
Post 5208
Litigation Over Costs to Clean Superfund Site Forced to Arbitration
In Pacificorp et al v. St. Paul Surplus Lines Insurance Company, et al, No. 3:25-cv-00163-AB, United States District Court, D. Oregon (October 7, 2025) Plaintiff PacifiCorp sued its excess liability insurers, for failing to indemnify costs related to the Portland Harbor Superfund Site only to have the suit stayed and arbitration compelled. This case tried to change the ruling.
Arbitration Provision:
The Court interpreted the arbitration provisions in the insurance policies and concluded that the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) applies. Plaintiff argued that the FAA is reverse preempted by Oregon law.
Court’s Decision:
The Court denied Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration or Clarification of the Court’s Opinion & Order Compelling Arbitration and Staying Proceedings. The Court found that the FAA is not reverse preempted.
Legal Standards and Analysis:
The Court applied Oregon law to interpret the arbitration provision, concluding that the term “may” permits either party to compel arbitration.
DISCUSSION
Plaintiff argued that the Court’s application of the FAA to interpret the Arbitration Provision superseded or displaced Oregon law, thereby triggering reverse preemption under the McCarran-Ferguson Act (“MFA”).
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1012(b), this is known as reverse preemption.
The Court concluded that application of the FAA to the Arbitration Provision did not invalidate, impair, or supersede the OECAA because the FAA does not directly conflict or interfere with the purpose of the OECAA.
Because no provision of the OECAA “explicitly prohibits or regulates the validity of arbitration provisions in insurance policies ….”
Plaintiff argued the opposite. Plaintiff’s argument was flawed.
The Court did not commit clear error in holding that the FAA applies to the Arbitration Provision.
CONCLUSION
The Court denied Plaintiff’s Motion for Reconsideration or Clarification of the Court’s Opinion & Order Compelling Arbitration and Staying Proceedings.
ZALMA OPINION
Although Oregon law applied it did not exempt or defeat the requirements of the Federal Arbitration Act applied. The litigation is properly stopped and the parties are ordered to arbitration in accordance with the policy language and the language of the Federal Arbitration Act.
(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
Please tell your friends and colleagues about this blog and the videos and let them subscribe to the blog and the videos.
Subscribe to my substack at https://barryzalma.substack.com/subscribe
Go to X @bzalma; Go to the InsuranceClaims Library – https://lnkd.in/gwEYk.
Insurance Expert May Not Testify to Speculative and Contains Unsupported Conclusions.
Posted on September 18, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at and at https://rumble.com/v7fmifw-expert-may-only-testify-to-what-experience-supports.html
In Michele A. Over, and The Estate Of Paul R. Over v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, Civil Action No. 23-cv-02243-PAB-STV, United States District Court, D. Colorado (September 14, 2026) Michele and Paul Over sued State Farm Fire and State Farm Auto over hail-damage and stolen-vehicle claims.
The operative dispute concerned State Farm Auto’s motion to exclude or limit opinions from plaintiffs’ insurance-industry expert, Aaron Castillo. Castillo.
Law
The proponent of expert testimony must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that an expert is qualified and that the opinions are helpful, sufficiently grounded, and reliably derived and applied. Experience-based opinions must explain how the...
150 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud
Post 4846
Posted on September 17, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/g8rh3JBX and https://lnkd.in/gmkdy-9C, In United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, Nos. 25-10609, 25-10611, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (September 9, 2026) the Eleventh Circuit affirmed all challenged convictions, the 150-month aggregate sentence, and the challenged $4,123,474.55 restitution award.
FACTS
In United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, Nos. 25-10609, 25-10611, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (September 9, 2026) the Eleventh Circuit affirmed all challenged convictions, the 150-month aggregate sentence, and the challenged $4,123,474.55 restitution award.
FACTS
Thomas Addaquay controlled United Consolidated Accounting and Business Services (UC), nominally a check-cashing business.
The government proved a three-stage tax-refund scheme that converted the resulting refund checks into usable funds through ...
Major Fraud Perpetrator Asserts Fifth Amendment Privilege to Avoid Prosecution
Post 5489
Posted on September 14, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Fraudster Refuses to Answer Questions About His Alleged Fraud
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gvicAMDr and at https://lnkd.in/gvicAMDr
In Great American Insurance Co. v. Gemstone Property Management, LLC, et al., No. 23-cv-9100 (LJL), United States District Court, S.D. New York (September 8, 2026) Great American Insurance Company alleged that it was defrauded through a scheme in which Subin Associates, LLP recruited individuals to stage construction-site injuries, arranged unnecessary medical treatment and litigation funding, and pursued fraudulent personal-injury claims.
Luis Manuel Garcia Salcedo, resulted in a $6 million settlement. Non-party Jose Hernandez allegedly worked as an assistant manager at Subin, operated Hernandez Associates, and owned litigation-funding companies that shared office space with Subin and provided services to its clients.
After Great American ...
Inadequately Briefed Issues Defeats Appeal
Post 4852
Issues on Appeal Must be Adequately Briefed
Posted on September 25, 2026 by Barry Zalma
In Emy Ojekwe v. Connecticut Transit District Consortium, No. AC 47389, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (September 22, 2026) Emy Ojekwe alleged that he was injured on September 24, 2020, while leaving a bus operated by Connecticut Transit District Consortium, doing business as Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority.
According to his complaint, the wheelchair ramp began to rise before he had fully exited, causing his wheelchair to fall backward and allegedly injuring several parts of his body and damaging the wheelchair. The defendant denied negligence and alleged comparative negligence. After a two-day jury trial in November 2023, the jury returned a defense verdict.
The trial court denied Ojekwe’s motion to set aside the verdict and for a new trial, and he appealed.
LAW
A trial court’s refusal to set aside a verdict because of counsel’s improper remarks is reviewed for abuse of ...
Inadequately Briefed Issues Defeats Appeal
Post 4852
Issues on Appeal Must be Adequately Briefed
Posted on September 25, 2026 by Barry Zalma
In Emy Ojekwe v. Connecticut Transit District Consortium, No. AC 47389, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (September 22, 2026) Emy Ojekwe alleged that he was injured on September 24, 2020, while leaving a bus operated by Connecticut Transit District Consortium, doing business as Greater Bridgeport Transit Authority.
According to his complaint, the wheelchair ramp began to rise before he had fully exited, causing his wheelchair to fall backward and allegedly injuring several parts of his body and damaging the wheelchair.
LAW
Refusal to set aside a verdict because of counsel’s improper remarks is reviewed for abuse of discretion.
Appellate claims receiving only cursory treatment, without record citations, supporting authority, or legal analysis, are inadequately briefed.
DISCUSSION
Improper opening remarks.
Defense counsel referred to Ojekwe’s national origin,...
Psychiatrist Who Was Convicted of Fraud Asked the First Circuit to Reduce his Punishment
Post 4851
Posted on September 24, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Fraud to Private and Public Health Insurers Doesn’t Pay
In United States v. Gustavo Kinrys, Nos. 24-1592, 24-1716, United States Court of Appeals, First Circuit (September 21, 2026) Gustavo Kinrys, a Massachusetts psychiatrist, submitted fraudulent claims to private and public health insurers from 2015 through 2018, including bills for more than 1,000 sessions when he or the purported patient was outside the country. When insurers requested supporting records, he delayed through a fictitious office manager and created false documentation.
A jury convicted Kinrys on fourteen counts. The district court imposed a 99-month sentence, calculated intended loss at slightly more than $19 million based on billed amounts, ordered $6,537,309.59 in restitution, and ordered $6,527,391.19 in forfeiture.
At sentencing, the district court calculated Kinrys’s base offense level to be ...
