Lou Ferreira is a senior partner of Stoel Rives whose practice focuses on commercial litigation, insurance coverage and environmental, safety & health issues.
A seasoned litigator, Lou has significant experience in high-stakes litigation including successfully defending a class action filed against a utility by residents of a town in Washington asserting that the utility was liable for flooding as a result of the operations of its upstream dams. Lou successfully defended a port in Washington from a $20 million lawsuit brought by developers alleging breach of contract to develop a large mixed-use waterfront project on the Columbia River.
Lou frequently represents insureds in suing their insurance companies and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars from insurance companies for his clients. He has successfully litigated a large number of cases seeking coverage under general liability policies, E&O policies and D&O policies as well as resolving a number of large first party losses involving the complete loss of manufacturing facilities as a result of fires or explosion.
Lou has represented a number of clients in OSHA and other types of regulatory enforcement actions involving workplace fatalities and other catastrophes. Lou is experienced in managing multi-agency investigations, coordinating evidence preservation and making sure clients have the right experts involved to protect their rights and to understand the root causes of such events.
Lou regularly advises companies on a wide range of risk management issues including regulatory compliance, contractual allocation of risks as well as advising clients with regard to the procurement of a wide range of insurance products necessary to deal with their unique issues.