Bruce H. Cahn

“Achieving success for our clients depends on a clear strategy for victory, intense preparation and skilled advocacy. Our ability, and willingness, to take each case to trial strengthens our hand at every stage of a dispute.”

Bruce Cahn is a partner in Ball Janik LLP’s Litigation practice, which is consistently rated by peers to be an industry leader, according to Chambers USA.  Mr. Cahn is well regarded by other lawyers in the Portland community.  He is a commercial business litigator and trial lawyer who represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex cases.  His practice emphasizes sophisticated large-dollar commercial and business disputes (including business torts and fraudulent transfer claims) and real estate disputes.

Mr. Cahn has experience with high profile condemnation proceedings, representing both governmental entities and private property owners where public transportation and infrastructure affects private land. He has also assisted banks with troubled loans, complex commercial loans, lender liability claims and pool-purchase loans. In the natural resources arena, Mr. Cahn has represented clients who challenged government regulations under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery and Conservation Act and has successfully defended actions to prevent fire salvage operations on federal timber lands. Mr. Cahn has also represented clients on a number of intellectual property matters, including successfully defending claims of trademark infringement.

Mr. Cahn was one of the primary Ball Janik attorneys involved in litigating MAN AG v. Freightliner, LLC, which resulted in a judgment on behalf of the client totaling $1.1 billion, the largest verdict in the United States in 2006. The award consisted of $850 million in compensatory damages and $350 million in punitive damages, the largest punitive damages award in Oregon history.

Prior to joining Ball Janik in 1999, Mr. Cahn practiced with Bogle & Gates, P.L.L.C., then one of the three largest firms in the Pacific Northwest, where he worked on high dollar securities fraud and antitrust cases, as well as general business disputes. After earning his law degree in 1990, Mr. Cahn joined the corporate practice group of the Los Angeles office of Sidley & Austin where he worked on mergers and acquisitions, the establishment of multi-million dollar credit facilities, and other general business transactions. He also worked on film financing, copyright and trademark licensing and other entertainment industry matters. Mr. Cahn later joined a litigation boutique firm in Los Angeles, where he acquired significant experience in construction defect, insurance coverage and general business litigation.

Mr. Cahn has authored a number of articles on a variety of litigation issues and has lectured on a wide range of legal topics, including construction law, condemnation and trial practices. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the Business Litigation Section Oregon State Bar from 2000 to 2009, serving as the Committee Chair in 2008.