Jim McDermott was born in Newburgh, New York, in 1960. He received his B.S. degree summa cum laude from Syracuse University with a dual major in accounting and law and public policy. He received his J.D. degree in 1985 from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a member of the Virginia Law Review.
Mr. McDermott is a member of the bars of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, the District of Columbia, several United States District Courts and Courts of Appeal, the United States Court of Federal Claims, the United States Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court.
After receiving his law degree, Mr. McDermott served for one year as a judicial law clerk to a federal district court judge. He then joined Covington & Burling, the largest law firm in the District of Columbia, where he practiced for five years. Mr. McDermott is currently a partner with Ball Janik LLP in Portland, Oregon. Since 1998, he has chaired the firm’s litigation department. Mr. McDermott has tried cases in California, Maryland, Virginia, Oregon, Washington, and Washington, D.C.
Mr. McDermott has litigated scores of cases in federal and state trial courts across the country, and he has handled appeals in courts throughout the country. He has represented such nationally known clients as Charles Schwab & Co., Kerr-McGee, Marsh & McLennan Companies, Mitsubishi Silicon America, NIKE, Owens Corning Fiberglass, Penn Central Corporation, Reader’s Digest, Texas Eastern Transmission Co., United Air Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, and WaferTech. He has also represented a host of individuals and smaller companies.
Mr. McDermott is a commercial business litigator and trial lawyer who represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex cases. Mr. McDermott’s practice areas include administrative law, antitrust, bank fraud, business torts, civil RICO, construction defect, construction cost overruns, contract disputes, employment discrimination, environmental law, insurance coverage (including asbestos, aviation, business interruption, business torts, contractor-controlled insurance programs (CCIPs), construction defects, directors & officers, errors & omissions, employment, environmental property damage and bodily injury, fire, first-party property, flood, hearing loss, intellectual property, long-term disability, owner-controlled insurance programs (OCIPs), products liability, and workers’ compensation, as well as broker liability, state insurance department matters, reinsurance intermediary liability, insurer bad faith, lost policy issues, and London-market issues), intellectual property (patent and trademark), health care, Interstate Commerce Act, negligence, personal injury, partnership disputes, professional liability, real estate, regulatory disputes, securities fraud, shareholder disputes, tax, trade secrets, and telecommunications.
Description of Representative Cases
In 2008, Mr. McDermott was lead counsel in complex insurance coverage litigation that resulted in a settlement in excess of $21 million for an insurer and reinsurer under claims-made professional liability policies. He also obtained a settlement in excess of $15 million in an insurer bad faith coverage case. Mr. McDermott was also lead counsel in a securities fraud case in which his defendant/client obtained summary judgment dismissing a $10 million case on the grounds that Oregon's recently-amended securities statute ran afoul the Commerce Clause. In addition, he also obtained a defense verdict for a manufacturer in a case involving disputed sales commissions.
In 2007, Mr. McDermott obtained a $5 million settlement from two insurers stemming from underlying construction defect litigation. He also successfully defended a $55 million dollar malpractice lawsuit brought against the world's largest reinsurance brokerage firm.
In 2006, Mr. McDermott obtained multiple injunctions against former employees who sought to violate the non-competition clauses contained in their employment agreements. He also obtained multi-million dollar recoveries in Directors & Officers and asbestos insurance coverage disputes. In addition, Mr. McDermott obtained the dismissal of a former Fannie Mae director in the ongoing Fannie Mae securities and derivative litigation in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia.
In 2005, Mr. McDermott negotiated a settlement payment in excess of $2.5 million from an insurer involving a complex collapse endorsement contained in a first-party property insurance policy. Also in 2005, he obtained multiple injunctions for employers whose former employees violated the terms of their employment agreements. In 2005, Mr. McDermott also successfully defended an importer of home furnishings against patent infringement allegations. In addition, he successfully defended a Fortune 500 company in multiple Oregon state regulatory proceedings.
In 2004, Mr. McDermott obtained a settlement in excess of $5 million from an insurer and broker on behalf of a large real estate developer in a fire loss insurance coverage dispute. Also in 2004, as a result of trial, he successfully prevented a group of physicians from being enjoined for allegedly violating their employment agreements.
In 2003, Mr. McDermott was lead counsel in successfully defending a major financial services company against fraud and unlawful trade practices and class action allegations in federal court in Oregon. Also in 2003, he obtained the dismissal of all civil fraud charges brought by the State of Oregon against a large foreign bank client.
In 2002, Mr. McDermott was lead trial counsel for the owner of a semiconductor manufacturing facility in Washington that was defending against a major construction cost overrun claim. After one of the longest jury trials in the county’s history, the plaintiff’s entire claim was found to be without merit.
In 2001, Mr. McDermott and another firm lawyer obtained a judgment in excess of $3 million under a business interruption insurance policy after a week-long arbitration hearing. Also in 2001, Mr. McDermott obtained a settlement in excess of $3 million against multiple insurers in a liability coverage dispute.
In 2000, Mr. McDermott successfully defended a professional service provider against a multi-million dollar malpractice claim, which resulted in dismissal of the litigation. In 2000, in an employment discrimination case, he obtained a large confidential settlement on behalf of a law school professor.
From 1996 to 2000, Mr. McDermott successfully defended a large real estate developer against several dozen cases alleging fraudulent building practices. As part of that litigation, Mr. McDermott successfully initiated and resolved coverage litigation against multiple insurers.
From 1997 to 1998, Mr. McDermott served as a Special Assistant Attorney General, assisting the State of Oregon in obtaining insurance coverage for certain injuries stemming from prison conditions.
In 1994, Mr. McDermott tried to a jury the first environmental insurance coverage case in Oregon. He represented a policyholder who received a trial court judgment that its insurance carriers were obligated to cover approximately $1 million that the policyholder had paid to clean up a contaminated river. Also in 1994, Mr. McDermott and two other firm lawyers represented a Portland-based telecommunications company in a three-week federal-court jury trial against AT&T. At the time, the $13 million jury award was one of the largest non-class action jury verdicts in Oregon.
Mr. McDermott has also represented several homeowners’ associations and commercial owners in successfully prosecuting major construction defect cases, with recoveries totaling upwards of $30 million. He is also defending several large companies in multi-million dollar construction and professional liability cases and, over the years, has obtained multiple defense judgments in securities fraud cases.
Related Activities
In 2008 Mr. McDermott was again named an Oregon "SuperLawyer." He is also recognized by Chambers USA, which recently commented on his "extremely responsive, client-focused litigation management approach." Throughout his career, Mr. McDermott has authored articles on environmental and business insurance coverage matters, construction issues, lectured on a wide range of legal and business issues, and taught trial practice courses. He has been appointed as an arbitrator in several cases. He has also served as an expert witness in insurance coverage cases, construction cases, and attorneys’ fee disputes. Mr. McDermott has also served on the Governor of Oregon’s Judicial Screening Committee.