Attorneys | Bruce C. Hamlin
Practice Emphasis
Mr. Hamlin has an active civil litigation practice. He concentrates his practice on defending product liability cases and commercial litigation. Mr. Hamlin represents product manufacturers and others in claims for wrongful death, other personal injuries, and property damage and economic loss. He has served as national and regional counsel, as well as trial counsel, for major product manufacturers.
Mr. Hamlin is an AV rated attorney admitted to practice in the state and federal courts in Oregon. He is also admitted to practice before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Education
Mr. Hamlin received his Bachelor of Arts degree, cum laude, from Whitman College in 1976, and earned his JD from the University of Oregon in 1979, where he was awarded Order of the Coif.
Professional Activities
Mr. Hamlin is a member of the Oregon and Multnomah Bar Associations. He is a sustaining member of the Product Liability Advisory Council (PLAC). Mr. Hamlin is a member of the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel and served on its Board of Directors and as Publications Chair of its Products Liability Practice Group. He is a member of the Defense Research Institute (DRI). He has served as Chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Product Liability Section, as Chair of its Uniform Civil Jury Instruction Committee, as a member of the Bar’s Legal Ethics Committee, as Chair of the Multnomah Bar Association’s Judicial Selection Committee, and as Chair of the Oregon Council on Court Procedures.
Representative Cases
Defended an RV manufacturer in a wrongful death crashworthiness case; a window manufacturer in a claim for a fall from an upper floor; a claim brought by a construction worker who sustained facial injuries from the use of a rotary hammer; claims against tire manufacturers, including rollovers; a visibility claim against a chassis manufacturer for the death of a child killed in an accident involving a completed delivery truck; claims brought by a press operator against a web press seller; multi-state claims involving roofing material installed on roofs of both residential and commercial structures.
Over the years, Mr. Hamlin has defended claims involving pharmaceuticals, medical devices, agricultural chemicals, solvents, recreational vehicles, skydiving canopies, tires, trampolines, lawnmowers, vehicle brakes, anesthesia machines, oxygen canisters, roofing material, composite siding, asbestos, serious vehicle accidents, and railroad activity.
Mr. Hamlin served as co-lead class counsel in a claim involving the transfer of funds from the State Accident Insurance Fund by the Oregon Legislature and helped to negotiate a settlement of over $200 million, and the payment of substantial dividends to tens of thousands of Oregon businesses.
Mr. Hamlin has defended and enforced trade secrets, non-solicitation and non-competition claims, and has handled insurance coverage litigation and ERISA benefit litigation.
Mr. Hamlin successfully resolved a class action wage claim as well as a nation-wide and single-state class action brought by purchasers of roofing materials.
