Personal Lines
Experts in Defending: Automobile Accidents, Traumatic Brain Injuries, Soft Tissue or Minor Impact, PIP/UM/UIM, ORS 20.080
See How Our Results Speak For Themselves
Innovative Litigators
Expert Problem Solvers
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From the moment we opened our doors, Smith Freed Eberhard has been fearlessly pushing the edge of what’s possible for our clients. We’ve carefully cultivated and developed specialties in our practices and our people to give you the very best: formidable expertise, strategically creative thinking, and litigation guideline adherence. We are your champion, keenly focused on understanding your situation, solving your challenges, and achieving your goals.

Our Personal Lines defense team is highly skilled in defending all types of personal lines claims. This includes; Minor Impact / Bodily Injury / Fractures and Broken Bones / Neck and Back Injuries / Spinal Cord Injuries / Sexual Abuse / Traumatic Brain Injuries / Wrongful Death / Bad Faith / Premises Liability, Slip, Trip, and Fall Accidents / High Net Worth Insureds / Host Liquor Liability / ORS 20.080.

Carleigh McMahon
Associate Attorney
  • Oregon

Carleigh is an associate attorney with her practice focusing on commercial liability defense and personal lines defense.

Carleigh graduated from Northwestern School of Law at Lewis & Clark in 2020. Prior to that, she attended Albion College where she earned her Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in psychology. Carleigh is now licensed to practice law in Oregon. During her years in law school, Carleigh was a representative within the Student Bar Association (SBA), participated in Appellate Moot Court, and was a co-founder of Students for Eliminating Environmental Discrimination (SEED). After graduating from law school in 2020, she took a judicial clerkship position with the Honorable Jeffrey S. Jones at Clackamas County Circuit Court. There she learned the intricacies of complex case litigation, civil and criminal procedure, the best strategies to use as a litigator, and developed a deeper understanding regarding the rules of evidence through the tutelage of one of the top evidence experts in Oregon. This position allowed Carleigh to obtain extensive experience in motions practice, Uniform Trial Court Rules (UTCR), and proper procedure for both jury trials and court trials.

Carleigh was born and raised in the Metro-Detroit area of Michigan. She is a first-generation lawyer, with most of her family electing careers in the Arts or STEM fields. Before moving to Portland for law school, Carleigh played the violin for 14 years and was second chair in the Oakland Youth Symphony, was a competitive archer and briefly trained under an Olympic archer, and she volunteered or worked at several local veterinary hospitals in Metro-Detroit. Outside of work, Carleigh can be found kayaking, checking out a local brewery or restaurant, or camping in the high deserts of eastern Oregon.

 

Matthew Hebert
Associate Attorney
  • Oregon

Matthew Hebert is an Associate Attorney licensed in Oregon. His practice primarily focuses on Personal Lines.

Matthew graduated magna cum laude from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2023 and earned a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. He graduated from the University of Oregon in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in English. Before law school, Matthew worked for the Salvation Army as the Affirmative Action Compliance Assistant in HR. He recalls conversations at the time with his HR director who had gone to law school and became inspired to pursue a career as an attorney.

Publications & Thought Leadership

In 2022, Matthew and co-author Prof. Michael C. Blumm published Constitutionalizing the Public Trust Doctrine in Chile, 52 Env’t L. 649. Matthew’s Professor had a connection with the Chile California Conservation Exchange (CCCX) and suggested that Matthew co-write the paper for his capstone project; The CCCX requested an academic paper recommending the public trust doctrine to constitutional reformers in Chile. The CCCX organizes conferences for California and Chilean public officials, academics, and NGOs to exchange information on environmental issues of mutual interest.

Originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana, Matthew grew up in Dundee, Oregon. When he’s not working, he spends time with his wife and his very active toddler. Matthew and his wife also recently welcomed a newborn. He enjoys watching soccer, particularly the Portland Timbers. Matthew plays guitar and piano. Before becoming a lawyer, he thought he would be a poet.

Success Story Commercial Liability Defense Dog Bite Negligence Tenant Landlord Preserving Precedent: Defending Commercial Landlord Liability Through Recent Victory in High Exposure Dog Bite Case Thursday October 26, 2023 By: Brian Schiewe
Success Story Negligence Personal Lines Tenant Landlord Court Strikes Opposing Party’s Counterclaims Due to Failure to Comply With Discovery Orders Wednesday October 13, 2021 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense General Litigation ORS 20.080 Attorney Fee Personal Lines Taking a Case to Trial During COVID-19 Wednesday September 22, 2021 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story General Litigation ORS 20.080 Attorney Fee Personal Lines When to Fight Back with a Counterclaim Thursday November 19, 2020 By: Jeff Eberhard
Success Story Automotive Defense General Litigation Motorist Minor Impact Personal Lines The Strategy in Jury Selection: Using Voir Dire to the Defendant’s Advantage Tuesday August 11, 2020 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Research Pays Off (to the Tune of $2.2 Million) Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines PIP Rejected: A Desperate Attempt to Recover Expenses Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense General Litigation Personal Lines The Early Bird Gets the Case Dismissed Friday December 20, 2019 By: Josh Hayward
Safe Harbor Letter Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Preparation Always Pays off: Especially at Trial Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense General Litigation Personal Lines The Case of the Mysterious Torn Medial Meniscus Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Hit and Run Dismissed Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Admitting Liability and Saving Costs Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Know Your Venue: Taking Advantage of Arbitration Rules to Gain the Upper Hand and Mitigate Costs Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines PIP Pre-Existing Conditions Affirmed, No Additional Recovery Earned Friday December 20, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Dog Bite Personal Lines Dog Bite Dilemma Friday December 20, 2019 By: Cliff Wilson
operation trick or treat Success Story General Litigation Personal Lines Operation Trick-or-Treat Wednesday January 23, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
KDB Success Story Padilla Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Bringing a Claim to a Complete Stop Thursday January 10, 2019 By: Firm Authorship
Small Claims Big Headache Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Small Claims, Big Headache Thursday December 27, 2018 By: Cliff Wilson
Success Story Commercial Liability Defense Personal Lines PIP Occam’s Razor at Work Wednesday February 17, 2016 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Automotive Defense Personal Lines Cleaning the Slate: Using Witness Strengths to Dispel Juror’s Pre-Conceived Notions Wednesday February 17, 2016 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Commercial Liability Defense First & Third Party / SIU Personal Lines Whose Fault is it Anyway? Friday December 11, 2015 By: Cliff Wilson
Success Story Commercial Liability Defense Personal Lines No Tolerance For Tardiness Monday October 19, 2015 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Commercial Liability Defense Personal Lines Using the Right Rulebook Monday October 19, 2015 By: Firm Authorship
Success Story Personal Lines Know the Law In and Out: Developing the Right Game Plan to Keep Costs Down Wednesday September 16, 2015 By: Firm Authorship
on-demand
Webinar Attorney Fees Commercial Liability Defense UM/UIM The Risk of Attorney Fees in UIM Cases: A Brief Update on Recent Case Law Tuesday September 5, 2023 By: Firm Authorship
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Webinar Arbitration Automotive Defense ORS 20.080 Attorney Fee Personal Lines UM/UIM Personal Lines in Oregon and Washington: 2022 Year in Review Wednesday April 5, 2023 By: Firm Authorship
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Webinar Automotive Defense Commercial Liability Defense Dog Bite ORS 20.080 Attorney Fee Personal Lines PIP Premises Liability Tenant Landlord UM/UIM Personal Lines in Oregon and Washington – 2021 Year in Review Wednesday January 26, 2022 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Automotive Defense Bad Faith Motorist Minor Impact Personal Lines PIP UM/UIM Wrongful Death Washington Personal Lines – 2020 Year in Review Friday January 29, 2021 By: Josh Hayward
Liquor Liability
on-demand
Webinar Commercial Liability Defense Dram Shop & Tavern Keeper ORS 20.080 Attorney Fee Timber Trespass Oregon Commercial Lines – 2020 Year in Review Thursday November 19, 2020 By: Jeff Eberhard
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Webinar ORS 20.080 Attorney Fee Personal Lines UM/UIM Oregon Personal Lines – 2020 Year in Review Friday October 23, 2020 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Minor Settlement Personal Lines Wrongful Death The When, Where, Why, and How of Settlements Involving Minors, Estates, and Liens Thursday April 4, 2019 By: Cliff Wilson
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense Personal Lines Slip and Fall Liability Waivers – Should We Wave Goodbye? Thursday January 31, 2019 By: Jeff Eberhard
jan 2019 webinar thumbnail
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Webinar Personal Lines 2019 – Year In Review – Personal Lines in OR & WA Thursday December 20, 2018 By: Cliff Wilson
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Webinar Automotive Defense Personal Lines UM/UIM Attorney Fee Exposure in UM/UIM Friday October 5, 2018 By: Cliff Wilson
mandatory non-binding arbitration
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Webinar Automotive Defense Commercial Liability Defense Personal Lines How To Brave the High Seas of Mandatory Non-Binding Arbitration and Live to Tell the Tall Tale Thursday July 5, 2018 By: Firm Authorship
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Webinar Automotive Defense PIP UM/UIM An Introduction to the Updated Rules and Regulations for First Party Claims Tuesday April 24, 2018 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense General Litigation Personal Lines Tough Calls: Ethical Claims Handling in Oregon and Washington Monday November 27, 2017 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense First & Third Party / SIU General Litigation Personal Lines Professional Lines (EPL,D&O,E&O) Utilizing Probability Analysis in Claims Evaluation: A Systematic Approach Thursday May 4, 2017 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense Minor Settlement Personal Lines Wrongful Death Minor Settlements and Wrongful Death in Oregon & Washington Friday April 7, 2017 By: Cliff Wilson
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Webinar Personal Lines 2016 – A Year In Review Oregon and Washington Personal Lines Friday February 3, 2017 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense General Litigation Personal Lines Professional Lines (EPL,D&O,E&O) A History of Multnomah County High-Value Verdicts Tuesday November 1, 2016 By: Ryan McLellan
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Webinar Automotive Defense Commercial Liability Defense Dog Bite First & Third Party / SIU General Litigation Negligence Personal Lines PIP Premises Liability Products Liability Slip and Fall Timber Trespass Trucking & Transportation UM/UIM Wrongful Death Discovery in the Information Age – Using Technology and Data to More Effectively Defend and Settle Your Claims Thursday July 21, 2016 By: William Taaffe
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Webinar Automotive Defense Commercial Liability Defense Dram Shop & Tavern Keeper Personal Lines PIP UM/UIM 2015 – Hit the Ground Running – Oregon Edition Monday February 1, 2016 By: Cliff Wilson
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Webinar Bad Faith Commercial Liability Defense Construction & Development Cyber Liability First & Third Party / SIU Personal Lines Professional Lines (EPL,D&O,E&O) The Art of Arbitration: Strategically Structuring Your Case in Washington Wednesday August 12, 2015 By: Kyle Riley
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense Construction & Development First & Third Party / SIU Personal Lines 2014 – A Year End Review – Washington Edition Wednesday August 12, 2015 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Automotive Defense Commercial Liability Defense General Litigation Personal Lines PIP UM/UIM The 411 on SB 411 Thursday June 25, 2015 By: Josh Hayward
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense First & Third Party / SIU General Litigation Personal Lines Professional Lines (EPL,D&O,E&O) Settlement Navigation Wednesday August 27, 2014 By: Ryan McLellan
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Webinar Commercial Liability Defense Construction & Development First & Third Party / SIU Personal Lines Professional Lines (EPL,D&O,E&O) 2013 – Washington Cases Law Update Wednesday February 19, 2014 By: Josh Hayward
Our Process


1.
Early & Accurate
Evaluation


2.
On-Time Reporting
Throughout the Life of the Case

3.
Legal Analytics
Proven Results
We Play
to Win

SFE has defended thousands of automotive defense / bodily injury cases throughout Oregon and Washington. Our experience in representing insureds as policyholders, ride-sharing services, taxi’s, and self-driving autos — allows our attorneys to gain critical experience on a wide range of automotive defense scenarios, which helps us to understand different themes brought by plaintiff’s counsel and their unique challenges.

Often the desired course of action to resolve conflict, particularly in complex, time sensitive, expensive, catastrophic injury cases, is the best course of action. With that in mind, our personal lines defense team is committed to resolving even the most hotly contested disputes outside of court and with less delay and expense than in the traditional litigation process. The firm’s lawyers are involved in the arbitration and mediation of injury disputes of all kinds, which can result in significant cost and time savings for our clients.

Personal lines defense matters cannot be solved with a one size fits all approach. Our goal is to analyze and mitigate risk, whether our attorneys are negotiating a settlement or actively litigating a case. Early evaluation and discovery is critical. Our team seeks to identify legal defenses theories at the earliest point possible and effective settlement opportunities.

Let’s talk

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