With a career spanning over 30 years, successfully representing a wide range of clients in complex and high profile cases, Managing Partner Jeff Eberhard is a recognizable and reputable force within the industry.

Jeff’s practice focuses on civil litigation throughout Oregon and Washington with an emphasis on the defense of complex liability claims, most notably, in dram shop/liquor liability. By successfully defending hundreds of cases, Jeff’s expert knowledge of Oregon’s Dram Shop Act, and how to defend against it, is unparalleled.

Kyle Riley manages the firm’s Seattle, Washington, office. He has profound expertise in Washington bad faith law, wrongful death, and catastrophic injury claims. Kyle also has significant experience defending fire losses, trucking companies, banking institutions, and self-insured rental car companies.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Kyle worked with the Oregon Department of Justice where he gained significant litigation experience specializing in the recovery of self-insured losses. He joined Smith Freed Eberhard in 2003.

Josh’s practice focuses on the defense of cases involving personal injury and wrongful death. He represents companies and the insureds of several large insurance carriers against claims arising from the alleged negligent use of motor vehicles, products liability, and premises liability.

Josh started as an associate at Smith Freed Eberhard in 2001. He has been a partner since 2008. Josh leads a group of attorneys that specialize in trying cases and effective pre-trial litigation. Josh typically tries several cases a year to jury verdict.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Josh gained experience in civil litigation, criminal defense, and family law while clerking at a firm in Salem, Oregon. While attending law school, he spent time in London, UK, where he served as a solicitor’s clerk for a high-profile firm advocating on behalf of individuals alleging human rights violations.

Ryan specializes in defending a wide range of personal injury claims and has significant representation in construction and job-site injuries, automobile accidents, catastrophic injuries, wrongful death, premise liability, and products liability and has extended his practice to work closely with Smith Freed Eberhard’s Construction and Development Group.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Ryan gained his insurance defense experience working at law firms in Eugene and Portland, Oregon. While attending law school, Ryan served as an associate editor of the Oregon Law Review, preparing articles for publication and conducting associated research.

Cliff’s practice focuses primarily on the defense of personal injury and property damage claims brought against commercial and personal lines insurers and their insureds. His practice involves the handling of a wide range of cases, including personal injury negligence, errors & omission, liquor liability, construction defect, and business litigation.

Cliff has experience taking cases to jury verdicts as a lead trial attorney and has conducted numerous arbitrations and mediations in both Oregon and Washington. Cliff is also experienced in insurance coverage matters and regularly advises and defends carriers in coverage disputes. In addition, Cliff manages the firm’s probate and subrogation practices.

Cliff’s well-rounded legal background has provided him with the ability to quickly evaluate key issues and identify strategic opportunities in his cases. This enables his clients to efficiently and effectively prepare for trial or pursue favorable early resolution of matters when appropriate.

With a strong business and litigation background, and over 20 years of first-chair trial experience, Gordon knows exactly which strategies will make a weak case stronger as well as what makes practical and financial sense. Gordon’s practice focuses on construction defect litigation defending developers, general contractors, and subcontractors throughout Washington state and works closely with Smith Freed Eberhard’s Construction and Development Group.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Gordon worked in-house for Travelers Insurance Company where he led the opening of the construction defect unit for their Seattle Staff Counsel office. He also focused on slip-and-falls, auto liability, construction liability, and commercial claims. Before joining Travelers, he worked for four years with the Hartford Insurance Company where he specialized in construction defect and complex commercial liability cases.

Gordon has successfully first-chaired over 50 jury trials to verdict. He is a licensed attorney before the Washington State and Appellate Courts, the United States District Court, as well as with the Puyallup Tribal Court.

Sean provides defense for insurers and their insureds in complex litigation suits in the areas of automotive claims, commercial liability defense, first and third-party claims, and SIU claims.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Sean was a judicial clerk in both Lane County and Multnomah County. During this time, he was able to observe over 75 court and jury trials and gain insight into advanced trial tactics.

While attending law school, Sean also worked as a law clerk at a mid-sized civil litigation firm in Eugene, Oregon. In this role, he became skilled in executing legal research and distilling his findings into concise arguments. In addition, he honed his composition techniques for creating effective legal documents.

Denny is a founding member of Smith Freed Eberhard. His practice specializes in complex civil cases with a focus on catastrophic personal injury claims.

With over 41 year’s experience, Denny is a seasoned attorney in a variety of litigation areas, including job-site injury, premises liability, construction dispute, products liability, business tort, large automobile and commercial transportation injury, fraud and property trespass. Denny has conducted over 300 jury trials and arbitrations involving numerous individuals and business entities. He has also participated in legislative sessions on behalf of the Defense Bar.

Bob is a founding member of Smith Freed Eberhard and has over 40 years of litigation experience. Bob frequently prepares and delivers seminars and lectures to insurance professionals and trade organizations on insurance coverage issues, hot topics, and legislative updates. He also has spent several years training agents for large insurers on all aspects of claims with an emphasis on errors & omissions liability and how to avoid it.

Bob’s practice is broad-based in all aspects of insurance defense. He focuses on Special Investigations Unit, first-party property issues, as well as property-related casualty claims. Bob provides coverage opinions for all aspects of property and casualty insurance and he conducts fraud investigations.

Jessica is a senior associate on Gordon Klug’s team, providing defense for insurers and their insureds in a variety of commercial litigation suits. Jessica’s practice focuses on automobile accidents, construction defect, first and third party personal injury, product liability, and uninsured and underinsured motorist cases.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Jessica worked as a civil litigator on both the plaintiff and defense side. She gained experience in the areas of commercial litigation, personal injury, construction defect, eminent domain, professional malpractice, and employment, in addition to federal contract and trespass law.

While attending law school in Washington, D.C., Jessica won awards for her legal writing and oral advocacy skills. Jessica also took the opportunity to intern at the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice, and is proud to have worked as a legal assistant for The Constitution Project’s task force on detainee treatment.

Before beginning her legal career, Jessica worked as an editor for a major publisher in D.C.

Jessica loves to spend her free time cooking, hiking, backpacking, kayaking, skiing, checking out the breweries of Seattle with friends, and introducing visitors to the adventures of the Pacific Northwest.

Joy is a senior associate attorney on Tom McCurdy’s and Ashley Nagrodski’s teams, focusing on Personal Lines defense.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Joy’s legal career started in Philadelphia and included working for the Philadelphia Law Department, Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, and a small civil defense firm representing municipal entities in tort litigation and workers’ compensation claims.

Joy is a proud graduate of Villanova University School of Law and served as the President of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association. During school she worked with the Philadelphia Homeless Advocacy Project, Defender’s Association of Philadelphia, and the Farmworker Legal Aid Clinic, litigating matters on behalf of the indigent, all of which provided valuable experiences which inform her practice today.

Joy is happy to be back in the Pacific Northwest, spending her free time at concerts, checking out local new eats, and cooking and baking with her daughter.

Brittany joined Smith Freed Eberhard in 2019 as an associate attorney. She previously worked as an associate attorney at Tyson and Mendes, LLP, an insurance defense firm in Seattle, WA. She has experience litigating cases from initial litigation planning, discovery and dispositive motions to arbitration and trial.

Brittany has published articles involving Washington’s arbitration limit increase, Washington’s position on Service of Process issues, property law issues, and an informative piece on women’s increased discrimination protections through changes in employment law. In addition, she served as an article editor where she revised numerous articles pertaining to insurance defense, employment law, automated vehicle and pending safety regulations, cannabis law, and women’s initiatives in the workplace.

Jason is an associate attorney on Team Cliff Wilson. Jason’s practice focuses primarily on personal injury litigation on behalf of insureds and their insurance companies. He also handles commercial line matters, working closely with businesses and their owners in defending claims brought against them.

Jason graduated from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2019. Prior to that, he attended The College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio where he earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communication Studies with a minor in German Studies. Jason is now licensed to practice law in Oregon. He is currently pursuing Washington licensure as well. During his years in law school, Jason worked as an intern for one of Oregon’s top trial law firms focusing on medical malpractice defense. There, he learned the intricacies of complex trial preparation and observed how skilled attorneys deployed honed and calculated strategies to achieve the best results for their clients. In that position, Jason gained extensive experience in motions practice, trial preparation, and trial support in wrongful death and medical malpractice cases. Jason brings that background knowledge and accompanying skills with him to the ranks of Smith Freed Eberhard, where he remains committed to the interests of clients and continues to insist on nothing short of the best-possible outcome.

Jason is a native of Portland, Oregon. He is also a first-generation lawyer, with his mother and father both electing medical careers. He is musically inclined and has played the cello since he was about six years old and was a member of Portland’s Metropolitan Youth Symphony from 2006 to 2011. In his free time, Jason occupies himself with several interests including snowboarding, building custom computers, and sampling Portland’s burgeoning local restaurant and food cart scene.

Joyce is an associate attorney on Cliff Wilson’s team, with a primary focus on Personal Lines defense.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Joyce began her career as a plaintiff’s attorney at a large personal injury law firm. She brings with her a broad range of civil litigation experience to her practice ranging from premises liability, first and third party personal injury, uninsured and underinsured motorist, and personal injury protection (PIP) cases.

She received her J.D. from Seattle University School of Law, where she was an active board member of the Seattle University Law School’s Moot Court Board and The Seattle Journal of Environmental Law. Joyce participated consistently in mock trial and appellate competitions, ultimately earning first place in a mock appellate competition.

Andrew Tingkang is an associate attorney on both Thomas McCurdy’s and Gordon Klug’s teams. His practice focuses on construction defect litigation, fire loss, motor vehicle accidents, wrongful death, job site injury, and product liability.

Andrew has over five years of experience working in defense litigation, including helping launch a small litigation/business law firm where he worked with two partners as the sole associate.

Andrew graduated with an undergrad degree from the University of Washington with majors in political science and philosophy and a minor in earth and space science. Following this he attended the Seattle University School of Law where he authored These Aren’t the Asteroids You Are Looking For: Classifying Asteroids in Space as Chattels, Not Land, Seattle University Law Review Vol. 35, No. 2 (2012).

Andrew was born and raised in the Puget Sound area. Away from work he can be found cooking, watching TV, trying new restaurants, and traveling with his wife. Andrew is an avid science fiction and fantasy reader, a Sounders season ticket holder, and a general Seattle sports fan. Maybe most notably though, Andrew did some modeling as a 5-year-old for JC Penny and once appeared as a space law expert on Fox News.

Steve Murphy is an associate attorney on the commercial liability defense and personal lines practice groups.

Steve graduated from University of Illinois with a B.S. in Biology. After that, he worked in several labs focused primarily on quality control. Steve ended up working as a quality supervisor at a plasmapheresis facility where he did a lot of compliance work ensuring the processes were FDA-approved, and he started to gain an interest in reading/interpreting the regulations.

Steve graduated Lewis & Clark Law School in 2020 after falling in love with the Pacific Northwest where he worked as an intern for Center for Biological Diversity and as an extern to the Honorable Judge McShane.  Following graduation, Steve practiced at a small firm in Tillamook, but he and his wife missed Portland too much and decided to return.

Steve was born in a small town in rural Illinois, and he remained in the same general area for most of his life until he moved to the Pacific Northwest four years ago. Outside of work, Steve can be found wandering around the woods or trying out new restaurants, bars, and retro-videogames – he even has a mildly impressive collection of Super Nintendo and Nintendo games from the 80s and 90s. Steve also loves spending time with his wife, Claire, and spoiling his cats, Manfred and Gruntilda.

Carleigh is an associate attorney on Bill Taaffe’s team, and her practice focuses 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.

Nathaniel is an associate attorney on Cliff Wilson’s team, and his practice focuses on commercial liability defense, negligence, and products liability.

Prior to joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Nathaniel worked as an Attorney at The Gatti Law Firm in Salem. Before that he clerked at Swanson Lathen Prestwich in Salem, and The Law Offices of Randall Wolfe in Lake Oswego. Nathaniel worked as a biologist in healthcare and research, spending nearly 10 years at Rocky Mountain Sleep Diagnostics Inc. before attending law school, and currently he is an Adjunct Faculty member at the University of Western States College of Chiropractic Medicine where he teaches medical ethics and jurisprudence to third year medical students.

At Willamette University College of Law, Nathaniel authored “Designing People: A Bioethical Analyses of the Laws and Regulations Regarding the Genetic Manipulation of Human Fetuses” Willamette Law Review (2021), and he co-authored “Racial Justice Task Force Report to Oregon Supreme Court” (2021). Nathaniel was also 1 of 7 law students from Willamette inducted into the Order of Barristers in 2020, and he received the Col. Rupert J. Park Pro Bono Student of the Year Award, which is given to the one law student who volunteers the most free, legal “pro bono” hours over the course of law school. Nathaniel donated roughly 1,000 hours over 3 years, and most of his time was spent with under-served students from 6-12 grade, DACA “Dreamers,” and teaching the “Youth and Law” course to teenage mothers at Early College High School.

Now Nathaniel speaks to assemblies of AVID students from 6-12 grade about succeeding in school despite trauma and physical limitations, reaching nearly 20,000 students in the Salem-Keizer School district over the past 3 years. As a result of his involvement with AVID assemblies, he was invited to and spoke at “Dory Day”, an all-day event where Early College High School students attend workshops normally focused on preventing violence against women and girls.

Nathaniel is from Price, Utah and grew up the middle of 7 kids. He went to Carbon High School where he was captain of the varsity soccer team and won the state championship for “Best Entrée” as a member of the schools Pro-Start culinary team. Nathaniel and his wife, Debbie, have been married for nearly 12 years now and have 3 very cute and moderately well-behave kids; Bridgette, Jonathan, and Phillip. Outside of work, Nathaniel considers himself an amateur paleontologist, and he like to plan trips to hunt and find fossils to take back home and delicately prepare them for display or donation to a museum. Nathaniel is a member of NARG and has a special license that allows him to collect rare fossils along Oregon’s coast and beaches.

Jeremy is an associate attorney on Kyle Riley’s team, and his practice focuses on commercial, construction and personal lines.

Jeremy graduated from Seattle University with a J.D. in 2015, and he has been licensed to practice law in Washington since then. Prior to that he graduated from University of Washington with a Bachelor of Science in economics as well as a business administration degree in accounting in 2012.

Before Smith Freed Eberhard, Jeremy worked as a plaintiff’s personal injury attorney that transitioned to defense. He enjoys working on litigation cases.

Jeremy is originally from Florida, but he grew up in the Seattle area. Away from work, you can find him reading, hiking, kayaking, and spending time with his wife and son who is about 3 ½ months old now.

In Memoriam: Jacob Rasmussen

It is with deep sorrow that we announce that Jacob Rasmussen passed away June 21, 2021, after a difficult battle with cancer.

Jake graduated from The University of the Pacific – McGeorge School of Law. Before joining Smith Freed Eberhard, Jake worked for a leading regional workers compensation defense firm representing self-insured employers. Prior to relocating to Oregon, Jake was an associate at a California firm specializing in mortgage law.

Jake was with SFE for five years as a senior attorney defending personal and commercial injury matters. Jake grew his skill set immensely over the past five years and was a valued team member and mentor.

Jake was an avid traveler, reader, and skier – he especially loved Spain and Ernest Hemingway. Jake participated in two half marathons and was a member of the firm’s Hood to Coast team. Jake loved attending firm happy hours and holiday parties – he jumped at any opportunity to socialize with the team. He was always excited to raft at the attorney retreats and didn’t shy away from “riding the bull” while raging down the Deschutes River. Jake enjoyed giving back to his community and felt it was a duty of his to do so. He participated in the annual Habitat for Humanity event run by one of SFE’s clients.

When he first became a father, Jake explained how different his life was – he got very little sleep and had to think about every danger within his house. In the same breath, Jake exclaimed how excited he was to be a father and see his little girl grow up. He called Aven his greatest accomplishment along with marrying his beautiful wife, Kerry.

Jake is survived by his wife, Kerry and daughter, Aven.