Our People
I am a partner at Foreman Sturm & Thede LLP where my practice is insurance coverage for policyholders. Chambers and Partners rank me as one of the best insurance coverage lawyers in Washington.
Our firm specializes in offering a full complement of legal services to the real estate development and construction industry in Western Washington and Western Oregon, including Bend. My practice is representing policyholders in disputes with their insurers. My specialty is resolving complicated claims. Over the last 35 years, I have handled claims on many well-known Western Washington projects: The Rise at Madison, Komachin School (Thurston), The Washington Building (Tacoma), The Cadillac, Buttnick, and Colman buildings are examples of commercial property work. The Mercantile Apartments (Bothell), Trio, Canvas Apartments, and Regata Condominiums are a few of the examples of mixed-use & multi-family residential work. My emphasis is on commercial property (specializing in Builders Risk), and liability coverage, OCIP, CCIP, and construction defect. I also have extensive experience with errors and omissions coverage for construction and development. I am a graduate of the University of Illinois School of Law. My Martindale rating is AV.
Kyle concentrates his work across each of our firm’s core areas: insurance recovery, construction, real estate, and business. In his practice, he assists clients in matters ranging from day-to-day business issues to complex and high-end transactions and litigation.
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He regularly helps a wide range of policyholders recover the full benefits of their insurance coverage through claims and litigation. He also guides clients in all phases of commercial and residential construction, including property acquisitions and dispositions, construction contract preparation and negotiation, and litigation. His construction and real estate clients include project owners, developers, private equity firms, public agencies, general contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers. He provides counsel for businesses and offers a wide range of services, including entity formation and dissolution, general risk management, contract preparation and negotiation, and corporate governance issues. His litigation practice focuses on the resolution of commercial disputes, including breach of contract, torts, insurance coverage, construction and design, real estate, and partnership and shareholder disputes.
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He is a regular and sought-after speaker and author on insurance and construction issues across the country. He has served as vice-chair for the American Bar Association, Property Insurance Law Committee, a national group dedicated to the education and development of first-party insurance law, and contributed annually to the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal’s publication tracking the development of insurance law. He is the author of the Oregon State Bar’s BarBooks Insurance Law chapter on personal and advertising injury coverage.
Nick is an insurance recovery litigator who represents policyholders in complex insurance coverage disputes. He has advised clients in a wide variety of insurance disputes, including claims and lawsuits arising under commercial general liability, professional liability, directors and officers, employee dishonesty, and commercial and residential property insurance policies. Nick has successfully represented clients in claims, trials, arbitrations, and appeals, and has obtained numerous favorable settlements for his clients.
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He has successfully represented commercial property owners, multi-family property owners, homeowners’ associations, and residential property owners seeking coverage under their property insurance policies. In addition, Nick has secured coverage for contractors, developers, and other corporations under their liability policies. He also has substantial experience litigating claims for insurance “bad faith” and recovery of attorney fees on behalf of his clients. Nick has also represented clients in intellectual property litigation, including patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret matters. Given this experience, Nick is uniquely qualified to represent policyholders seeking insurance benefits for loss concerning intellectual property rights and cybersecurity breaches.
Nick has been selected to the “Rising Stars” list, published by Oregon Super Lawyers magazine, each year since 2013. He regularly presents and writes on a variety of insurance coverage issues. Additionally, he has been quoted in Law360, a publication that covers breaking news in insurance litigation and policy.
Brian brings 30 years of experience representing business clients in transactions, entity formation and dissolution, human resources, risk management and litigation.
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Previously, as a shareholder with a regional law firm, Brian represented a broad range of business, real estate and construction clients in all aspects of business administration. For several years prior to joining us, Brian served as in-house counsel for a regional construction company. In that role, Brian provided business, transactional, contracting and human resources advice. As an experienced litigator and business attorney with a strong construction industry background, Brian brings a unique set of skill and perspective to our construction and business clients.
Brian also brings that experience to his alternative dispute resolution practice. He has represented stakeholders in transactions and in litigation, enabling him to understand the personal and business considerations that are often the key to creating a zone of agreement to allow parties to resolve disputes through mediation. Brian’s experience and ability to confidently explain the risks of litigation allows parties to make practical and sound business decisions. As an experienced trial lawyer, Brian understands the role of the neutral to facilitate the efficient and fair resolution of disputes through arbitration.
Brian has also authored several Oregon State Bar civil practice and procedure chapters including the 2020 edition of the Oregon Civil Pleading and Litigation publication.
Scott is a seasoned litigator with over 10+ years of experience specializing primarily on insurance coverage disputes– now exclusively on the policyholder side. He has advised clients and successfully litigated matters to jury verdict in a wide variety of complex insurance coverage disputes in the Pacific Northwest. Scott takes a practical, solution-driven approach to his client’s disputes, with a focus on our client’s objectives and goals, both short- and long-term.
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Previously, as a shareholder with an insurance coverage litigation firm, Scott represented the insurance industry across all aspects of insurance related matters specializing in extra-contractual and bad faith litigation, insurance coverage advice and litigation, policy compliance and preparation, duty to defend analysis, and the investigation and litigation of Special Investigation Unit (SIU) claims. Scott also has considerable experience in a broad range of business litigation, including transaction-related breach of contract claims, construction claims and commercial torts.
Scott has presented numerous Continuing Legal Education presentations and co-authored articles published by American Bar Association regarding insurance coverage matters, including recently presenting to the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel regarding changes to Oregon law regarding negligence per se claims under Moody. Scott was also a chair for the Insurance Coverage Practice Group with the Oregon Association of Defense Counsel prior to joining FST. During law school, Scott worked at Lane County Legal Aid and Advocacy Center assisting indigent individuals with landlord/tenant issues, foreclosures, and victims of fraud.
Michael has over twenty years of experience as a trial attorney in Oregon state and federal courts. Michael’s practice includes a broad range of subject areas with a concentration on construction contracting and litigation, real property, commercial litigation, and land use. His experience includes representing clients in jury trials, appeals, administrative proceedings, and arbitrations.
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Michael is the chair of the Oregon State Bar’s Disciplinary Board for the Central Oregon region, and a member of the United States District Court Local Rules Committee for Oregon. Michael is the author of the Oregon State Bar’s Real Estate Deskbook chapter on Rescission, Reformation and Specific Performance. He has been given the AV rating by the Martindale Hubbell law directory for the highest level of professional excellence.