Portland sits at the intersection of I-5 and I-84, two of the Pacific Northwest’s busiest freight corridors. The volume of commercial truck traffic through the metro area, combined with Oregon’s comparative fault rules, makes legal representation critical after a serious crash. The attorneys below have earned recognition for handling Oregon trucking cases, from urban Portland collisions to long-haul accidents on rural state highways.
1. D’Amore Law Group
About the Firm: Tom D’Amore is the only attorney in the state of Oregon certified in truck accident law by the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA) who maintains an office in Oregon. D’Amore Law Group has achieved results including a $1.4 million settlement in a Medford trucking accident and handles cases on I-5 and I-84 across Oregon.
Services:
- Semi-truck and tractor-trailer accident claims
- Oregon and federal trucking regulation violations
- Wrongful death from truck crashes
- Insurance settlement negotiation
- Trial representation
Address: Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 222-6333
Website: https://damorelaw.com/semi-truck-accident-lawyer/
2. Johnston Law Firm, P.C.
About the Firm: Johnston Law Firm’s Marc Johnston is board-certified and ranked among the most experienced truck accident lawyers in Portland. The firm dispatches independent investigators to accident scenes, documents evidence, and works with accident reconstruction experts and economic specialists to build compelling cases.
Services:
- Commercial truck accident representation
- Independent accident investigation
- Economic damages and future care assessment
- Punitive damages in reckless truck accident cases
- Free consultations
Address: Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 546-3167
Website: https://johnston-lawfirm.com/portland/truck-accident/
3. Tillmann Law Personal Injury Lawyers
About the Firm: Tillmann Law has nearly two decades of experience in all personal injury cases including Portland truck accidents. Several staff members are former insurance claims professionals, giving the firm insight into how insurers handle semi-truck accident cases. The firm provides free initial consultations.
Services:
- 18-wheeler and semi-truck accident claims
- Insurance negotiation with former claims professionals
- Personal injury litigation
- Fault-based claims and third-party lawsuits
- Statewide Oregon representation
Address: Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 272-8986
Website: https://tillmannlaw.com/portland-truck-accident-lawyer/
4. Sears Injury Law
About the Firm: In the past five years, Sears Injury Law has recovered over $300 million for injury victims. The firm has award-winning Portland truck accident attorneys and takes a contingency-based approach: no cost until after compensation is obtained. They are dedicated to fighting against powerful trucking companies and their insurers.
Services:
- Truck and semi-truck accident claims
- Big rig collision investigation
- Wrongful death representation
- Maximum compensation negotiation
- Trial-ready litigation
Address: Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 446-5127
Website: https://searsinjurylaw.com/portland-truck-accident-lawyer/
5. Kaplan Law LLC
About the Firm: Matthew Kaplan diligently represents individuals hurt in trucking collisions and families who have lost loved ones. The firm handles cases throughout Oregon, including Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas, and Hood River counties, with a focus on holding negligent commercial truck operators accountable.
Services:
- Trucking collision claims
- Liability investigation for truck crashes
- Oregon trucking regulation compliance review
- Wrongful death litigation
- Personal injury compensation recovery
Address: 50 SW Pine St #302, Portland, OR 97204
Phone: (503) 226-3844
Website: https://www.mdkaplanlaw.com/trucking-collisions.html
Frequently Asked Questions About Truck Accidents in Portland, OR
Portland’s Columbia River Crossing and I-5 and I-84 corridors handle significant Pacific Northwest freight. Oregon has specific truck size and weight rules that differ from neighboring states. How do those differences affect liability?
Oregon operates under the Oregon Weight-Mile Tax system under ORS Chapter 825, which requires commercial carriers to register and pay a weight-mile tax based on the roads they use. Carriers operating without proper Oregon registration or exceeding their permitted weight class on state highways are in violation of ORS statutes, and those violations create negligence per se liability in accident cases. Oregon also has longer combination truck rules, permitting triple trailers on certain routes, which are subject to different size and stability requirements. If the truck involved in your accident was operating outside its permitted configuration or on a route where its size was prohibited, that regulatory violation becomes a central argument in your case.
Oregon is a pure comparative fault state. If I was also speeding when a truck merged into me on I-205 near the Glenn Jackson Bridge, can I still recover?
Yes. Oregon’s contributory negligence statute under ORS §31.600 reduces your recovery by your percentage of fault but does not bar it entirely. Even at 50% fault, you recover half your damages. The practical challenge in I-205 corridor crashes is establishing the truck driver’s percentage of fault when the collision happened during a merge. Oregon courts focus on whether the truck driver failed to check mirrors, misjudged the gap, or was traveling at a speed inconsistent with safe merging. Dashcam footage from both the truck and other vehicles, and data from the truck’s electronic control module showing speed and steering inputs in the seconds before impact, are often the decisive evidence in disputed merge cases.
What is Oregon’s statute of limitations for truck accident cases, and does it apply differently if the crash happened on a state highway that Oregon Department of Transportation maintains?
Oregon gives you two years from the date of injury under ORS §12.110. Wrongful death claims carry a three-year window under ORS §30.020. Claims against ODOT for road maintenance failures, defective signage, or hazardous conditions on state highways follow the Oregon Tort Claims Act under ORS §30.265, which requires written notice to the agency within 180 days of the injury. Failing to provide that notice bars claims against ODOT even if the two-year or three-year window has not expired. For accidents where a private carrier was the primary cause and ODOT’s road conditions were a contributing factor, both claims should run in parallel, and the notice requirement for the ODOT claim should be treated as a same-day priority after any serious accident.
Portland’s Willamette River is crossed by twelve bridges within the city limits, and the legal restrictions on those bridges vary significantly by structure and impose constraints on commercial truck operations that differ from the general Oregon highway network. The Broadway Bridge, Steel Bridge, Hawthorne Bridge, and Morrison Bridge each carry different posted weight limits and height restrictions than the newer Tilikum Crossing and Fremont Bridge segments, and the City of Portland’s Bureau of Transportation maintains separate permit requirements for oversize and overweight loads on each span. A commercial carrier operating in Portland without consulting the Portland city truck route map and verifying individual bridge clearances and weight limits for planned routes faces negligence exposure if a weight or clearance violation contributes to an accident or structural contact. Oregon also enforces California-style requirements on drayage trucks at the Port of Portland, where the Oregon DEQ’s Clean Diesel program imposes engine model year minimums on heavy diesel trucks operating at port facilities, and a carrier operating a non-compliant engine at the Port faces regulatory consequences separate from any civil liability for an accident. Oregon’s two-year personal injury statute under ORS §12.110 and the 180-day ODOT notice requirement both run from the date of injury, and for port-related accidents, identifying whether the non-compliance contributed to a maintenance or inspection failure adds a regulatory violation theory to the standard FMCSA negligence claim.