Appellate advocacy is Nadia’s passion. With an intimate understanding of the appellate litigation landscape, Nadia’s advocacy work starts pretrial, where she consults with trial counsel to formulate trial strategies and ways to best protect their trial court victories. Nadia has built a robust appellate practice representing clients in the state appellate courts, the federal circuit courts of appeal, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
Busch v. McGinnis Waste Systems Inc., 366 Or. 628 (2020).
Busch was a personal injury case in which the Oregon Supreme Court struck down Oregon’s $500,000 cap on noneconomic damages in personal injury cases. Scott Busch was struck by a truck in downtown Portland and suffered severe and life-changing injuries. The jury awarded him $10.5 million in noneconomic damages, but the trial court capped the award at $500,000, pursuant to the statutory cap. Nadia, appearing as amicus curiae on behalf of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association, helped trial and appellate counsel John Coletti and Gene Hallman obtain a groundbreaking victory for injured Oregonians by arguing that the statutory cap violates the Oregon Constitution’s remedy clause in all cases.
Thompson v. Portland Adventist Medical Center, 309 Or. App. 118 (2021).
In this ongoing case, Nadia helped secure a reversal of summary judgment on the plaintiffs’ wrongful death and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims. In Thompson, the Court of Appeals issued a published opinion addressing the standard for when an individual’s mentally disabling condition tolls the statute of limitations on their civil claims. The case was remanded to the Multnomah County Circuit Court for trial.
Christian v. Umpqua Bank, 984 F.3d 801 (9th Cir. 2020)
Christian is another case in which Nadia helped secure a tremendous appellate victory, including a complete reversal of summary judgment and an important, precedential decision from the Ninth Circuit addressing hostile work environment and discrimination claims under state and federal law.
Barbosa v. Barr, 926 F.3d 1053 (9th Cir. 2019)
In this appeal, Nadia appeared pro bono to assist with a petition for review from the Board of Immigration Appeals. The Board had found the petitioner, a longtime Oregonian, ineligible for relief from removal. This case resulted in a published opinion from the Ninth Circuit concluding that third-degree robbery under Oregon law is not categorically a crime involving moral turpitude.