Tanya O'Neil is a partner in the Portland office and a member of the Labor & Employment and Professional Liability Practices. She is a litigator with extensive experience in all aspects of state and federal civil litigation, including trials, appeals, mediations, and arbitrations. Tanya has experience trying jury and bench trials and has handled over one hundred arbitrations.  

Tanya's practice focuses on primarily representing defendants in both straightforward and complex business and commercial disputes that arise in various contexts, including:

• Employment
• Product, Premises, and Liquor Liability
• Professional Malpractice
• Construction
• Personal Injury/Wrongful Death
• Commercial Litigation and Business Torts
• Contracts and Securities
• Environmental/Toxic Tort

Prior to joining Lewis Brisbois, Tanya practiced out of the Portland office of another AmLaw 100 firm. Between two stints at that firm, she served as an in-house trial attorney for one of the nation’s largest insurance companies for two years.

Tanya was also a member of a two-attorney team that served as general counsel for a large manufacturer, which included managing litigation and supervising local counsel in hundreds of cases throughout the United States. She regularly advises clients in risk avoidance and early resolution of disputes and frequently secures favorable settlements for clients through mediation and informal negotiations.

Community Involvement

Admissions

• State Bar Admissions
  • Oregon
  • Washington
• United States District Courts
  • United States District Court for the District of Oregon
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Washington
• United States Courts of Appeals
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

Representative Matters

Tanya has significant litigation experience representing businesses and individuals in state and federal court actions and arbitrations throughout Oregon and Washington in a wide array of commercial disputes. Some of her experience includes:

• Trial attorney for a large, local manufacturer in a product defect and contractual breach case, achieving a full defense decision.
• Second-chaired an employment discrimination, wrongful termination, and civil rights violations jury trial to a unanimous defense verdict.
• Represented a complex, large equipment manufacturer in a multi-million dollar product liability wrongful death action, securing a favorable settlement after significant victories on partial summary judgment.
• Member of trial team (second chair) representing a large internet company in a multi-week trial arising from alleged breaches of a multi-million dollar merger agreement and securities act violations.   
• Secured dismissal of claims against industrial cleanser manufacturer by prevailing on summary judgment and successfully steering the case through appeals. 
• Trial attorney for a third-party defendant in a multi-million dollar construction defect jury trial, ultimately attaining a very favorable settlement in the middle of trial.
• Represented a national retailer in a wrongful death action involving several novel claims and legal arguments, securing a favorable, early settlement. 
• Secured favorable settlements after significant victories on partial summary judgment in various Dram Shop actions.   
• Achieved a full defense decision in an administrative hearing regarding construction and contractual disputes before the state office of administrative hearings.
• Represented design professionals, subcontractors, and product manufacturers in several multi-million dollar construction defect lawsuits, reaching favorable settlements pre-formal litigation through the eve of trial.
• Negotiated numerous advantageous settlements in large, complex professional liability, product liability, construction, and employment cases, as well as hundreds of large and small personal injury cases.
• Obtained several dismissals of complaints brought by current and former employees and temporary and contract workers in actions before the EEOC and BOLI, and achieved favorable resolutions through agency-facilitated mediations.