Admitted to Practice | Oregon, 1980 | | District of Columbia, 1997 | | U.S. District Court District of Oregon | | U.S. District Court District of Columbia | | U.S. Court of Appeals 9th Circuit | | U.S. Court of Appeals D.C. Circuit | | U.S. Supreme Court |
| John DiLorenzo has authored and been a primary advocate for major legislation in the areas of state and local taxation, with special emphasis on property tax, tort reform, natural resources and economic development. John also assists clients in campaign finance, government ethics, initiatives and referendums, insurance recovery actions, environmental claim responses, appellate cases and a variety of government-related litigation matters.
Practice Highlights
- Organized the Oregon Litigation Reform Coalition, which successfully lobbied a package of bills providing for reciprocity in attorney fee awards, prohibiting application of RICO in most business disputes unless a prior criminal conviction was obtained, changing standards for punitive damages awards, allocating 60 percent of those awards to the state, and abolishing the doctrine of joint and several liability replacing it with the doctrine of reallocation of most tort actions
- Authored and lobbied for numerous sections of "Measure 50" and its implementing legislation reducing and limiting property taxes statewide
- Authored and successfully lobbied "Right to Farm" legislation protecting agriculture from many nuisance and trespass suits as development moves closer to farming communities
- Negotiated and successfully advocated legislation preempting local governments from imposing "conversion penalties" on HUD Section 8 landlords who convert to "free market" at completion of Section 8 programs
- Authored and successfully lobbied adoption of the Oregon Ethics Reform Act and the Oregon Government Standards and Practices Commission Amendments
- Successfully lobbied adoption of legislation permitting public utilities to include in rates a return on undepreciated value of closed power plants
- Authored and successfully lobbied Oregon’s "Environmental Cleanup Assistance Act" requiring Oregon law to apply to insurance policies on environmental claims and expanding definition of "suit" to include voluntary responses to environmental regulatory bodies
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation providing transition rules for owners of historic properties which experience property tax assessment "step ups" upon program renewal
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation exempting property used in egg production from property tax
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation providing immunity from suit for antifreeze manufacturers who add "bittering agents" to antifreeze products for safety
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation permitting both in-state and out-of-state residents "like-kind exchange" tax treatment for Oregon income tax purposes
- Authored and successfully lobbied for 2003 Transition Amendments to the Environmental Cleanup Assistance Act permitting "all sums" recovery against non-settling insurers remaining as defendants in pending environmental insurance recovery cases
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation permitting certain aerial display fireworks companies to maintain their operations in exclusive farm use zones
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation creating Oregon's Willamette River Cleanup Authority to monitor the Portland Harbor Superfund RI/FS process and recommend whether the state should issue pollution control bonds to finance the cleanup
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation relieving developers of certain licensing requirements and permitting "down stream" suits to recover damages from subcontractors notwithstanding license status of developer
- Successfully lobbied for legislation providing some regulatory oversight relating to SAIF Corporation
- Lobbied numerous amendments for a variety of business clients
- Authored and successfully lobbied for legislation exempting from property tax, interests out of state cities in the Pacific N.W. AC Intertie electrical transmission system
- Successfully lobbied for legislation exempting religious schools from state oversight relating to degrees offered
- Successfully lobbied for a variety of appropriations
- Successfully lobbied for and drafted major portions of HB 3369 (2009) which paves the way for water development projects in the Umatilla Basin.
Selected Experience Grocery Outlet Ongoing Circuit Court has enjoined the Oregon Liquor Control Commission from interfering with the warehousing and distribution practices of a large grocery chain. Fred Van Natta Ongoing Constitutional challenge to state lobby restrictions. Valeant Pharmaceuticals 2008 Assisted pharmaceutical company in first ever recovery from State of Oregon for work performed under unilateral order. Client recovered $1.5 million from Oregon hazardous substances fund. Previously assisted client in advantageously settling numerous environmental coverage claims against its insurers relying on legislation adopted at our urging. Plaintiffs 2005 Congressional redistricting litigation. Oregonians for Sound Economic Policy, Inc. 2003 A series of claims opening public access to records of the State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF), holding SAIF in contempt of court and addressing exposure of SAIF to attorney fee award. Fred Van Natta 1998 9th Circuit and District Court litigation invalidating Oregon constitutional requirement that legislators raise campaign contributions from within their districts. Fred Van Natta 1997 Oregon Supreme Court case invalidating Oregon's campaign contribution limits. Tidewater Barge Lines and Finley Buttes Landfill Co. 1995 A suite of cases holding Oregon's out-of-state waste fees are in violation of the Federal Commerce Clause. Tidewater Barge Lines and Finley Buttes Landfill Co. 1993 Suite of cases holding Oregon's out-of-state waste fees as violation of the Federal Commerce Clause. Columbia River Towboat Association 1986 Litigation invalidating Tri-Met's (transportation system) proposed tax on petroleum products. Additional Qualifications Professional and Community Activities
- Oregon Law Commission (appointed by Oregon Senate President)
- Chair, Government Affairs Practice Group, Lex Mundi, 2009-present
- Board of Directors, Arlington Club, 1999-2001
- Board of Directors, University Club of Portland, 1993, 1997
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Professional Recognition
- "Best of the Bar" Award Recipient, Government Law, Portland Business Journal, 2005
- Selected to "Oregon Super Lawyers," Law & Politics, 2006-2007
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Education J.D., Willamette University College of Law, 1980 B.S., Economics, Willamette University, 1977, cum laude | |