Andrea D. Coit

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Representative Cases

• State v. Smith, Grant County Circuit Court, 19CR63700, November 2022. Andrea was co-defense counsel with her husband, Andrew Coit, for a client wrongly accused of three felony-level crimes by his ex-wife. After a two-week jury trial, the jury returned a unanimous verdict in favor of the accused in less than an hour, acquitting him of all charges.

• Templin v. Oregon Department of Transportation, Lane County Circuit Court, 21CV09763, October 2022. Andrea was the plaintiff’s counsel for a wrongfully terminated engineer in this civil rights case against his former employer, ODOT. They pursued claims for whistleblower retaliation and due process violations. After a two-week trial in which Andrea and her client presented the testimony of 17 witnesses, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Andrea’s client in the amount of $1,425,000.  

• University of Oregon v. University of Oregon Police Association on behalf of Troy Phillips, Arbitration, August 2022. Andrea was co-counsel for the University of Oregon with attorney Akin Blitz in this grievance arbitration. The grievant was a former UOPD officer who the University terminated after it discovered conduct it felt violated a citizen’s constitutional rights. After a four-day arbitration, the arbitrator issued a decision in favor of the university, finding that it had good cause to terminate the officer.

• Le v. Powerline Hemp, Dilger and Jones, Lane County Circuit Court, 20CV16735, July 2022. Andrea was defense counsel for a hemp company and its owners in this action by a person claiming an ownership interest in the company.  Andrea and her clients brought a counterclaim for fraud against the plaintiff and her husband. After a one-week jury trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Andrea’s clients both against the plaintiff’s claims and in favor of their fraud counterclaims, awarding them $75,000 against the plaintiff.

• BDH Capital v. Sanilux, et al, ASP Arbitration of Portland, March 2022. In this business dispute, Andrea represented the plaintiff, BDH Capital, investors in a hand sanitizer start-up, on claims of breach of contract and fraud.  After months of contentious discovery during which Andrea and her clients fought to obtain the records it needed to prove the plaintiff’s claims, the case was tried to an arbitrator over the course of three days. The arbitrator issued a decision in favor of Andrea’s client on its breach of contract claim, awarding it $250,000.

• Gates v. Provectus Management and Sterling Vision, Lane County Circuit Court, 20CV18295, February 2022. Andrea represented the defendants against claims of pregnancy discrimination and sick leave retaliation brought by a terminated employee. Andrea and her clients presented evidence during the week-long jury trial showing that the employee was terminated for performance issues, wholly unrelated to her pregnancy. The jury returned a verdict in less than an hour, finding in favor of Andrea’s clients on all claims, awarding nothing to the plaintiff.

• Nowland v. Sterling Vision. Andrea represented the defendant Sterling Vision in this pregnancy and wage inquiry discrimination case, brought in Lane County Circuit Court. The jury was asked to decide if Sterling Vision had terminated the plaintiff, a former option, either because of her pregnancy or because she asked for a raise. After a five day trial, the jury deliberated for less than 10 minutes before returning a unanimous verdict in favor of Sterling Vision on all claims.

• Sims v. Northwest Oregon Housing Authority. Andrea obtained a unanimous defense verdict for the client housing authority from a 12-member jury after a two-week trial of the former employee’s claims of whistleblower retaliation, discriminatory termination and illegal employment practices.

• Marshall v. Yaquina Bay Fruit Processors. Andrea defended the company and its owner against claims of breach of fiduciary duties and breach of contract. A 12-member jury returned a unanimous defense verdict on all claims.

• Harrigan v. Marion County Sheriff’s Department. After a five-day federal jury trial, Andrea’s client, the Marion County Sheriff’s Department and individual members, were vindicated on all claims after the jury returned a complete defense verdict.

• Eugene Water and Electric Board, Labor Arbitration. Andrea successfully represented EWEB in a labor arbitration in which the labor union was contesting the termination of an employee for safety violations. The union argued termination was too harsh given the minor injury suffered.  Andrea argued, and convinced the arbitrator, that the punishment should be commensurate with the risk created by the wrongful party, not the harm actually incurred.  

• Evans v. Lane Council of Governments. Andrea obtained summary judgment in favor of her client, LCOG, resulting in the dismissal of all claims. The plaintiff, a former home healthcare worker had asserted violations of her civil and statutory rights. 

• Name Withheld Pursuant to Confidentiality Agreement. Representing the Plaintiff in this matter, Andrea brought a federal lawsuit against a local private employer, asserting that her client had been terminated in retaliation for protected whistleblowing. After more than a year of litigation, Andrea negotiated a $650,000 settlement for her client.  

Publications & Presentations

• “When the Needs of Law Enforcement and the Mentally Impaired Conflict: A case study and the lessons learned,” Association of Oregon Counties Conference (CLE, November, 2014)

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