Michael J. (Sam) Sandmire is a Shareholder in Buchalter’s Portland office and a member of the Firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Mr. Sandmire has been litigating complex and difficult cases for nearly 30 years. His practice is focused on complex business, commercial, product liability, personal injury, and employment litigation and counseling. He also represents clients facing government investigations, government enforcement actions, and related civil litigation and appeals.

Mr. Sandmire defends and prosecutes claims in a wide range of commercial and business disputes and defends manufacturers in product liability, class action, consumer fraud, personal injury and mass tort litigation. He has litigated high stakes commercial, toxic exposure, catastrophic injury, and multi-state consumer fraud claims on behalf of manufacturers of medical, industrial, computer, construction and consumer products, pharmaceuticals, dietary supplements, food, implantable medical devices, metals, and construction materials. He has served as both lead and local counsel in the cost-effective and efficient defense of mass tort claims and other complex litigation. Mr. Sandmire has experience representing tribal entities and has significant experience resolving disputes through mediation and arbitration when litigation is neither desired nor warranted.

Mr. Sandmire also defends insured and self-insured employers in state and federal courts and administrative agencies, with particular expertise in the defense of state and federal class actions and race, sex, age and disability discrimination, workplace safety, wrongful discharge, civil rights, federal contractor, wage and hour, and employment contract claims. He is experienced in drafting employment policies, and counseling companies on employment law matters.

Mr. Sandmire is listed multiple times in Best Lawyers in America for his expertise in product liability litigation, mass tort litigation and class action defense. He was awarded 2019, 2021, & 2023 “Lawyer of the Year” for Mass Tort Litigation and defense of Class Actions, in Portland. Mr. Sandmire has received the highest AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell. He is also listed in The American Lawyer and Corporate Counsel as a Top Rated Lawyers, Guide to Labor & Employment Law (2012); is named in Benchmark Litigation: The Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys as a “Litigation Star”; and was selected as an Oregon Super Lawyer.

Bar Admissions

• Oregon
• Washington

Education

• Stanford Law School
• Stanford University

Significant Accomplishments

• Defended steel pipe manufacturer in commercial litigation involving large-scale public and private gas and water transmission pipeline projects in multiple states and Canada
• Defeated class certifications and secured dismissals in wage and hour class actions
• Defended manufacturer of computer hard drives in consumer class action
• Defended class action on behalf of manufacturers of fire sprinkler pipe; defeated national class certification
• Defended Fortune 500 information technology services company in employment class action suit
• Defended nickel manufacturer in class action and individual personal injury, nuisance, and trespass lawsuits brought by nearby residents; defeated class certification
• Defended pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in numerous wrongful death, mass tort and other product liability lawsuits
• Represented manufacturers, in courts and before Oregon OSHA, in catastrophic workplace accidents, investigations and lawsuits, including defense of a wrongful death action involving collapse of a large-scale wind turbine.
• Defended aluminum manufacturer in personal injury trial brought by contractor who suffered serious electrical burns and head trauma
• Represents manufacturers of pharmaceutical, medical devices, dietary supplements, and consumer goods in individual and large multi-state consumer fraud investigations, litigation and related appeals.
• Defeated “common law wrongful death” claims in civil court stemming from workplace exposure to chemicals, including successful Ninth Circuit appeal upholding trial court dismissal
• Represented large Japanese corporation in contested dissolution proceeding and shareholder disputes
• Represented window manufacturer in construction defect case
• Defended businesses in state and federal employment discrimination claims and enforcement actions

• The Ninth Circuit Weighs in on Differential Diagnosis Under Daubert
• The “Economic Loss Rule” in Products Liability and Construction Litigation.
• Provisional Remedies: Oregon, Practical Law Litigation
• Punitives Redux: Yet More Guidance via Waddill v. Anchor Hocking, Inc.
• The Learned Intermediary Doctrine is Not a Defense to a Strict Product Liability Claim.
• Requests for Production; Inspection; Physical and Mental Examinations.
• Statute of Limitations: Oregon State Q & A, Practical Law Litigation
• Litigation Overview: Oregon, Practical Law Litigation