Brown v. Oregon State Bar

Plaintiff appeals a summary judgment and assigns as error the trial court’s dismissal of his complaint. Three questions are raised for our consideration: (1) did the trial court have subject matter jurisdiction in this case to issue a declaratory judgment; (2) did plaintiff’s complaint allege a justiciable controversy; and (3) did the court abuse its discretion in denying plaintiff declaratory relief? We reverse.

Plaintiff received a request for legal advice from the Director of the Department of Land Conservation and Development concerning a hearings officer’s draft opinion in a contested…