Peder Rigsby leads a multidisciplinary team of accomplished attorneys in defense of businesses, entities, and individuals facing complex casualty, commercial litigation, and discrimination claims in state and federal courts in the Pacific Northwest. He performs national counsel work for large clients based in the area, providing innovative and timely strategic counsel to help them make better-informed decisions, resolve complex legal challenges and achieve specific business goals. Peder draws on Wilson Elser’s deep resources and national footprint to handle high-value, multijurisdictional, and complex cases. 

Peder makes a deliberate effort to understand his clients’ businesses and develops a strategy to address their goals cost-effectively. Peder is often called upon for his ability to successfully handle first-party insurance defense cases. He has built a strong practice defending clients in litigation involving wrongful death and catastrophic injury, professional malpractice, discrimination issues, products liability, and multi-party construction defects. 

Before becoming an attorney, Peder worked for more than a decade with Costco in various management roles. While engaging with attorneys on litigating workers’ compensation claims, he was inspired to pursue a career in law. His time in the private sector instilled the importance of the client service experience and shaped his client-centric approach. Peder’s later roles as a judicial extern for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman and law clerk to Hon. Christopher Yates and Hon. Kathleen Feeney, 17th Circuit Court of Kent County provided him with a sound foundation and a broad range of legal experience.

    Education

    • Thomas M. Cooley Law School (J.D., magna cum laude, 2010)
    • Portland State University (B.S. Business Management, cum laude, 2006)
      • Departmental Honors

    Bar Admissions

    • Oregon
    • Washington

    Court Admissions

    • U.S. District Court, District of Oregon
    • U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington
    • U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington

    Professional Affiliations

    Oregon Association of Defense Counsel

    Awards & Honors

    • Selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America®, Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants, 2026; Commercial Litigation, 2025–2026; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants, 2024–present; Product Liability Litigation, 2024–present
    • Selected for inclusion in Oregon Super Lawyers®, Rising Stars™, 2016–2020

Peder A. Rigsby

Peder Rigsby leads a multidisciplinary team of accomplished attorneys in defense of businesses, entities, and individuals facing complex casualty, commercial litigation, and discrimination claims in state and federal courts in the Pacific Northwest. He performs national counsel work for large clients based in the area, providing innovative and timely strategic counsel to help them make better-informed decisions, resolve complex legal challenges and achieve specific business goals. Peder draws on Wilson Elser’s deep resources and national footprint to handle high-value, multijurisdictional, and complex cases. 

Peder makes a deliberate effort to understand his clients’ businesses and develops a strategy to address their goals cost-effectively. Peder is often called upon for his ability to successfully handle first-party insurance defense cases. He has built a strong practice defending clients in litigation involving wrongful death and catastrophic injury, professional malpractice, discrimination issues, products liability, and multi-party construction defects. 

Before becoming an attorney, Peder worked for more than a decade with Costco in various management roles. While engaging with attorneys on litigating workers’ compensation claims, he was inspired to pursue a career in law. His time in the private sector instilled the importance of the client service experience and shaped his client-centric approach. Peder’s later roles as a judicial extern for Michigan Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman and law clerk to Hon. Christopher Yates and Hon. Kathleen Feeney, 17th Circuit Court of Kent County provided him with a sound foundation and a broad range of legal experience.

Peder A. Rigsby

Rigsby, Mooney and Carley Achieve Favorable Jury Award in Especially Difficult Venue

Peder Rigsby (Partner-Portland, OR), Dan Mooney (Partner-Seattle, WA) and John Carley (Of Counsel-Portland, OR) secured a highly favorable jury award on behalf of their client, a large resource recovery company. The trial was held in King County, WA, a notoriously difficult venue for defendants recently included on the “Judicial Hellhole Top 10” list. This was an admitted liability case that was vigorously contested.

The client’s garbage truck driver backed into the plaintiff’s vehicle, causing it minor damage. Plaintiff was standing in the truck bed and either jumped or fell out. Plaintiff claimed numerous catastrophic injuries, including multiple surgeries and a concussion diagnosed nearly five years after the accident. The alleged economic damages were $1.2 million. During jury selection, Plaintiff’s counsel anchored at $30 million. In closing, Plaintiff asked for $11.8 million. The defense strategy focused on causation and the plaintiff’s credibility, which included presenting numerous experts, a private investigator, and hours of video surveillance showing the plaintiff engaging in activities that he claimed he could not perform. Following a three-week trial, the jury returned a verdict of $500,000 or $100,000 less than our last offer.

Peder A. Rigsby, Daniel C. Mooney and John Carley

Privacy Settings
Your Privacy Choices
We value your privacy. Under privacy laws in your jurisdiction, you have the right to control how your personal information is used, including the right to opt out of the “sale” or “sharing” of your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. You may also limit the use of your sensitive personal information.

Below, you can review and adjust your cookie and data sharing preferences. For more information about how we use your data, please see our Privacy Policy.

Your Rights and Choices

Opt Out of Sale or Sharing: You may opt out of the sale or sharing of your personal information for advertising and analytics purposes by turning off Advertising & Targeting Cookies. We will honor your choice and will not sell or share your personal information for these purposes unless you enable these cookies again. Wilson Elser does not sell or share personal information in any other manner.

Limit Use of Sensitive Personal Information: If we collect sensitive personal information, you may limit its use to only what is necessary to provide requested services by adjusting your preferences here. Please contact privacy@wilsonelser.com with any questions.

Global Privacy Control: We honor browser-based opt-out signals, such as the Global Privacy Control (GPC). If we detect such a signal, your opt-out preference will be automatically applied.

These cookies are essential for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually set in response to actions made by you, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in, or filling in forms.

These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalization. If you do not allow these cookies, some or all of these services may not function properly.

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They may be set through our site by us or our analytics partners to understand your interests and deliver more relevant content to you. If you do not allow these cookies, we will not know when you have visited our site