Dreyer v. PGE

"The term 'law of the case' is best reserved for use in the context in which a party seeks to relitigate an appellate decision.  Use of the term to address other issues may confuse rather than clarify." Kennedy v. Wheeler, 356 Or 518, 531, 341 P3d 728 (2014).

Plaintiffs appealed a general judgment of dismissal. Plaintiffs assigned error to the trial court's denial of leave to amend the complaint, and to the grant of summary judgment. On appeal, Plaintiffs argued the trial court abused its discretion in denying leave to amend, and that the summary judgment motion for Plaintiffs in 2005 was the "law of the case," and therefore should not be revisited by the trial court. "The term 'law of the case' is best reserved for use in the context in which a party seeks to relitigate an appellate decision. Use of the term to address other issues may confuse rather than clarify." Kennedy v. Wheeler, 356 Or 518, 531, 341 P3d 728 (2014). The Court held that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying leave to amend because Plaintiffs' arguments were new theories that were not in earlier claims, nor did the court err in ruling as it did, and did not err in granting summary judgment because Plaintiffs had no damages to recover. Affirmed.