Miscellaneous

• Liability for Driver Who "Waves Through" Vehicle or Pedestrian

  Michael Myers | January 29, 2008 8:03 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  We see it all the time. A driver waves another car to "go ahead". Or signals to a pedestrian that it's okay to cross. But what happens if an accident happens? In the following story the injured pedestrian could have a claim against not only the driver who hit him but also the driver who signaled that it was safe for him to cross. A 40-year old pedestrian was hit on Route 99 in Federal Way on...

• Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates Decline 12.5%

  Don Jacobs | January 25, 2008 12:41 PM | 0 CommentsVancouver, WA

  A January 11, 2008 article in the Washington Insurance Journal contained some interesting news. Malpractice rates for doctors have now fallen by 12.5 percent in 2007, followed by a record setting year of profits for Washington's largest Malpractice Insurance Company, as reported by the Washington State Insurance Commissioner's Office. Although some rates will remain stable, the article stated...

• Products from China Continue to Harm American Consumers

  Michael Myers | January 25, 2008 10:07 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Retailers selling products from China have been beleaguered by claims arising from defects in the Chinese-made products. One of the most publicized cases involved dog and cat food. We filed the first nationwide class action lawsuit in that case against Menu Foods and the companies that sold tainted pet food. Now another Chinese-made product is harming American consumers, the seemingly...

• Votes for Hire

  Don Jacobs | January 22, 2008 12:39 PM | 0 CommentsVancouver, WA

  Politicians need money to get elected. Campaigns are expensive and getting more so. While candidates partake in hometown fundraisers such as coffees and neighborhood meetings, the real money comes from lobbying groups. Not that all politicians are necessarily beholden to who spends the most, but if their political survival is dependent upon obtaining big dollars to run a successful campaign,...

• Grates: The Bicyclist's Nemesis

  Ryan Nute | January 17, 2008 4:58 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Well, all right; bicyclists have multiple nemeses. But a recent front page article in the Seattle PI has brought attention to a problem many cyclists have been battling for years: unsafe street drains. Drains covered with grates that have slots parallel to the roadway are dangerous to cyclists as bicycle wheels can get caught - and stuck - in the slots. In 2004 one biker was biking through...

• Save Your Email Messages--Deleted Emails Must be Produced

  Michael Myers | January 15, 2008 5:15 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  In a recent federal court case (Benton v. Dlorah, Inc., 2007 U.S. Dist. D. Kan, Oct. 30, 2007), the plaintiff testified at her deposition that she had deleted emails related to the case. The court ruled that deleting emails did not necessarily remove them from the plaintiff's possession. It reasoned that deleted emails should be retrievable from her computer system and thus remain within in...

• New Law Banning Texting While Driving to Take Effect

  Ryan Nute | December 29, 2007 10:37 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Texting while driving officially becomes illegal on January 1, 2008. The law is a secondary violation, meaning that a police officer must first spot another violation (such as a person not wearing a seatbelt or speeding) before someone who is texting can be pulled over. This law and the law against cell phone use while driving (which will be enforced starting July 1, 2008) are attempts to...

• Oregon Supreme Court Strikes Down Caps on Damages

  Don Jacobs | December 28, 2007 11:57 AM | 0 CommentsVancouver, WA

  The Oregon Supreme Court has ruled that a one size fits all law that caps damages for malpractice at a hospital in Portland is unconstitutional. The case involved an infant who was born with a defective heart. Surgery to fix the heart was performed at the Oregon Health Sciences University Hospital in Portland. After the surgery, the child was placed in an intensive care unit to recover. ...

• Model Ship Builders Reportedly Fleeced in Internet Commerce Scam

  Ryan Nute | December 26, 2007 9:18 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Dennis Ray Lunde, 60, of Poulsbo, Washington, has been charged with first-degree theft in an alleged Internet commerce scam.  The scam involved Lunde posing online as a Navy captain and selling model ship kits. Buyers of these kits would send money to Lunde but never received the kits.  Several buyers received an e-mail from Lunde's "wife," claiming that Lunde had suffered a heart attack, was...

• Open and Shut Case...Unlikely in Light of the Sudden Medical Emergency Defense

  Michael Myers | December 21, 2007 10:50 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  I've written about it before. The defense bar never ceases to surprise. Affirmative defenses--legal tools to avoid taking responsibility--seem to be multiplying and mutating. The sudden medical emergency defense is an example. And it is frequently applied to situations like the really tragic one we blogged about here on December 17th. To recap, a jogger was hit and killed by a motorist last...