Ethics Guru Mark Fucile examines a recent Supreme Court ruling that an elected prosecutor’s entire office is disqualified to litigate in cases the prosecutor tried prior to election.
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For years, agencies calling for sensible Public Records Act reform have remarked that change would not come until the state’s lawmakers were also subject to the PRA. That day finally arrived on Dec. 19, 2019, when the Washington Supreme Court issued its opinion in Associated Press et al. v. Washington State Legislature, et al.
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In a case of first impression, the Idaho Supreme Court recently held that fee disgorgement is available as a remedy against a lawyer for breach of fiduciary duty even if there are no resulting damages.
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In the privilege context, “functional employees” are not directly employed by a corporation but are sufficiently integrated into a company’s operations that some federal courts, including the 9th Circuit and Washington’s federal district courts, have concluded that they fall within the corporation’s attorney-client privilege.
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For decades Washington L&I has denied first responders’ claims of PTSD. Now, a recent change in state law is giving them hope.
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Washington’s Court of Appeals recently issued a significant decision applying a new standard for former client conflicts in the disqualification context.
Read More… In a case of first impression in Washington, the Supreme Court held that former in-house counsel can sue their employers for wrongful discharge. Karstetter v. King County Corrections Guild was before the Supreme Court after the trial denied a defense motion to dismiss and the Court of Appeals later reversed the ruling. The initial pleadings framed the narrow legal issue before the Supreme Court.
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Mark Fucile explains the Supreme Court’s analysis of RPC 3.7. RPC 3.7(a), which generally prohibits a lawyer from acting “as advocate at a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a necessary witness.”
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Gov. Inslee signed a new law that may upend how noncompetes are used with physician employees. The new law imposes a potentially sizeable cost for overly broad restrictions.
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Get the latest updates on ethics amid new challenges to the rule of law. And take advantage of the last chance to save on related on-demand CLEs.
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Whether you have been practicing law for many years or are just starting in the field of IP law, here are five things you can do to reduce the risk that you’ll be on the receiving end of a complaint.
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The Washington Department of Labor & Industries (L&I) recently filed a proposed rule that would dramatically increase the minimum salary required for employees to qualify for the white collar overtime exemptions.
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Most of what we think we know about daylight saving time is wrong. Farmers started it? Nope; they’ve historically lobbied against it. The Germans started it in World War I? Yes, but the concept had earlier origins. Most people hate it? Polling shows a less definitive public opinion than you might think. It’s pointless? Actually, […]
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There is no shortage of alarming statistics when it comes to opioids. More people died from opioid overdoses in 2017, two per day, in Washington than in traffic fatalities.
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Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals recently addressed whether a successor personal representative had standing to bring a legal malpractice claim against a law firm that had worked solely with an earlier personal representative. The answer: “No.” In reaching its conclusion, the Court of Appeals in Benjamin v. Singleton, ___ Wn. App. 2d […]
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In 2016, there were nearly as many people in Washington county jails awaiting trial as the population of Lincoln County. The vast majority of people in jails throughout the state have not been convicted of a crime: 77 percent of them, according to findings outlined in the recently released Pretrial Reform Task Force Final Recommendations […]
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