This year the state of Washington flipped the regulations for noncompete agreements on their head and, eight months after the new law became effective, the impacts are beginning to take shape. In this article I will describe the significant effects of the new law on noncompetes in physician employment agreements, which I regularly draft and review.
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In the June issue of NWLawyer, we spoke with attorney Bill Marler, widely recognized as an expert in plaintiffs’ litigation for foodborne illness injuries and, perhaps most famously, the attorney who represented children injured during the 1993 Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak.
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Previously overlooked legal rules could raise costs for physicians seeking to establish or expand small outpatient surgery centers. New enforcement of previously overlooked legal requirements could significantly raise costs for physicians seeking to establish or expand small outpatient surgery centers. The Washington State Department of Health recently limited exemptions in its Certificate of Need Program, […]
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Dental support organizations are typically not owned by dentists, so historically they use creative methods to operate in Washington. Until recently, state law required any entity providing dental services to be owned and controlled by licensed dentists. A new law opens that door, while placing clear restrictions and patient protections. Effective July 23, 2017, the […]
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In a perfect world, there’d be less need for the safety nets of Social Security, and no one who warranted disability would be denied because of administrative or subjective biases. This world isn’t perfect, though, and biases exist to the point where a whole industry has been formed to get unduly denied and disabled Americans […]
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A recent Supreme Court ruling extends psychiatrists’ duty to people harmed by their client even if the client never mentioned a threat. The Washington Supreme Court recently extended the potential duty a psychiatrist owes to people harmed by their outpatient clients. In Volk v. DeMeerleer, 187 Wn.2d 241, 386 P.3d 254 (2016), the Court extended […]
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The Court of Appeals recently reaffirmed Washington’s “one client” standard for insurance company defense counsel.
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In 1997, the Bar issued ethics advisory opinion No. 1736, addressing whether a claimants’ counsel could indemnify a settling defendant to protect the defendant from outstanding liens that might encumber the settlement. The Bar concluded that the answer was “no” because that would constitute a form of financial assistance beyond the narrow parameters of the rules of […]
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As lawyers, we look to case law precedent, but health law is heavily bound to the regulations and laws governing medicine. Because of this, those of us in Washington look to Olympia for making possible changes to our practice and how changes in the practice of medicine and law might impact our clients. Moreover, in […]
Read More…Learn how Schroeder v. Weighall, M.D. impacts med-mal claims by minors. A minor’s medical malpractice claim has traditionally been subject to the same statute of limitation requirements as that of an adult. However, the recent Washington Supreme Court decision of Schroeder v. Weighall, M.D., et al., has declared RCW 4.16.190(2) unconstitutional.
Read More…Learn how the Affordable Care Act will affect you and your practice in this ongoing series from LOMAP. In preparing to write this “Young People’s ACA” post, I called a young attorney in hopes that she would clue me in to what a younger-than-me solo or small firm attorney would be thinking. She reminded me […]
Read More…Learn how the Affordable Care Act will affect you and your practice in this ongoing series from LOMAP. Read other posts from our Navigating the Affordable Care Act series. What made up an insurance plan before the Affordable Care Act varied widely, or was hard to ferret out with no comparison tool available. The Marketplace changes that […]
Read More…Learn how the Affordable Care Act will affect you and your practice in this ongoing series from LOMAP. Read other posts from our Navigating the Affordable Care Act series. Last week we determined that most solo and small firms are probably small employers. This week we speak to the solo attorney. How does the ACA affect you […]
Read More…Small business owners, are you ready for the changes brought on by the ACA? Read other posts from our Navigating the Affordable Care Act series. Small business owners, are you ready for the changes brought on by the Affordable Care Act (ACA)? If you are, well done! If not, do not despair. The WSBA’s Law Office Management […]
Read More…Learn how about the ACA’s strides in women’s healthcare in this ongoing series from LOMAP. Read other posts from our Navigating the Affordable Care Act series. Women made great strides in equal treatment under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), though it seems this is one of the best-kept secrets about the health care law. A recent […]
Read More…Learn how the Affordable Care Act will affect you and your practice in this ongoing series from LOMAP. The health insurance landscape continues to change significantly with each implementation phase of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and members have started asking us about how it affects them. In response, the WSBA’s Law Office Management Assistance […]
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