For the last couple of years, the lobbying arm of WDTL and several defense attorneys who testified in front of the Legislature, defeated proposed changes to the Mandatory Arbitration Statute.

In 2018, Washington state legislators sent Governor Inslee just over 300 bills that were approved during the short 60-day Regular Session. Among the measures that the Governor approved is HB 1128—a bill that will increase the dollar threshold for matters that are subject to mandatory arbitration from the current level of $50,000 to $100,000. This is the fourth year that plaintiff lawyers have pushed for the increase.

Effective June 7, 2018, defendants in employment discrimination lawsuits will have their rights to a claimant’s medical records sharply curtailed. In what will be a new section to chapter 49.60 of the Revised Code of Washington, a claimant does not, as a matter of statutory law, put his or her health at issue or waive any health care privilege by making a claim for noneconomic damages in a Washington Law Against Discrimination (WLAD) lawsuit.

In each edition of the Defense News we feature successes of our members and colleagues. WDTL is proud of our defense attorneys and we like to share their accomplishments.

When an incident occurs, forensic investigators must document the scene to preserve information in case there is future litigation. Many times, an investigator only has one chance to document the conditions of a scene before it is altered by remediation or clean-up efforts.

In this edition, at special request from fellow WDTL members, we are pleased to introduce the current WDTL Editorial Team, including myself, Brian Augenthaler, and John Randolph.

In this era of a billion dollar product industry where more and more states are legalizing marijuana use, there is a significant absence of legal precedent to provide guidance on cannabis product liability issues. In fact, there have only been a total of two cases dealing with cannabis product liability issues.