Lori O’Tool and Michael Slater, Jr. of Preg O’Donnell & Gillett successfully obtained complete dismissal of personal injury claims brought against their clients on summary judgment.

James Mendel and Ryan Pittman of Holt Woods & Scisciani LLP recently prevailed on a motion to strike Plaintiff’s request for a trial de novo in Pierce County Superior Court.

For tort defense attorneys, the scenario is hauntingly familiar…and immensely frustrating. The plaintiff in your case is claiming hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical specials, most of which are the result of hospital care, even though the plaintiff’s insurance paid only a fraction of the gross billed charges and the hospital wrote the balance off. And yet at trial, your plaintiff will be able to blackboard as special damages the gross billed charges for their medical care.

Paul Rosner of Soha & Lang, P.S. successfully argued that a $3.7 million stipulated settlement of a lawsuit was unreasonable. The lawsuit stemmed from the alleged sexual abuse of a student by an elementary school teacher. The Court held that the reasonable settlement value was
$450,000.

Washington’s Supreme Court recently issued a decision in Gerlach v. The Cove Apartments, LLC, 196 Wn.2d 111, 471 P.3d 181 (2020), affirming that a plaintiff’s blood alcohol concentration (“BAC”) was only minimally relevant and excluded it pursuant to ER 403 because the plaintiff admitted intoxication.

Prior to adjournment, the Legislature approved a $59 billion operating budget for the next two years and a new transportation budget. The House and Senate also approved some controversial and sharply-divided measures on the last day of the 2021 Legislative Session, including a new Capital Gains Tax, a Cap and Trade program intended to address greenhouse gas emissions, and a bill establishing low carbon fuel standards.

The trial lawyer or appellate lawyer has lived with the case and becomes consumed with the facts and the law. Enlisting an objective appellate analysis can get you and your client out of the weeds and up to a mountain-top view.

By participating in WDTL Roundtables we are able to learn new ways to evaluate cases, new discovery strategies, new strategies being employed by plaintiffs, and new resources or precedent to advance our client’s interests.