Around The Firm

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Steven G. Wraith and Dan Lloyd won summary judgment of dismissal of indemnity and contract claims in Riverfront Landing v. Dale Well Roofing, Inc., a construction-defect claim against a dissolved corporation. Steve and Dan successfully argued for dismissal based on the Washington Corporation Act's limitations period in which to bring a claim against a dissolved corporation. ... Sam B. Franklin and Marc Rosenberg won a Washington Supreme Court decision in Ang v. Hansen, a legal-malpractice case. The Court adopted in Washington the majority rule where the claim of malpractice arises from the lawyer's defense of the client in a criminal case, the client must prove his actual innocence of the crimes in addition to meeting the four standard elements of negligence. … In CNA v. Cadet, Marc Rosenberg won an attorney-fee dispute in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed a federal district-court decision that had denied his request for attorney fees. … In Timson v. Pierce County Fire Protection Dist., Mike Patterson, Marc Rosenberg, and John W. Schedler won summary judgment. Plaintiff, the mother of a girl injured in an auto accident, claimed that she suffered emotional distress when she saw her daughter on the floor of the automobile before the District found her. The court agreed that the plaintiff did not show an exception to the Public Duty Doctrine that would create a duty to her and dismissed the case. … John Schedler and Rosemary J. Moore obtained dismissal of a firefighter's wrongful-termination and due-process claims breaches of a right of representation and a right to due process in Flowers v. Pierce County Fire District No. 17. John and Rosemary argued that these claims required interpretation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, and therefore the firefighter's union had to submit them to arbitration as the CBA's terms required. The union declined to do so. The court would have jurisdiction only if plaintiff also had sued the union, which he had failed to do. Further, there was no evidence that the union had acted arbitrarily or in bad faith, necessary elements of an action against the union. Therefore, the court granted partial summary judgment dismissing these claims. The court also dismissed claims against the individual commissioners because the plaintiff had no claim against them in their individual capacities. ... Patricia K. Buchanan, Rosemary Moore, and Nicholas L. Jenkins won summary judgment of dismissal of Miller v. Estate of Campbell, a sex-abuse action, on the eve of trial. The court agreed that plaintiff sufficiently knew the elements of his claim when he filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1998, so that he had a duty to disclose the potential claim to the bankruptcy trustee. The court rejected plaintiff's argument that the cause of action did not exist in 1998 because plaintiff had not yet obtained medical diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression.

Michael A. Guadagno won summary judgment dismissal of Jacob's Meadow v. Plateau 44 II, LLC, a $450,000 construction-defect claim against a framing subcontractor. Mike argued that the statute permitting survival of such claims did not apply to the general contractor's post-dissolution claims against their client, because the claims were unknown at the time of dissolution. Mike also argued that the fourth-party plaintiff's claims for equitable indemnity and negligent construction should be dismissed. The court agreed and dismissed all claims against the framing subcontractor.