Around The Firm

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Michael A. Patterson, Charles P.E. Leitch, and Daniel G. Lloyd won summary judgment dismissal in Bakay v. Clallam County. Plaintiffs had operated a cattery and claimed violations of numerous constitutional rights after officers seized 68 cats because of inhumane conditions. After successfully moving to dismiss much of plaintiffs' state-law claims for emotional distress damages, Mike, Charles, and Dan obtained dismissal of the remaining federal and state claims, arguing the officers complied with all constitutional guarantees in procuring the search warrant. Plaintiffs elected not to appeal after facing a threat of sanctions. ... Dan Lloyd also won the appeal of Page v. Harvey, a legal-malpractice action. Plaintiff claimed Dan's client had entered into a dissolution settlement agreement without authorization, which the plaintiff alleged caused irreparable harm. After obtaining summary judgment dismissal at the trial court, the defense argued that the doctrines of collateral estoppel, judicial estoppel, and failure of proof mandated affirmance. After a hearing before the Court of Appeals Commissioner, the appellate court affirmed the summary judgment on the merits and dismissed plaintiff's appeal.

Marc Rosenberg won summary judgment of dismissal in Sanborn v. Anchor Bay Ins. Co., an insurance-coverage dispute. … Tammy L. Williams and Pamela J. DeVet won the final round of Padilla v. Merchandising Inventives, Inc., when the Washington Supreme Court denied review of a Court of Appeals decision in their favor. Tammy and Pam had filed a successful motion for summary judgment on behalf of product manufacturer Merchandising Inventives, arguing that plaintiff filed her complaint outside the statute of limitations, notwithstanding the discovery rule. Plaintiff appealed, but the Court of Appeals affirmed the summary judgment, prompting plaintiff to seek review.