Overlawyered » Washington state

Disagree with your AG? Sue him.

Walter Olson — Fri, 04 May 2012 04:18:10 +0000

Rob McKenna, attorney general of the state of Washington, is among many state AGs who has joined in courtroom challenges to ObamaCare. Now a local “public interest” law firm, Smith & Lowney, has sued McKenna on behalf of a group of residents who disagree with that decision, saying he is breaching his duty to represent the state’s citizenry by taking a view contrary to theirs. [KOMO]

Tags: attorneys general, politics, Washington state

Disagree with your AG? Sue him. is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Spokane: we won’t pay off cop over DUI hit-run

Walter Olson — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 04:49:11 +0000

“The Spokane City Council voted [unanimously Feb. 27] against a settlement in which a Spokane police officer fired in 2009 after a DUI and hit and run, would have been rehired and received $275,000. … Councilmember Mike Fagan said during the City Council meeting, ‘I not only say no, but I say hell no.’” [KREM] Attorney Bob Dunn, representing former officer Brad Thoma, said “his client was fired after the city refused to accommodate Thoma following a doctor’s diagnosis of alcoholism. ‘Disability law clearly identifies that alcoholism is just that a disability. Washington follows the ADA.’ The case started in 2009 when Thoma hit another vehicle while driving drunk then fled the scene.” Dunn said he would file a $4 million suit on behalf of Thoma. [same]

Tags: alcohol, disabled rights, police, Washington state

Spokane: we won’t pay off cop over DUI hit-run is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Staffer asks $1.75 M for exposure to difficult WA lawmaker

Walter Olson — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 04:11:45 +0000

“OLYMPIA — A Senate Republican senior attorney is seeking a $1.75 million settlement from the state, saying that Senate Republicans have created a hostile work environment by allowing Sen. Pam Roach back into the caucus in exchange for a vital vote on their budget plan last month. … Roach was banned from the Republican caucus two years ago after an investigation concluded that she had mistreated staff.” [Seattle Times]

Tags: hostile environment, Washington state

Staffer asks $1.75 M for exposure to difficult WA lawmaker is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

March 7 roundup

Walter Olson — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 05:06:46 +0000

Ray LaHood’s forgotten predecessor: “How One Bureaucrat Almost Succeeded in Banning Car Radios” [Mike Riggs, Reason]
“Some Recent Nonsense on Freedom of Religion in the Times” [Paul Horwitz, Prawfs]
Choice of Ben Stein as speaker for ABA Tech Show raises eyebrows [Derek Bambauer, InfoLaw]
“Oblivion video game ‘Abomb” becomes federal lawsuit” [Abnormal Use]
Tort causation: “Probability for thee, mere possibility for me” [David Oliver]
Washington state says it won’t pay for “unnecessary” Medicaid ER visits. Can you see the unintended consequences coming? [White Coat]
Utah says family can’t fundraise for son’s legal defense without permit [Standard-Examiner via Balko]

Tags: autos, Ben Stein, churches, emergency medicine, Utah, videogames, Washington state

March 7 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Great moments in jail litigation

Walter Olson — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 13:23:52 +0000

Washington: “Lawyers on Monday spent more than two hours arguing over whether a woman charged with aggravated murder should have access to coffee, tea, Cocoa Puffs and candy bars while she’s locked up in the Snohomish County Jail.” [Diana Hefley, "Murder suspect wants Cocoa Puffs in jail," Everett Herald]

Tags: prisoners, Washington state

Great moments in jail litigation is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

SEIU to Washington legislators: raise taxes or we’ll keep suing you

Walter Olson — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 05:02:29 +0000

“Washington [the state] is getting hit with so many lawsuits over budget cuts that it’s not clear at times who controls the state’s purse strings: lawmakers or the court system. … Overall, the state has been sued more than a dozen times because of cuts lawmakers made in recent years to curtail state spending and balance the budget.” A spokesman for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), one of the groups suing the state over cuts, describes program cuts as “violating people’s rights” and says the state should raise revenue if it doesn’t want to be sued. [Seattle Times] (& Bainbridge).

Tags: labor unions, public employment, taxpayers, Washington state

SEIU to Washington legislators: raise taxes or we’ll keep suing you is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

Food co-op sued after joining Israel boycott

Walter Olson — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 14:43:36 +0000

After the Olympia Food Co-op in Washington removed products from Israel from its shelves, it was sued by several members who claimed that it had violated its bylaws. “A motion filed by attorneys with Davis Wright Tremaine in Seattle and by attorneys with the Center for Constitutional Rights asserts that the lawsuit is a ‘Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation,’” banned under a Washington statute; one of the attorneys who filed the suit says “it is ‘absolutely, positively not’ a SLAPP suit.” [The Olympian, more here and here]

Tags: Israel, lawfare, Washington state

Food co-op sued after joining Israel boycott is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Cartoonist Faces Prosecution for Videos Mocking Police”

Walter Olson — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 14:33:20 +0000

The story everyone’s talking about: if you wanted a definitive example of the dangers of overbroad “cyber-stalking” statutes, here you go. [WSJ Law Blog, Balko, Volokh, Reason, Popehat]

Tags: art and artists, online speech, police, Washington state

“Cartoonist Faces Prosecution for Videos Mocking Police” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

“Twisted ethics of an expert witness”

Walter Olson — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 06:09:43 +0000

Horrifying Seattle Times investigation:

For a quarter century [Stuart] Greenberg testified as an expert in forensic psychology, an inscrutable field with immense power. Purporting to offer insight into the human condition, he evaluated more than 2,000 children, teenagers and adults. His word could determine which parent received custody of a child, or whether a jury believed a claim of sexual assault, or what damages might be awarded for emotional distress. …

His peers elected him their national president. But his formidable career was built upon a foundation of hypocrisy and lies.

Tags: child custody, expert witnesses, psychiatry, Washington state

“Twisted ethics of an expert witness” is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system

February 21 roundup

Walter Olson — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 11:48:33 +0000

Estate of Anna Nicole Smith may sue over opera based on her life [Daily Mail via Surber, other Daily Mail]
Maryland Department of Environment: yep, we put tracking devices on Eastern Shore watermen’s boats [Red Maryland]
Trial lawyers’ federal contributions went 97% to Dems last cycle [Freddoso, Examiner]
$6.5 million for family abuse: unusual sovereign-exposure law costs Washington taxpayers again [PoL]
Canadian court: no, we can’t and won’t waive loser-pays for needy litigants who lose cases [Erik Magraken]
CPSC considers mandating “SawStop” technology [Crede, background]
Gun groups alarmed over ATF pick [Chicago Tribune]
Jury blames hit-run death on wheelchair curb cut [four years ago on Overlawyered]

Tags: Canada, CPSC, environment, guns, loser pays, Maryland, music and musicians, politics, right of publicity, sovereign immunity, Washington state

February 21 roundup is a post from Overlawyered - Chronicling the high cost of our legal system