Miscellaneous

• Pedestrian Fatality in Othello Highlights Importance of Accident Investigation

  Ryan Nute | February 02, 2008 6:35 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Accidents involving serious injuries or death need to be investigated promptly so that the facts surrounding the accident can be determined before memories or evidence fades.Early Sunday morning Department of Transportation crews were trying to clear snow and ice off major highways in Eastern Washington when one of the snow plows hit and killed a pedestrian. The plow was clearing snow off the...

• Liability for Driver Who "Waves Through" Vehicle or Pedestrian

  Michael Myers | January 29, 2008 8:03 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  We see it all the time. A driver waves another car to "go ahead". Or signals to a pedestrian that it's okay to cross. But what happens if an accident happens? In the following story the injured pedestrian could have a claim against not only the driver who hit him but also the driver who signaled that it was safe for him to cross. A 40-year old pedestrian was hit on Route 99 in Federal Way on...

• Products from China Continue to Harm American Consumers

  Michael Myers | January 25, 2008 10:07 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Retailers selling products from China have been beleaguered by claims arising from defects in the Chinese-made products. One of the most publicized cases involved dog and cat food. We filed the first nationwide class action lawsuit in that case against Menu Foods and the companies that sold tainted pet food. Now another Chinese-made product is harming American consumers, the seemingly...

• Samsung Sued for Faulty Camcorders

  Mark McLean | August 02, 2007 12:16 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Samsung customers recently filed a class-action lawsuit against the company, alleging that it knowingly sold faulty camcorders, forcing customers to pay as much as $150 to fix them.In a lawsuit filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Samsung is accused of ignoring customer complaints that its camcorders with an image sensor device known as a CCD imager...

• Tainted Ginger Recalled from China

  Mark McLean | August 02, 2007 10:51 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  In the latest scandal involving Chinese food exports, tainted ginger has recently been recalled. Apparently, the ginger contained a toxic pesticide.State and federal health officials are now working to determine how the ginger got into this country and how widely it has been sold. It's not the first time that contaminated Chinese ginger has been a problem.U.S. port inspectors in Seattle have...

• Castleberry Foods Recalls Toxic Hot Dog Chili Sauce

  Mark McLean | July 26, 2007 12:03 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Castleberry Foods recently recalled cans of its hot dog chili sauce after the toxic Botulism poison was found in the sauce and caused four hospitalizations. Botulism is similar to Botox in the face--causing a muscle-paralyzing disease that comes from the extremely toxic Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium commonly found in soil.The toxin often originates from under-processed and under-heated...

• Washington State Trial Lawyer Blogs

  Staff Writer | February 24, 2007 12:12 AM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  Thanks to Mary Whisner at the University of Washington School of Law for posting on the state's trial law blogs - with all the new legal "blawgs" launching every day, it's hard to keep track of them all. She mentions this about the blawgs: These blogs vary a lot in how much content they offer, how often they are updated, and the extent to which they appear to be online extensions of billboards...

• Multiple Sources of Recovery--Uncovered Loads

  Michael Myers | September 28, 2006 8:08 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  A young man and his grandfather are the first people in Washington to face criminal charges under a new law punishing drivers who don't tie down a load in their vehicle, leading to a deadly accident.King County prosecutors say a metal shelving unit flew from the back of Clark's pickup truck -- which Clark had helped load but Campbell was driving -- and caused a four-car crash near Shoreline as...

• Woman Receives $1.6 Million--Lack of Informed Consent

  Michael Myers | August 13, 2006 7:01 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  King County Superior Court Judge Jim Rogers presided over a case where jurors awarded $1.75 million to a 26-year-old woman who said she did not give proper consent when a Centralia osteopathic doctor performed a hysterecomy on her three years ago. Medical malpractice laws in Washington were recently rewritten. You should contact an attorney about these changes.

• Older Attorneys and Electronic Calendars

  Michael Myers | August 05, 2006 8:09 PM | 0 CommentsSeattle, WA

  In previous entry, we discussed the challenges faced by older attorneys. Older attorneys frequently find themselves defendants in malpractice actions. This can happen because of a number of factors including failing memories and not keeping up with evolving standards of practice. A related challenge can be calendaring. In the modern law office, almost all calendaring is done electronically. ...