News

By Gene Barton The headlines could not be missed. “Court redefines parenthood,” The Seattle Times told us across the top of the front page of its November 4 issue. But in reading through some 50 inches of copy trying to find  out why the Washington Supreme Court had granted parental rights to a lesbian who…

Reprinted with permission of the King County Bar Association By Diana K. Carey On June 10, 2004, a comprehensive receivership statute took effect in Washington.  Its intent was to give greater guidance to the bench and bar on the powers and duties of a receiver, in some cases codifying existing receivership law and, in other…

The main provisions of the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (“BAPCPA”, aka the Bankruptcy Reform Act) went into effect on October 17. But its impacts were felt earlier. Anticipating the new law and perceived restrictions on debtors, there was an unprecedented flurry of bankruptcy filings, primarily by  consumer debtors, in the weeks leading…

Reprinted with permission of the King County Bar Association By Gene Barton The Judicial Conference — the policy-making body of the federal  judiciary — has endorsed a controversial rule change that would allow  citation to unpublished opinions in federal appeals courts nationwide beginning in 2007. The conference wrapped up its work on the issue in…

By Sarah Kaltsounis Vegetarians and vegans quickly become accustomed to dealing  with exasperated fellow shoppers whenever we visit the grocery  store. We tend to block the aisles as we pore over food labels to see whether an item is okay for us to eat: “Is there chicken broth in  this soup? How about the Caesar salad…

Reprinted with permission of the King County Bar Association By Gene Barton When Jill Doty, a volunteer fire fighter for the Town of South Prairie,  was injured while responding to a call, she sued the town for  negligence. The trial court dismissed her suit, holding that the employer  immunity provision of Washington’s Industrial Insurance Act …

By Gene Barton On August 8, 1997, Paula Joyce was killed in a traffic accident in Tacoma. She died when her small pickup truck was rammed by a  stolen Chevrolet Suburban that had been careening along city streets at  up to 70 miles an hour. A toxicology report showed that the auto thief, Vernon Valdez…