Washington

$700K Client Comp Case in Wash. State Ups Annual Fee Ante for All Attorneys

In the largest compensation claim ever paid by the Washington State Bar Association’s client protection fund as a result of misconduct by a single lawyer, clients of former attorney Barry Hammer are to receive $700,000. Hammer, 62, has surrendered his license and was sentenced to three years in federal prison…

Dec 19, 2008 7:41 PM CST

Man With Dementia, 91, Can Stand Trial, Judge Finds

Although Joe Conway Elder has dementia and some delusions, the 91-year-old is competent to stand trial in a second-degree murder case for allegedly shooting to death a staffer at the adult care home at which he was living, a judge in Pierce County, Wash., decided today. In a written ruling,…

Dec 11, 2008 8:49 PM CST

Wash. Justice Now Admits ‘Tyrant’ Outburst During Mukasey Speech

Washington State Supreme Court Justice Richard Sanders now admits he stood and called Attorney General Michael Mukasey a “tyrant” during a speech last week, but he says some time elapsed before the attorney general collapsed. Sanders told the Seattle Times that he spoke up after hearing Mukasey defend Bush administration…

Nov 26, 2008 12:05 PM CST

Stoel Rives Opens Alaska Office with Heller Lawyers

Stoel Rives is opening an Anchorage, Alaska, office staffed largely with lawyers from the dissolving law firm Heller Ehrman. Four Heller lawyers based in Anchorage will be joining the office, including Heller’s former Anchorage managing partner Jim Torgerson, who will have the same role in the Stoel Rives office, according…

Nov 12, 2008 4:19 PM CST

Lawyer Accuses Opponent of Disdainful Stares in Candidate’s Deposition

A gubernatorial candidate in Washington maintained he didn’t violate campaign finance laws during a deposition Wednesday that was marked more by the lawyers’ rancorous disagreements than revealing testimony. The Seattle Times reviewed the transcript. “There were raised voices, stare-downs, threats to call a judge, accusations of defamation, orders not to…

Oct 30, 2008 6:03 PM CDT

Charges Dropped Against Lawyer Who Wouldn’t Show ID

A Washington judge dismissed charges this week against a lawyer who was arrested at an anti-war protest when he refused to produce identification for police to review. Legrand Jones, of Olympia, Wash., was jailed in July during a protest held at the Port of Tacoma, the News Tribune reports. William…

Oct 24, 2008 8:45 PM CDT

Perkins Coie, Davis Wright Expecting Big Revenues From Heller Hires

Perkins Coie wooed Heller Ehrman’s entire Madison, Wis. office, including 16 intellectual property litigators and 10 staffers, with its winning bid in an auction-style process the Am Law Daily reports. Three lawyers have delayed start dates because of conflicts. In an unusual move, the former Heller partners entertained bids from…

Oct 20, 2008 8:37 PM CDT

WaMu is Being Investigated by FBI

Add Washington Mutual Bank to a list of major corporate failures that are being investigated by the FBI. The FBI had been secretly looking into the bank’s operations for months. However, it went public yesterday with the investigation because WaMu depositors, having already seen the institution become the biggest bank…

Oct 16, 2008 9:12 PM CDT

Wash. State to Monitor All Violent Sex Offenders When Released, via GPS

The state of Washington plans to monitor electronically all newly released sex offenders considered potentially violent, for at least the first 30 days. The Global Positioning System tracking bracelets that the “Level 3” convicted sex offenders will wear on their ankles allow state Department of Corrections employees to keep an…

Oct 1, 2008 7:26 PM CDT

Wash. High Court Allows Brain Harvesting Claim to Move Forward

The Washington Supreme Court on Thursday revived a suit brought by a mother who objected to the removal of her deceased son’s brain for medical research. Nancy Adams’ son Jesse Smith was an organ donor. But when Adams gave permission for a pathologist to take a sample of Smith’s brain…

Sep 26, 2008 1:21 PM CDT

Seattle Police Uniform Won’t Include Wearable Video Cameras

It seemed like a good idea to some: Police in Seattle would wear small video cameras to record crime scenes and their interactions with suspects during arrests. However, the idea, which was briefly tested late last month, raised privacy concerns—both for suspects, and for police, whose every work-shift word and…

Sep 18, 2008 9:14 PM CDT

Jurors Read Newspaper in Jury Room; Judge Voids Verdict

Jurors in a medical malpractice case against a prominent Washington state physician accused of abusing his minor patients weren’t told at trial about an important issue concerning the plaintiffs’ damages. If they determined that he had communicated with minors for immoral purposes, the plaintiffs could get attorney fees. But they…

Sep 17, 2008 8:57 PM CDT

Woman Who Registered Pooch to Vote is Out of Legal Doghouse

It started out as a protest of what Jan Balogh thought were lax voter registration standards. But it turned into a drawn-out legal ordeal that finally ended this week when a judge dismissed misdemeanor false statement charges against her. So what was the alleged crime? Balogh used an old utility…

Aug 26, 2008 9:37 PM CDT

Judge Under Fire for Drunken Driving Rulings Says Transfer was Punishment

A judge under fire for his handling of drunken driving cases says he was moved to Seattle from another King County court as punishment. Judge Peter Nault will hear only civil cases in his new post, the Seattle Times reports. The change was made after prosecutors in Redmond challenged Nault’s…

Aug 25, 2008 5:55 PM CDT

New Law Allows Prior-Act Evidence in Wash. Child Molestation Trial

Roger Alan Scherner, 79, allegedly molested multiple relatives over a period of decades, according to court records. But he was never prosecuted, until now, after being charged with molesting a 7-year-old relative during a family vacation in 2002. And his case, which is now at trial in King County, is…

Aug 20, 2008 5:15 PM CDT