Recent Blog Posts
CASE REVIEW: KELLOGG V. NAT. RAILROAD PASSENGER CORP.
This week’s case review looks at a fairly recent Washington State Supreme Court decision related to who should qualify as the beneficiary in a Washington wrongful death action. Specifically, the case of Kellogg v. Nat. Railroad Passenger Corp., 504 P.3rd 796 (February 24, 2022). James Hamre died when an Amtrak passenger train derailed in DuPont,… Read More »
CASE REVIEW: MANGAN V. LAMAR
We have previously discussed the process for appealing a mandatory arbitration award. (click here). Generally, at least in personal injury cases, appeals are initiated by the defense side, and not by plaintiffs. The likely reasons for that disparate pattern are suggested in the prior blog referenced above. This blog will focus on one specific provision… Read More »
ON LEGAL SELF-HELP OPTIONS
If you have a legal problem, your best course of action is probably always going to be to hire an experienced attorney to assist you with it. If you are convinced you cannot afford to do so, however, or if for some reason you are unwilling to do so, it may help you to… Read More »
UNMANNED COMMERCIAL DELIVERY DRONES
In Bob Dylan’s title track to his album of ballads in 1964, he warbled, “Oh the times, they are a changin’ ”. We recently blogged about Waymo’s autonomous cars (here) and John Deere’s driverless tractors (here). Now, we have “Wing” by Alphabet (the parent company of Google and Waymo), which has produced an unmanned… Read More »
NEW CLARK COUNTY DISTRICT COURT LIVE VERSUS REMOTE APPEARANCE POLICY
Clark County District Court has announced a newly-promulgated “remote” versus “in-person” District Court docket policy. It will take effect commencing May 1, 2022. Essentially, in terms of civil cases, all appearances will be remote, except for small claims court case appearances, and civil trials. The stated objective includes retaining remote appearances for scheduling and… Read More »
DRIVERLESS VEHICLES AND LIABILITY
We have recently written about “driverless vehicles”. For older Schauermann Thayer blogs on the subject, click here and here. In any event, one thing that still needs to be seriously looked at by the state Legislatures is: What happens when a driverless vehicle causes injuries to persons or property? The general rule, now, is that liability attaches to… Read More »
DRIVERLESS TRACTORS
In light of the volume of vehicular crash cases handled by the attorneys at our law firm, we have long had an interest in the subject of if and when there might be any real deployment of driverless vehicles for regular usage in this country. For older Schauermann Thayer blogs on the subject, click here and here…. Read More »
SCHAUERMANN THAYER COVID-19 POLICY UPDATE
Recent releases from the CDC indicate that masks and social distancing may no longer be as critical with a population that is increasingly better protected by antibodies or vaccination, and a loosening of public health guidelines is thus occurring as we speak. Governor Inslee has declared that effective March 12, 2022, Washington State will… Read More »
IF WE LOSE AT MANDATORY ARBITRATION IN WASHINGTON, CAN WE APPEAL?
On this blog, we’ve covered what an arbitration is, what the Washington limits are and when an arbitration happens in a personal injury case. One important question is: “If we lose at mandatory arbitration in Washington, can we appeal?” The short answer is “yes”, but let’s illustrate why that might not be the best and most complete answer, depending… Read More »
FEDERAL COURT UPDATE: WESTERN DISTRICT OF WASHINGTON TO REINSTATE IN-PERSON TRIALS EFFECTIVE MARCH 12, 2022
As we are seeing with a number of other courts, given “… the reduction in the average daily number of individuals testing positive and COVID-19 related hospitalizations…”, the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, has ordered that, effective soon, it will likewise allow somewhat of a return to more “normal” court procedures. … Read More »
