Case Studies

Barn Destroyed By Spontaneous Combustion

Our client, Thompson, rented his barn in Enumclaw, Washington to a local feed business to store the hay it collected from several surrounding farms. Thompson was not involved in any aspect of the operation—he simply rented space in his barn for hay storage. Thompson was not an expert in hay collection and storage but the feed company was.

The dry hay was stored on the second story of the barn. Wet hay was stored outside on the north wall of the barn under a lean-to roof. In August 1998, the hay on the north wall caught fire, and the barn and all its contents were destroyed.

Accident On Iceberg Ridge

I was hired to defend a man who was sued for negligence in Pierce County Superior Court after colliding with another skier near the top of Crystal Mountain. 

The lawsuit accused my client of skiing out of control and too fast for conditions. The plaintiff argued that my client had a duty to avoid the downhill skier who had the right of way under the Skiing Responsibility Code which is used by many ski resorts throughout North America including Crystal Mountain in Washington.

Parents Sued Over Son’s Accident

I represented the parents and their teenage son who was the at-fault driver in an auto accident that went to jury trial in Pierce County Superior Cout. We conceded that the son was at fault for the accident but argued that the parents were not responsible for their son’s negligence under the Family Car Doctrine.

for Profit Colleges - Buyer Beware

I represented more than 85 students who had enrolled in Medical Assistant and Medical Laboratory Assistant programs at a certain “for profit” college owned and operated by a large corporation headquartered out of state and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The students had taken out large federal loans to pay for the nine to twelve month programs which turned out to be very different than advertised. Among other things, the school misrepresented its national accreditation, its job placement rates, and the transferability of its credits. Many students were told near the end of the program that they had to find and arrange their own clinical externships to graduate on time or be rolled back to the next class and pay more tuition. Some students were expelled for getting sick or missing class and there were no refunds.

Battling Brown Water

My clients received their household drinking water from wells owned and operated by a private water company. The clients and many others in the area who received water from the same wells were getting recurrent brown water that looked and tasted bad, and stained clothing, sinks, bathtubs, and toilets.