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The Limitations Of Legislatively Imposed Damages Caps: Proposing A Better Way To Control The Costs Of Medical Malpractice, Nancy L. Zisk
The Limitations Of Legislatively Imposed Damages Caps: Proposing A Better Way To Control The Costs Of Medical Malpractice, Nancy L. Zisk
Seattle University Law Review
This Article considers whether state damages caps are constitutional and examines recent studies suggesting that damages caps are not achieving their intended goals. Given the mounting evidence against the effectiveness of damages caps and the questions about their constitutional validity, this Article proposes moving away from legislative caps on damages. Instead, this Article argues for a modified market model based on a combination of improved care, which would include improvements in service; better peer review; and, if necessary, legislation which would be designed to protect the confidentiality of peer review, reduce frivolous lawsuits, and regulate insurance rate increases. Part II …
Improving The Construction And Litigation Resolution Process: The 2005 Amendments To The Washington Condominium Act Are A Win-Win For Homeowners And Developers, Mark F. O'Donnell, David E. Chawes
Improving The Construction And Litigation Resolution Process: The 2005 Amendments To The Washington Condominium Act Are A Win-Win For Homeowners And Developers, Mark F. O'Donnell, David E. Chawes
Seattle University Law Review
On August 1, 2005, significant amendments to the Washington Condominium Act (WCA) became effective. These amendments were intended to substantially reduce water infiltration in multiunit residential buildings and to simplify the condominium construction dispute resolution process. The heart of the amendments is the implementation of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures, as well as fee-shiftingprovisions which require the non-prevailing party to pay the attorney fees and costs of the prevailing party. A decade of lawsuits brought under the WCA by condominium owners associations against builders and developers, and in turn by builders against subcontractors, alleging defects in the ability of the …
Mahler V. Szucs: An Impediment To Interinsurer Arbitration And Affordable Personal Injury Protection Coverage, John R. Nicholson
Mahler V. Szucs: An Impediment To Interinsurer Arbitration And Affordable Personal Injury Protection Coverage, John R. Nicholson
Seattle University Law Review
This Note will demonstrate that the Mahler court's decision will lead to inefficient results, because it has essentially compelled PIP insurers to accept representation by attorneys who have a conflict of interests, precluding such insurers from selecting the best means of recovering their PIP interests. As a result, the price of insurance premiums inevitably will escalate, while providing plaintiffs' attorneys with a windfall of increased fees for performing no additional work for their clients. The following discussion will show not only that the Mahler court holding is inefficient as a matter of public policy, but also that its analysis ignores …
Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson
Employer Liability Under The Third Party Provision Of The Washington Industrial Insurance Act: The Dual Capacity And Dual Persona Doctrines In Evans V. Thompson, Melissa M. Jackson
Seattle University Law Review
Most workers' compensation schemes are designed to provide a swift and sure source of benefits to injured workers by placing on employers the risks and burdens of modern industry. In keeping with this policy, Washington's Industrial Insurance Act2 (IIA) requires injured workers to relinquish the right to sue at common law for damages sustained on the job, and it requires employers to accept liability for a measure of damages set out by the statute. However, if a worker's injuries are caused by the negligence of a third person who is not in the worker's same employ, the IIA's third-party provision …
Manifestation: The Least Defensible Insurance Coverage Theory For Asbestos-Related Disease Suits, Pamela J. Layton
Manifestation: The Least Defensible Insurance Coverage Theory For Asbestos-Related Disease Suits, Pamela J. Layton
Seattle University Law Review
This Note first explains the nature of asbestos diseases, the standard insurance policy language, and the theories of insurance coverage. It then demonstrates the misapplications of medical evidence and contract interpretation principles in Eagle-Picher Industries Inc. v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, and concludes with a discussion of the wider implications of the decision and the better theory suggested by Judge Wald. Because the facts and issues involved in Insurance Company of North America v. Forty-Eight Insulations, Keene Corp. v. Insurance Company of North America, and Eagle-Picher are essentially the same, the conclusions drawn from Eagle-Picher apply equally …
Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton
Mutual Of Enumclaw Insurance Company V. Wiscomb: Excluding The Family Exclusion Clause, Janice L. Campton
Seattle University Law Review
This note examines Mutual of Enumclaw Insurance Company v. Wiscomb. The note supports the court’s decision to prohibit unbargained for family exclusion clauses, because it furthered the policies exemplified in the Financial Responsibility Law and the Underinsured Motorist Statute and acted consistently with its decision abrogating intrafamily tort immunity. However, the note argues that by suggesting it would uphold truly bargained for family exclusion clauses denying coverage to named insureds, the court ignored its own pronouncement declaring such clauses against this state’s policy of assuring compensation for the protection of innocent victims of negligent motorists.