Recent News

A cautionary example for Washington businesses: a "manager" title can still lead to overtime liability Many Washington employers assume that paying a salary and giving an employee a "manager" title is enough to treat the role as overtime-exempt. In practice, that assumption can be expensive. A recent lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for… Read More

This is Part 4 of my four‑part series on indemnification clauses. In Part 3, we looked at baskets and caps, the tools that limit when indemnity starts and how far it goes. Now we turn to carve‑outs and survival periods, two concepts that can quietly expand or extend liability. These terms often appear deep in… Read More

This is Part 3 of my four‑part series on indemnification clauses. In Parts 1 and 2, we covered what indemnification is, why it matters, and the red flags that show up most often in Washington contracts. Now we turn to the more advanced tools, the levers sophisticated parties use to control, limit, or allocate risk… Read More

When most people hear “due diligence,” they picture million-dollar deals, corporate boardrooms, and hours upon hours of detailed review. But in reality, due diligence shows up in much smaller—and much more ordinary—places. So, What Is Due Diligence? Due diligence is the level of reasonable care you take before entering into a transaction. In practical terms,… Read More

In this webinar, Attorney C. Michael Kvistad discusses "Indemnity Explained: The Clause That Decides Who Writes the Check" Read More

This is Part 2 of my four‑part series on indemnification clauses. In Part 1, we looked at what indemnification is and why it matters; here, we focus on specific red flags I routinely see in Washington contracts. Indemnification clauses are rarely written in plain English. They’re dense, technical, and often intentionally broad. But buried inside… Read More

This is Part 1 of a four‑part series on indemnification clauses when buying or selling a Washington business. Indemnification clauses are one of the most powerful, and most underestimated, parts of any business contract. In Washington, they routinely determine who pays when something goes wrong, who carries the legal exposure, and how much of that… Read More

In this webinar, Attorney Andrew J. Tingstad discusses "How Do I Get Out of Business with My Business Partner?" Read More

For small and mid-sized businesses, contracts shape nearly every relationship that matters. They govern how companies buy, sell, hire, lease, partner, and grow. When those agreements break down, business owners are often surprised by how quickly a disagreement becomes a lawsuit—and by how Washington courts approach contract disputes. From the perspective of a Washington litigator,… Read More