Recent News

The City of Mukilteo recently announced a Coronavirus grant program designed to help relieve those small businesses specifically based in Mukilteo-based.  Detailed information about the application process, eligibility requirements, and allowed uses of grant funds can be found at https://mukilteowa.gov/mukilteo-cares-for-businesses-program/. The Mukilteo City Council has authorized the use of $150,000 of federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief… Read More

Often the harshest business disputes are those taking place where there ought to be the most love: in the midst of family. That is the context of this week’s case, which is the culmination of 10+ years of familial issues: Kesselring v. Kesselring, No 78764-1-I, 2020 WL 1675788 (Wn. App. Apr. 6, 2020). Highlighted in… Read More

– what happens when your long-term partner dies, but you were never officially married. You built a life together. Lived in and improved the same home, shared your money, worked together to pay bills and invest, and maybe raised some kids. Then, tragically, your partner dies… without a will (called dying “intestate”). In Washington, only… Read More

What is the Act? Public support for physician-assisted death (also known as medical aid-in-dying or death with dignity) has ebbed and flowed over the years.  In Washington, however, support for such legislation culminated in the passage of the Washington Death with Dignity Act, Initiative 1000 (RCW 70.245, or the “Act”) in November of 2008, effective… Read More

The sale of an interest in an LLC and fiduciary duties in the context of such a sale were the subject of a recent Washington Court of Appeals decision Tersuli Construction Services, LLC v. Miletich, No 78906-6-I, 2020 WL 3268044 (Wn. App. May 18, 2020). The LLC and Membership Buy-Out Tersuli is a dispute between… Read More

I doubt anyone will ever put a TV show together based on business entity law.  My suspicion is that a large percentage of the viewing population would consider it too “boring.”  I beg to differ, and this week’s post on the King and Mockovak dispute supports my view.  When you read King and Mockovak Eye… Read More

In a recent news story (see this video from Inside Edition: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAxpCbUSmrk), a Maine man decided to cut his neighbor’s garage in half after learning from a survey that the garage encroached on the man’s property.  It is a common misconception that just because records show land belongs to someone, that person has the unfettered right… Read More

A bar association, such as the Washington State Bar Association (“WSBA”), or the American Bar Association (“ABA”) is a professional body of lawyers. But where did the term “Bar” come from?  Here are a couple of theories on the subject. Most authorities contend it refers to a traditional courtroom which includes a railing or bar… Read More

As a member of the drafting committee of Washington’s LLC Act, RCW 25.15 (the “Act”), I know the difficulty associated with drafting. The committee spent years pouring over the Act and continues to work to improve it.  One of the issues that has provided some difficulty is an apparent contradiction between the dissociation provisions of… Read More