Recent News

Over the past week, Washington has continued to progress quickly through the “Safe Start Washington” phased re-opening plan.  Entering this week, the state had granted early entry variances to ten low density counties to enter Phase 2.  Those counties included Asotin, Columbia, Ferry, Garfield, Lincoln, Pend Oreille, Skamania, Stevens, Wahkiakum and Whitman counties.  That left… Read More

Seattle has long had a reputation for tenant-friendly regulations.  In the wake of COVID-19, starting in March 2020, Seattle took several actions culminating in a lengthy moratorium on certain evictions.   On May 6, 2020, Mayor Durkan signed into law a bill unanimously passed by the Seattle City Council (full text here: https://seattle.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4427723&GUID=0651D7FC-E708-40E6-8AFA-090008E8C4A4&FullText=1), known as Ordinance 126075, which… Read More

Countless private individuals and small and medium-sized business leaders are querying the legal basis of Washington Governor Inslee’s Emergency Orders now that epidemiological experts agree we have “flattened the curve.”  The suspicion over partisan political motives has increased exponentially with the Washington Department of Health (DoH) data showing this particular coronavirus, a severe acute respiratory… Read More

King County has provided funding to the Historic South Downtown Community Preservation & Development Authority (HSD), an agency created by the State of Washington to promote and preserve Seattle’s Pioneer Square and International District Neighborhoods.  The HSD will issue grants to nonprofit organizations that provide programming and services, or that provide direct support to small… Read More

Recently, the Small Business Administration (“SBA”) released a new application for businesses to apply for loan forgiveness if they received a Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”) loan.  The application is helpful as it provides insight as to how forgiveness will be calculated.  You can find the application here. However, many business owners still hold questions regarding… Read More

In response to the postponement of the 2020 Major League Soccer season due to COVID-19, the RAVE Foundation has established the Seattle Sounders FC Relief Fund to assist individuals and small businesses in neighborhoods near CenturyLink Field.  Grants will be made on a rolling and ongoing basis contingent upon the availability of funds. Eligible individuals… Read More

The “applicable exclusion amount” is the amount of a deceased person’s estate that passes free of Washington estate tax.  This differs from the unlimited marital deduction that applies when one spouse dies and transfers his or her interest in property to their surviving spouse.  In 2013, the state of Washington amended the statute concerning the… Read More

When parties enter into a contract, they usually assume the contract will be performed.  But what happens in the event of a breach?  The default is for a dispute to spawn litigation if the parties cannot resolve it on their own.  Ordinarily the non-breaching party must establish with reasonable certainty their actual damages to obtain… Read More

Yesterday, I wrote about the quick progress Washington has seen since the implementation of the “Safe Start Washington” plan.  I focused on (1) the industries re-opened across Washington in Phase 1 and the requirements for businesses operating in those industries, (2) the 8 low density counties that have already advanced to Phase 2, and (3)… Read More