The Stoel Rives Appellate Law Blog
Via my colleague Jennie Bricker.
A registered student organization of Oregon State University published a conservative monthly newspaper, the Liberty, as an alternative to the well-established, traditional paper, the Daily Barometer. Asserting enforcement of an unwritten policy governing placement of newsbins on campus, OSU officials removed the Liberty’s distribution bins from seven campus locations—but left…
Via my colleague Kristina Ash.
As a general rule, when a testamentary instrument creates a trust for the benefit of a surviving spouse, the trust property would be included in the deceased spouse’s estate and would not qualify for a marital deduction. Federal tax law contains an exception to this general rule by allowing an…
The Greater Wenatchee Regional Events Center Public Facilities District (the “District”) is a municipal corporation formed by the city of Wenatchee and other cities and counties to finance, construct, and operate the Greater Wenatchee Regional Events Center. In 2011, the District proposed to Wenatchee that the parties enter into a Contingent Loan Agreement (“CLA”) to…
Summary authored by Melissa White of Cozen O’Connor.
An employee of Best Plumbing Group, LLC cut a pressurized sewage pipe, causing sewage to escape into the home of James Bird. Efforts to repair the pipe were not successful and sewage continued to escape for eight months, resulting in hillside instability and toxic mold. Mr. Bird…
Steven Schroeder formerly owned a 200-acre ranch in Stevens County. When he defaulted on the loan, Excelsior Mortgage filed an action to judicially foreclose its deed of trust and, eventually, negotiated to foreclose nonjudicially. The nonjudicial foreclosure process culminated in a trustee’s sale at which Excelsior purchased the property. Following the purchase, Schroeder did not…
Michael and Theresa Annechino had a long-standing banking relationship with the Bank of Clark County. Before the events at issue, the Annechino had an approximately $1,150,000 balance at the Bank. Additionally, Mr. Annechino was an investor with the Bank. Shortly after the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) increased its coverage for deposit accounts, the Annechinos’…
Pursuant to RCW 4.12.010(1), an action for injuries to real property “shall be commenced in the county in which the subject of the action or some part thereof, is situated.” William Ralph and William Forth instituted actions in King County Superior Court against the Department of Natural Resources and other defendants for injuries to real…
The City of Seattle, by ordinance adopted in 2010, requires publishers of yellow pages directories to obtain permits and pay a fee for each directory distributed in the city. It also maintains an opt-out registry through which residents can decline to receive directories. Distributors are required by the same ordinance to advertise the availability of…
Bi-Mor operates various business entities that advertise their prices as including all applicable sales taxes and claims that it is absorbing the tax. For accounting purposes, Bi-Mor manually calculates the applicable sales tax based on the tender paid by the buyer and remits that amount to the Department of Revenue – commonly called “backing out”…
The City of Bellevue employed Raum as a firefighter for more than 19 years. Over the course of his career, Raum was evaluated several times for smoke inhalation at the scene of a fire. Sometime in 2008, Raum began experiencing chest pain. He experienced such pain three different times while at work. After the third…
