Yesterday the Washington Supreme Court recognized that taxpayers may immediately turn to courts for relief if a municipality ignores a request for a tax refund.  In CMS v. Lakewood, the Court held that the exhaustion of administrative remedies doctrine does not bar a suit for a tax refund if the taxing authority fails to respond to a refund request.  But in so holding, the Court clarified that exhaustion of administrative remedies remains a vital prerequisite to bringing suit, even if it is not a jurisdictional requirement. 
Continue Reading Washington Supreme Court on Tax Refund Suits: You Can’t Exhaust the Already Exhausted

In Stewart Title Guaranty Co. v. Sterling Savings Bank, the State Supreme Court unanimously held that a law firm paid by a title insurer to represent its insured owed a duty of care only to the law firm’s client—the insured—such that the non-client title insurer could not maintain a malpractice action against the attorney.
Continue Reading Wash. S. Ct. Clarifies that Law Firm Paid By Title Insurer to Defend Insured Not Subject to Title Insurer’s Malpractice Claim