The Spokane County Superior Court recently rejected several health care providers’ attempt to characterize their involvement in misdiagnosing a patient with cancer by claiming that the second opinions they provided to the patient’s treating health care provider were part of an internal quality review. The claims against the health care providers were originally dismissed on summary judgment. On reconsideration, the Court concluded that summary judgment was granted in error. While health care providers are immune from liability for their quality review activities, when they are serving a dual p ..read more

Since 1996, there has been a lack of clarity in Washington regarding when businesses are liable for injuries to customers. The Supreme Court was divided over whether business owners are subject to liability for injuries resulting from reasonably foreseeable dangerous conditions on the business premises, or whether the business owner had to have actual or constructive notice of the dangerous condition. The difference between the two standards of liability is whether the business owner should anticipate the dangerous condition (reasonable foreseeability) versus whether the bu ..read more

Contrary to popular opinion, lawyers cannot charge whatever they want for their services. Fees must always be reasonable and are subject to review by courts and the bar association because the practice of law is a profession rather than a business. In a recent case, a Grant County Superior Court judge awarded clients of Ahrend Law Firm all of the fees they incurred in the case, and twice described the fees charged by Ahrend Law Firm as “extremely reasonable.”  2021-01-29-Ord-Awding-Fees-CostsDownload 2021-02-10-Partial-VRP-of-hrg-awding-fees-and-costsDownload The post Court finds fees cha ..read more

Allegations of sexual abuse against a 90-year-old priest, Fr. Seamus Kerr, who has faithfully served the Yakima Diocese since the early 1960s (and continues to serve) have been withdrawn and legal claims based on the allegations have been dismissed. A formal written apology has been issued by the claimant and the lawyers who represented him.  20210106_130238_OCRDownload The post Allegations of sexual abuse against Catholic priest withdrawn and apology issued appeared first on Ahrend Law PLLC | (509) 764-9000 ..read more

Normally, the documents necessary to begin a lawsuit must be delivered to the defendant’s residence address. In Yoseph v. Leonardi, the Court of Appeals reversed the dismissal of a lawsuit against a defendant who claimed to maintain no residence where she could be served with the complaint because her job required her to move between multiple locations. Ahrend Law Firm was retained to handle the appeal of the dismissal. Copy of DecisionDownload The post Appellate court rejects Defendant’s attempt to avoid service of process appeared first on Ahrend Law PLLC | (509) 764-9000 ..read more

In a published decision, the Washington Court of Appeals held that false testimony by a former City of Seattle police officer is admissible in a case brought by an innocent young woman who was rendered quadriplegic by an improper police pursuit, allowing her request for a new trial to proceed. The City was previously found not responsible for her injuries, based on the officer’s false testimony. However, the officer later committed suicide, apparently because of guilt about perjuring himself in the case. After discovering the officer had admitted the perjury to fellow officers before committin ..read more

One of the thorniest issues in personal injury litigation can be sorting out the damages caused by a motor vehicle collision from preexisting injuries. If the injured person suffered from a preexisting injury that was causing some amount of pain or disability at the time of the collision, then the injured person is only able to recover damages for the degree to which the pain or disability was aggravated by the collision. If, however, the injured person suffered from a preexisting injury that was not causing any symptoms at the time of the collision, then the injured person is generally entitl ..read more

George Ahrend has been appointed Special Deputy Prosecuting Attorney for Stevens County, Washington, in order to bring suit against Stevens County Commissioners for unconstitutional gifts of public funds and resist the Commissioners’ attempts to obtain counsel at public expense. The Washington State Auditor’s Office previously determined that the Commissioners had violated the constitutional provisions against gifts of public funds when they reimbursed constituents for the costs of repairing a flood damaged home site and contributed toward the cost of construction of a residence for a constitu ..read more

Innocent passenger rendered quadriplegic as a result of an improper police pursuit seeks a new trial after pursuing officer admits to perjury and commits suicide A young woman was rendered quadriplegic in a motor vehicle collision caused by negligent police pursuit of a vehicle in which she was riding as a passenger. She filed suit against the driver of the vehicle, the City of Seattle, and two city police officers involved in the pursuit. The City and its officers admitted, and the court ruled, that the injured woman was completely innocent and fault-free. The City and its officers further ad ..read more

At the Catholic Bar Association’s Annual Conference in St. Louis, Missouri on October 4-6, 2019, George Ahrend was elected President for 2019-2020.  He previously served as Vice President and Co-Chair of the association’s Advocacy Committee.  The Catholic Bar Association is a community of legal professionals that educates, organizes, and inspires its members to faithfully uphold and bear witness to the Catholic faith in the study and practice of law.  For more information see www.catholicbar.org The post George Ahrend is elected President of the Catholic Bar Association appeared ..read more