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The Lawsuits I See Coming, and the One You're Walking Into Now After years litigating business disputes, you stop hearing new stories. A client calls, starts in on what happened, and within a few minutes I can usually see where it is headed, because I have watched the same handful of mistakes produce the same
Should Your Business Sue? Seven Questions to Ask Before Filing a Lawsuit A strong legal claim can still be a bad lawsuit. A customer refuses to pay, a partner diverts business to a side venture, or a former employee leaves with confidential information. Any of these may support a claim, but that does not settle
“You Were Never Really My Partner”: Proving an Informal Partnership Under Washington Law A missing signature does not mean a missing partnership. In Washington, how people run a business may matter more than the labels they use or the names on the paperwork. Before I ever litigated a partnership dispute, I lost one. I was
Business Litigation: What It Costs, How Long It Takes, and When It Makes Sense At some point in a serious business dispute, someone says, “Maybe we should sue.” The suggestion usually comes after months of frustration. A customer has stopped paying. A partner walked out with the client list and half the staff. A supplier
Washington Bench Trial or Jury Trial? How the Choice Can Change Your Entire Case Most litigants treat the jury demand as a routine filing, one more box to check during the pleading stage. In Washington, that can be a costly mistake. The choice between a bench trial and a jury trial affects how the case
Trade Secrets in the AI Economy: Why Businesses Need Stronger Protection Now For many businesses, the most valuable asset never appears on a balance sheet. It is the information competitors cannot see and cannot easily copy: source code, pricing logic, training methods, customer data, internal workflows, manufacturing processes, supplier knowledge, and the operational know-how that
Washington State Arbitration Clauses: When They Help and When They Hurt The Arbitration Clause Is Not Harmless Boilerplate An arbitration clause is a risk-allocation provision. It can limit discovery, narrow your remedies, increase your costs, and leave you stuck with a bad result. Too many businesses treat arbitration as standard contract language. They should not.
The 8 Biggest Mistakes Foreign Companies Make in U.S. Litigation A foreign company gets sued in the United States and makes a common mistake: it treats the case like an ordinary business dispute. Management assumes the complaint is mostly leverage. Someone decides to wait before involving counsel. Employees start emailing each other about what really
When a Puerto Vallarta Retreat Collides With Cartel Reality: Can You Recover Your Deposit? Recent violence tied to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel has unsettled companies and families planning travel there. For years, Puerto Vallarta has been viewed as a controlled destination for executive retreats and high-end gatherings. When cartel-related violence in Jalisco dominates national
Named in a Lawsuit You Had Nothing to Do With? Getting Out Is Harder Than You Think. You open your email and see a complaint with your name in the caption. You never signed the contract. You never negotiated the deal. You barely knew it existed. Yet you are personally named in a breach of
