News & Updates
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New Federal Court Case Tests the Limits of Washington Supreme Court Ruling in Keodalah and Allows Some Claims Against Adjusters to Proceed in State Court.
As many of you likely recall, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the statutory extra-contractual claims asserted against an employee-adjuster on October 3, 2019 in Keodalah v. Allstate, 194 Wn.2d 339, 449 P.3d 1040 (2019). However,...
Resources, Updates & Articles
Insurers Face Increased Pressure to Expedite Wildfire Claims Due to Notice from Insurance Commissioner
While we all continue to deal with the effects and impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, the western part of our country is now experiencing almost unprecedented wildfires. Over the last two weeks, the west coast has been devastated by wildfires with more than 4.7...
Remembering Victims and Survivors
On the anniversary of September 11, 2001, we at Lether Law Group stand united in remembering the victims and survivors of the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C. In light of those events, and the challenges still present today, we especially give thanks for our...
JPML Denies Move to Create MDL for COVID-19 Business Interruption Lawsuits
Earlier today, the Panel for Multi-District Litigation issued an Order denying consolidation of hundreds business interruption coverage lawsuits related to COVID-19. The Panel held that the allegedly common issues supporting consolidation, “share only a superficial...
Oregon Supreme Court Strikes Down $500,000 Non-Economic Damages Cap for Personal Injury Claims as Unconstitutional
On July 9, 2020, the Oregon Supreme Court issued its Opinion in Busch v. McInnis Waste Sys., Inc., Case No. SC S066098. Five of the seven justices representing the majority held that the $500,000 cap on non-economic damages for personal injury claims was...
Washington Insurance Commissioner Releases New Guidance to Businesses in Light of Recent Events
On June 3, 2020, Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kriedler advised Washington State business owners to contact their insurance providers as soon as possible if they have experienced loss or damage in association with recent occurrences of looting and vandalism...
New Federal Court Case Tests the Limits of Washington Supreme Court Ruling in Keodalah and Allows Some Claims Against Adjusters to Proceed in State Court.
As many of you likely recall, the Washington Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of the statutory extra-contractual claims asserted against an employee-adjuster on October 3, 2019 in Keodalah v. Allstate, 194 Wn.2d 339, 449 P.3d 1040 (2019). However,...
Washington Update
As we all continue to deal with the social, commercial, and legal fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, the world continues to turn. Lether Law Group hopes everyone is staying safe, healthy and positive. New Washington Regulation In non-coronavirus news, the Washington...
Continuing Developments with Business Interruption Claims
While we all continue to strive for a sense of normalcy in the midst of the ever-changing COVID-19 crisis, new arguments in support of purported coverage for COVID-19 related Business Interruption claims continue to emerge. One such recent argument is based on the...
Life Returns to Normal (Almost) on Lake Union
As we enter day 29 of the Washington State shutdown order, it appears that the worst of the COVID-19 crisis in Seattle may be behind us. The weather in April has been fantastic. There have been sunny, clear days over the Emerald City. Boats, paddleboards, and kayakers...
COVID-19 Update
As the COVID-19 crisis continues to impact every aspect of our personal and professional lives, Lether Law Group is continuing to monitor any and all new developments that may impact our clients. To the extent that you have any questions or would like to discuss any...
Insurance – An Essential Service
The State of Washington has recently clarified its list of essential services which are permitted to remain open during the current health crisis. That notification clarifies that insurance is considered an “essential service”. See notification link below. We...
Washington State Insurance Commissioner’s COVID-19 Letter
As we at Lether Law Group and the rest of Washington State enter our second day of Washington State’s Stay-at-Home Order, we hope all of you are staying safe, practicing social distancing, and doing as well as you can in these tough times. Lether Law Group is keeping...
Technically Closed, but Open for Business
Based upon the Washington State Executive Order requiring all non-essential businesses to close, the Lether Law Group’s physical offices will be closed for the next two (2) weeks. The firm has been anticipating this development over the past several weeks. As a...
COVID-19 UPDATE
In the mere days since our last newsletter, the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak have undergone several seismic shifts. Lether Law Group is continuing to monitor the situation in order to develop swift and accurate responses to any questions that...
Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update
The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused a significant health crisis throughout the world. The health concerns and public response to this catastrophe have been overwhelming. The potential economic impact of this crisis has yet to be fully addressed. At Lether...
A Washington Court Rejects an Argument for Expansion of “Material Change” Rule Relating to the Obligation of an Insurer to Re-Offer Previously Rejected PIP Coverage
Personal Injury Protection (PIP) coverage is a product of statute in Washington. RCW 48.22.085. The statute requires insurers to offer PIP coverage for any new policy issued in Washington. However, the insured is not required to accept PIP coverage. Regarding...
Lether Law Group Continues to Grow as it Announces the Addition of Two New Employees
Lether Law Group is pleased to announce the addition of two new employees to the Lether Law family! Joshua Tinajero is an Associate Attorney who joins Lether Law Group after working as an Assistant District Attorney and Judicial Law Clerk in Alaska. Joshua’s practice...
Happy Valentines from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the Court of Appeals which sits directly below the United States Supreme Court and presides over Federal Appellate decisions in a number of Western States, has always been considered a liberal court. This is one of the reasons that...
Westin McLean Named the Newest Shareholder at Lether Law Group
Congratulations to Westin McLean for being named as the newest shareholder at Lether Law Group. This distinction recognizes Westin’s exemplary leadership and mentorship at the firm, as well as the excellent results he has obtained for our clients. Westin is licensed...
Continued Growth and Changes at Lether Law Group in 2020
As we enter a new decade, Lether and Associates has become Lether Law Group. This change reflects the firm’s continued growth and recognizes our newest Partners and Shareholders and the efforts they have made to expand the practice. Lether Law Group is no longer...
Lether and Associates 2019 Christmas Party and Curling Event
The holidays are a special time for Lether and Associates. In addition to our annual firm meeting, the firm enjoys our holiday Christmas decorating party and our annual out-of-the-office group activity. These activities in the past included a scavenger hunt at the...
Join Tom Lether and Eric Neal at The National Business Institute’s Seminar on Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Washington
Tom Lether and Eric Neal will be presenting at NBI’s Bad Faith Insurance Claims in Washington seminar on Friday, December 6, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. This local live seminar will feature a discussion on current issues involving bad faith in the Northwest. Tom and...
Expanding Back Home
As some of you may know, Tom Lether was raised in Hawaiʻi and maintains strong connections with his island home. For this reason, Lether & Associates is extremely excited and proud to congratulate Kasie Kashimoto for passing the Hawaiʻi State Bar and becoming...
New Growth at Lether & Associates
Lether & Associates is proud to announce that Kevin Kay has joined Lether & Associates as a partner. Kevin started his civil practice with Tom Lether and Eric Neal over 15 years ago and has since worked in the Northwest and around the country as coverage and...
Join Eric Neal at NBI’s Civil Trial Seminar
Eric Neal will be presenting at the National Business Institute Seminar on November 6th at 2:45pm. "Civil Trial: Everything You Need to Know," is a two-day event on November 6th and 7th in Bellevue, Washington. The subject of this presentation will be Creatively...
Join Eric Neal for an Audio Webinar
Eric Neal will be presenting an audio webinar for the National Business Institute on October 16th. "Insurance Bad Faith 2019: Hot-Button Issues and New Case Law," will be streaming from 1:00 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The subject of his presentations will...
Leather and Associates
On August 20, 2019 Lether & Associates celebrated our Firm's anniversary. We started our day with an all office Foosball tournament and breakfast served by Sam Colito. We then headed to Interbay Golf where we had a fun day of playing golf. As expected, awards and...
Defense Cost Recovery: The Federal Court Changes the Landscape in Washington
In 2013, the Washington State Supreme Court handed down the decision in National Surety Corp. v. Immunex that expanded defense cost exposure in Washington for liability insurers. Specifically, the Immunex court found that Washington liability insurers were not...
Memorial Day
To those in uniform serving and to those who have served in the past, we honor you today and every day. Lether & Associates would like to wish everyone a fun and safe Memorial Day weekend. As a reminder, the 75th Anniversary of the Normandy Invasion is June...
Upcoming Seminars Presented by Tom Lether
In the next week Tom Lether will be speaking at two events in Detroit and San Francisco. The seminars will focus on an overview of insurance coverage and extra-contractual claims in the Northwest. For more information and/or materials on these presentations please...
Join Tom Lether at West Coast Casualty’s 26th Annual Construction Defect Seminar
Tom Lether will be presenting at West Coast Casualty’s 26th Annual Construction Defect Seminar at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. Tom will be presenting on: Friday May 10, 2019 from 9:30 AM - 10:30 AM --- in the South Ballroom. The subject of this...
Administrative Professionals’ Day
Yesterday our firm spoiled our amazing staff during Administrative Professionals Day. We celebrated the morning with lattes and breakfast treats, went out for lunch and enjoyed the beautiful day with a boat float on Lake Union. We then gave them the rest of the day to...
Spring and Geese
Spring has arrived here at Lether and Associates. Lately we have seen the signs of the new season. The sun is starting to show. The cherry blossoms are in bloom and Seattle is emerging from another winter. For our firm, however, there is no better sign of Spring than...
Washington Supreme Court Hears Oral Argument in Case That Allowed Insureds to Name Adjusters as Defendants in Bad Faith Actions
On February 26, 2019, the Washington Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Keodalah v. Allstate Ins. Co. and Tracey Smith. In this case, the Court of Appeals overturned the trial court’s dismissal of bad faith and Consumer Protection Act claims asserted directly...
Snowpocalypse
As most of you know, during the last two weeks in Seattle we all experienced an interesting and unusual winter storm. Despite the snowy and icy conditions, Lether & Associates made it through and remained open for business providing our clients with uninterrupted...
A Tale of Two Cases. The Best of Times and the Worst of Times
Within roughly a two-week period over this past holiday season, the Federal District Courts for the Western District of Washington issued two dramatically different orders in very similar coverage disputes. In Northwest Pipe Company v. Travelers Property Casualty...
Recipes For Success
Food binds people together. Food comforts and nourishes us. Food creates memories for a lifetime. We hope that our successful family recipes help create loving and lasting memories for you and your loved ones, just like they do for us. Happy Holidays From LETHER...
Our Annual Holiday Animal Food Drive
Our Annual Holiday Animal Food Drive Donate to help the animals of PAWS Make a difference this holiday season in the precious lives of sick, injured, orphaned and homeless animals. Whether it be big or small, food or toys anything helps these animals. For more...
Northwest Insurance Law:A Comprehensive ReviewOctober 25-26, 2018
Tom Lether is proud to once again be the co-chairperson for the Seminar Group's Northwest Comprehensive Insurance Law seminar. This two-day event, which Tom has chaired for the last five years, will focus on Insurance and Bad Faith issues in the Northwest. The...
Join Eric J. Neal at the National Business Institute’s Insurance Bad Faith “Set-Up” in Washington Seminar
On December 12, 2018 Eric J. Neal will be presenting at NBI’s Insurance Bad Faith “Set-Up” in Washington seminar in Seattle, Washington. Eric will specifically be addressing how to respond to a potential bad faith set-up. This is an all-day seminar with CLE credits...
Join Nicole Morrow, Kyle Silk-Eglit and the Greater Seattle Insurance Professionals for a one-hour CE credit TONIGHT!
Tonight, October 18, 2018: Please join the Greater Seattle Insurance Professionals for a one-hour CE credit presentation of: “Agent Duties in Insurance – The Current State of the Law in Washington”. Presented by attorneys: Nicole Morrow and Kyle Silk-Eglit of Lether...
Join Tom Lether at the Washington State Bar Association Ethics in Civil Litigation Seminar
On September 18, 2018 Tom Lether will be presenting at the WSBA’s Ethics in Civil Litigation Seminar in Seattle, Washington. Tom will specifically be addressing ethical issues for assigned defense counsel in “Reservation of Rights” cases in Washington. This is an...
Oregon Again Limits Defense Obligations on Additional Insured Claims
The Oregon Court of Appeals recently issued an opinion which clarifies an insurer’s defense obligations to an additional insured (“AI”) under an AI endorsement for “ongoing operations”. See Security National Ins. Co. v. Sunset Presbyterian Church, 289 Ore. App. 193...
Join Lether & Associates at West Coast Casualty’s 25th Annual Construction Defect Seminar
Lether and Associates will be presenting at West Coast Casualty’s 25th Annual Construction Defect Seminar at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. Lether & Associates will be presenting on: Friday May 18, 2018 from 9:30 AM -10:30 AM --- in the North...
Oregon Supreme Court Unanimously Rules Against Application of Oregon’s Vulnerable Person Statute to First Party Insurance
There have been repeated unsuccessful legislative attempts over the last several years to impose statutory bad faith on first party insurance claims in Oregon. In an unanimous decision published on January 19, 2018, the Oregon Supreme Court declined to take the...
Allstate Makes Bad Case Law In Washington
There is an age-old saying that lawyers - especially appellate lawyers - commonly use. That phrase is “bad facts make bad law”. This statement was proven accurate once again in the decision of Keodalah v. Allstate Ins. Co., et al., Court of Appeals of the State...
No Duty on the Part of Insurance Agents to Recommend Automobile Liability Limits in Washington
The Washington Courts have repeatedly held that insurance agents and brokers do not have any legal duty to recommend specific policy limits to an insured absent what is commonly referred to as a “special relationship.” Washington case law on this point is one of the...
Lether & Associates Welcomes its New Employees!
Lether & Associates would like to extend a heartfelt congratulations and welcome to its new attorneys and staff. Over the past winter, Lether and Associates hired two new attorneys, Ms. Julia Norwood and Mr. Leighton Bowman. Both Julia and Leighton have joined...
Tom Lether on Mediation
Tom Lether was recently interviewed and featured in the True Neutral Newsletter in regard to his perspective on mediation. Tom was specifically asked about what makes for a successful mediation and how he sees the role of mediation in the current litigation climate. A...
Case Law Update – Washington
Several of our recent updates have involved the Washington State Supreme Court’s ruling in Zhaoyun Xia v. ProBuilders Specialty Ins. Co. RRG, 188 Wn.2d 171, 393 P.3d 748 (2017). In Xia, the Supreme Court held that a pollution exclusion did not bar coverage for...
Lether & Associates Annual Fall Insurance Review – Date Change
Due to the favorable interest in our in-house CE program scheduled for October 25, 2017 and Tom Lether’s trial calendar and case schedule, Lether & Associates is moving the seminar date to November 15, 2017. The seminar will still be held at our lakeside office on...
Lether & Associates Annual Fall Insurance Review
Since Lether & Associates was founded, our firm has made the training of our attorneys and education of our clients a priority. The firm regularly presents seminars, in-house training and regularly publishes updates on important cases on developments in the...
Insurance in the Construction Industry Law Seminar October 5-6, 2017
Tom Lether is proud to once again be the chairperson for the Seminar Group's Insurance in the Construction Industry Law seminar. This two-day event, which Tom has chaired for the last 4 years, is this year focusing particularly on insurance issues involving the...
Lether & Associates and the U.S. Supreme Court
Although U.S. Supreme Court appearances are few and far between, Tom Lether has now been officially licensed to practice in the highest court in the land. Effective the spring of 2017, Mr. Lether has been fully licensed as a practicing attorney before the United...
Advanced Insurance Bad Faith
On August 30, 2017, the National Business Institute will be presenting a full-day CLE seminar on advanced insurance bad faith in Washington and the Northwest. Speakers will include Thomas Lether and Kyle Silk-Eglit of Lether & Associates who will be speaking...
Oregon Supreme Court Expands Availability of Attorney Fee Awards under ORS 742.061
For years, Oregon’s primary legislative device for compelling prompt settlement of insurance claims has been the availability of an attorney fee award for insureds who recover more than the amount tendered by an insurer within six months of the proof of loss in a...
Join Tom Lether at West Coast Casualty’s 24th Annual Construction Defect Seminar
Tom Lether will be speaking on two different panels at West Coast Casualty’s 24th Annual Construction Defect Seminar at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California. He will be speaking on the following dates and times: Wednesday May 17, 2017 from 8:30-12:00pm --- in...
New Oregon Decision Will Affect Insurers in Many Ways
The Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon issued a decision on May 10, 2017 in the matter titled Hunters Ridge Condominium Assoc. v. Sherwood Cross, LLC, et al. that could potentially impact future Construction Defect cases in Oregon. The Hunters Ridge appeal arose...
Washington Caselaw Update
On Thursday, April 27, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court issued a new decision that may have a significant impact on the business of insurance in the State of Washington. The new decision, Xia v. Probuilders Specialty Ins. Co., is the first Washington appellate...
Washington Caselaw Update
On Thursday, April 27, 2017, the Washington Supreme Court issued a new decision that may have a significant impact on the business of insurance in the State of Washington. The new decision, Xia v. Probuilders Specialty Ins. Co., is the first Washington appellate...
