NEWS & UPDATES
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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...
Case Law Update – Washington
A reasonable denial of coverage. Based on the weight of legal authority, insurers might wonder if such a thing even exists in Washington. A new decision from the Western District of Washington demonstrates that insurers will not always find themselves in peril after...
Oregon Supreme Court Expands Availability of Attorney Fee Awards under ORS 742.061
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...
Xia v. ProBuilders – Motion for Reconsideration Denied
On August 17, 2017, the Washington State Supreme Court denied a Motion for Reconsideration of its April 27, 2017 decision in Xia v. ProBuilders Specialty Ins. Co., 188 Wn.2d 171, 393 P.3d 748, 2017 Wash. LEXIS 443, 2017 WL 1532219 (Wash. Apr. 27, 2017) As we reported...
Washington Supreme Court Addresses the Insurance Fair Conduct Act
Washington Supreme Court Addresses the Insurance Fair Conduct Act Perez-Crisantos v. State Farm et al., Wash. Sup. Ct., No. 92267-5, (February 2, 2017), is perhaps the most favorable ruling for insurers from the Washington Supreme Court in the past several years. The...
FEATURED
Introducing Two New Attorneys
Lether Law Group recently welcomed two new attorneys to our team. Welcome aboard to Dana Mydland...
Lether Law Group Interviews Now Available Through Our Website
2020 has been a historic year for a number of reasons. Unfortunately, most of these developments...
Lether Law Supports the 2020 Queen Anne Food Bank
Not since the Great Depression and the Great Recession has America been confronted with such...
Out of Historic 2020 Wildfires, California and Oregon Adopt New Laws, Regulatory Guidance Impacting Insurers
Over the past several weeks, the fallout from 2020’s historic wildfire season on the West Coast...
COVID-19 Litigation Update
As we have recently reported, the clear trend in the United States Courts is towards finding that...
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...
Remembering Victims and Survivors
On the anniversary of September 11, 2001, we at Lether Law Group stand united in remembering the...
COVID-19 Business Interruption Case Updates from Across the Country
The rapid spread of COVID-19 throughout the United States and resulting governmental shut-down...
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...
Commercial Trucking and MCS-90 Issues in the COVID Age
One of the effects of the COVID pandemic has been an increase in the use of...
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