Government Defense Category Archives

Legal lessons from Mount St. Helens for pandemic-era policymakers

Forty years ago, on May 18, 1980, Washington’s once-conical Mount St. Helens erupted, killing approximately 57 people, and causing millions, if not billions, in damages.  Writers in both the Seattle Times[1] and the New York Times[2] recently have argued that tensions between science, politics, and economics that came to the fore with the Mount St. Helens eruption teach something ...

Forty years ago, on May 18, 1980, Washington’s once-conical Mount St. Helens erupted, killing approximately 57 people, and causing millions, if not billions, in damages.  Writers in both the Seattle ...

Tangible Ways Governments Can Minimize Liability When Responding to Natural Disasters

Part Two (read Part One here) (This is the second of two articles based on David Bruce’s presentation to the 2018 Annual Meeting of the League of California Cities.  Mr. Bruce is the co-founding partner of Savitt Bruce & Willey LLP and served as a Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Seattle.) As discussed in the prior ...

Part Two (read Part One here) (This is the second of two articles based on David Bruce’s presentation to the 2018 Annual Meeting of the League of California Cities.  Mr. ...

Municipal Liability for Natural Disaster is Limited

Part One (This is the first of two articles based on David Bruce’s presentation to the 2018 Annual Meeting of the League of California Cities.  Mr. Bruce is the co-founding partner of Savitt Bruce & Willey LLP and served as a Senior Assistant City Attorney for the City of Seattle.) Landslides, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis.  Natural ...

Part One (This is the first of two articles based on David Bruce’s presentation to the 2018 Annual Meeting of the League of California Cities.  Mr. Bruce is the co-founding ...

Invitation to Attend — Landslide Seminar, October 25, 2018

Mr. David Bruce will present “Making Your Case” as part of a one-day seminar on Landslides sponsored by the Seminar Group, October 25th 2018, at the Washington Athletic Club. This seminar is an opportunity for attorneys, claims professionals, and others to learn the nuts and bolts of landslides in Washington. Slope movement events in western Washington have become more frequent ...

Mr. David Bruce will present “Making Your Case” as part of a one-day seminar on Landslides sponsored by the Seminar Group, October 25th 2018, at the Washington Athletic Club. This seminar ...

Leveling the Playing Field: Prompt Resolution of Public Records Requests for Agencies through Show-Cause Procedure

Washington’s Public Records Act (“PRA”) mandates the broad disclosure of public records in furtherance of the public policy of government transparency.[1]  Under the PRA, the media and ordinary citizens can request and obtain government records to stay informed about how their government is serving the public’s interest.  Government agencies must respond to these requests by conducting reasonable searches for ...

Washington’s Public Records Act (“PRA”) mandates the broad disclosure of public records in furtherance of the public policy of government transparency.[1]  Under the PRA, the media and ordinary citizens can ...

Privilege and the Public Records Act

To what extent does the attorney-client privilege[1] exempt from disclosure under Washington’s Public Records Act[2] billing statements submitted to government agencies by outside litigation counsel? The privilege protects “communications incident to the giving and receiving of legal advice, and incident to the representation of the client’s legal interests.”[3] This includes attorney-client communications about relevant facts. As the Washington Supreme ...

To what extent does the attorney-client privilege[1] exempt from disclosure under Washington’s Public Records Act[2] billing statements submitted to government agencies by outside litigation counsel? The privilege protects “communications incident ...

News: Initiative 91 Challenge Dismissed

On April 12, Judge Laura Middaugh dismissed an Initiative 91 challenge to the Memorandum of Understanding among the City of Seattle, King County and Chris Hansen's ArenaCo, providing another "assist" to the return of the NBA to Seattle. We are proud to be a part of this: we represented King County, and led the efforts to brief and argue the ...

On April 12, Judge Laura Middaugh dismissed an Initiative 91 challenge to the Memorandum of Understanding among the City of Seattle, King County and Chris Hansen's ArenaCo, providing another "assist" to ...