Weekly Legislative Update
January 23, 2009

More liability bills introduced
More bad news for contractors

It’s week 2 of the legislative session and the LRC already has two pages of bills to track (see attachment).  As expected, legislators are continuing to pound on those in the home construction industry by further increasing their liability and business costs (see HB 1045 and HB 1393).  

The LRC is pleased to see a common-sense bill from Senators Haugen (D) and Brandland (R).  Senate Bill 5349 addresses a long-sought goal of the LRC and the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers Association:  to make information available to a jury in a car accident lawsuit as to whether those involved in the accident were wearing seatbelts.  Considering that wearing a seatbelt is a state law and over the past few years state and local governments have implemented strong campaigns to get people to wear their seatbelt, it seems appropriate timing for this reasonable bill to finally pass. 

Trial lawyers try re-branding
to better their public image

Trial lawyers no longer want to be known as trial lawyers.  The Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA) has followed the strategy of it national leader and has changed its name.  Goodbye WSTLA, hello Washington State Association for Justice (WSAJ).  There’s nothing knew about the organization other that its name.  This is a similar marketing ploy used by the American Association of Trial Lawyers who now refer to the organization as the American Association for Justice.  All this name changing and yet nary a mention of "trial lawyers."   Go figure.