Washington Case Law Update: Washington Court Of Appeals Reminds Insurers That Ambiguous Insurance Provisions Must Be Resolved In Favor Of the Insured From the desk of Jeff Eberhard: In Washington, insurance companies denying coverage are consistently challenged over ambiguous provisions in policies they issue. When provisions are ambiguous, courts have ruled in favor of the insured. When an underinsured motorist policy…
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Washington Case Law Update: Washington Supreme Court Adopts the “Apparent Manufacturer” Doctrine in Product Liability Actions Arising Before 1981 From the desk of Tom McCurdy: Washington law permits injured plaintiffs to bring product liability actions against product manufacturers when they are injured as the result of a manufacturing defect. What if a company does not manufacture a product, but holds…
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Washington Case Law Update: Manufacturer Has Duty to Warn If Product Required Use of Hazardous Component From the desk of Kyle Riley: Generally, a manufacturer does not have a duty to warn of risks posed by a product that the manufacturer did not itself manufacture or distribute. But where the product either required incorporated hazardous components manufactured by others at…
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Manufacturers of Medical Supplies Must Warn Purchasers of Potential Risks From the desk of Kyle Riley: Washington’s products liability act requires manufacturers to warn consumers about the risks of their products. But when the manufacturer of a medical device has provided warning to the product user—the physician—does it also have a duty to warn the hospital that purchased the product?…
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