Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Washington

Law Suit Against Seattle University

I have been sued in a frivolous civil lawsuit by someone who claimed no income. Seattle University took the case pro bono. They hope to receive legal fees at the end of the case. In the interrogatories and in the deposition, under oath, the plaintiff committed obvious perjury, which negates his complaint. Seattle University with two hours of research or with a ''sit down'' meeting at the beginning could have avoided the whole law suit and two years of litigation. It has cost me a lot of money and lost business. Seattle University wanted to give three interns an experience at �real world� practice. This to me, smacks of abuse of the legal system.

I want to sue Seattle University for my legal fees and damages and to set the record straight.

What theory would I use to start my lawsuit against them?

Trial has been rescheduled, yet again, to Oct 2008. Can I start my lawsuit before this one finishes?


Asked on 6/11/08, 11:04 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Amir John Showrai The Pacific Law Firm, PLLC

Re: Law Suit Against Seattle University

What you propose will be difficult to achieve. In order to claim SU's student lawyers filed a frivolous action, you should start by consulting CR11. (You can view the court rules on the washington courts home page at www.courts.wa.gov.

Someone with more knowledge in this area may supplement this response, but in general, if they have any good faith basis upon which to bring the claim, I think such a suit would be a waste of your time.

You can start your lawsuit anytime (theoretically) but it may get joined into your current suit and then probably further delay your trial date. If the second suit is allowed to proceed on its own, you too should be prepared for a counter-claim that your suit is also frivolous.

Bottom line, and you are not going to like this, but it's the unvarnished truth, you would probably be wasting your time bringing such a suit. Still, to be on the safe side, if you are determined to proceed, then at least consult with an ethics or malpractice specialist and see if they think you have a case.

I am not sure if there is an ethics category on Law Guru, but if there is, you should repost this over there, since I think you'll get a better response than what I am able to provide here.

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Answered on 6/11/08, 11:58 pm


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