Criminal Law

• Criminal Defense
  Civil liability in business arises out of the relations between a business and the people it deals with and is governed by the laws of contract and tort. Cases against a business, for example, for breach of contract or negligence have to be taken by the people directly concerned. Criminal liability in business, on the other hand, involves a business committing a crime against the state and cases against a business are brought by public officials on behalf of society as a whole. Criminal law applies across many business activities and is especially important in areas such as the proper description and pricing of goods and services and the safety of goods and services, particularly food.
• Misdemeanors
  In addition, RCW 49.52.050(2) makes it a misdemeanor for an employer who "[w]ilfully and with intent to deprive the employee of any part of his wages, shall pay any employee a lower wage than the wage such employer is obligated to pay such employee by any statute, ordinance, or contract." As a civil penalty for such a violation, RCW 49.52.070 makes the employer liable for "twice the amount of the wages unlawfully rebated or withheld by way of exemplary damages, together with costs of suit and a reasonable sum for attorney's fees. However, carelessness or a simple payment error on the part of the employer will not entitle the employee to recover double damages under RCW 49.52.070.

Business and Corporate Law

• Business Formation
  The course book contains all the lien and business formation forms, explanations, rules and statutes, including contractual terms regarding limitations on your professional liability, how to handle claims, lawsuits and protections against competitive conduct of former employees. This course book is an excellent resource designed for effective reference and application.
• Business Disputes
  We can help you a little by picking up the phone when you call us, and answering a question or directing you to an appropriate resource. We are members of the American Institute of Architects and work with AIA Practice and Ethics group, putting on seminars for design professionals about collections, contracts and other topics. We have presented our A/E Business Law seminars for years. We also represent insurance companies who provide the professional liability coverage for design and engineering professionals. We don't profess to know everything about everything, but we do profess to get you the right answer(s), even if we have to hang up the phone, go get the answer, and call you back.
• Business Transactions
  I was born in Seattle in 1945 and never left. It's a super place to live, work, and raise a family. I received both my B.A. (1968) and law degree (1975) from the University of Washington. Since then I have represented contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, architects, and engineers. My work involves getting my clients paid for their work, and helping them with business transactions and contracts.
• Limited Liability Companies
  At the state level (Washington), our State Legislature regulates licensing of businesses, enacts building codes, attends to the registration and bonding of contractors, the formation of limited liability companies and partnerships, establishes the rights and remedies of merchants with regard to the sale of goods and services, prohibits unfair and deceptive trade practices, maintains a workman's compensation system, promotes industrial safety, regulates the disposal of hazardous or toxic waste, provides for employment security, and on and on and on. That is quite the legal framework for someone to operate within. Plus, the framework is always being amended by the State Legislature in order to keep current with the needs and signs of the time.
• Construction Contracts
  The Washington State Department of Labor and Industries presents the following seminars which are offered to recently registered contractors who are participating in the orientation program offered by the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries. Four seminars are currently offered for L&I attendees. The Construction Contracts seminar is designed to educate contractors on which contract clauses are essential to include in their construction agreements. The seminar focuses on preparation of contracts for a contractor that reduce costs when litigation occurs as well as addressing other critical issues such as warranty, correction of work, punch list items, allowances and required lien notices. The Protecting Your Assets seminar is designed to educate contractors on which entity they should consider forming or reforming. Materials cover the pros and cons of the three main business forms: sole proprietors, LLCs, and corporations, as well as noncompetition agreements, nondisclosure agreements, trade names and trademarks.
• Trade Secrets

Employment Law

• Workers Compensation
  You've got lots to watch out for. The Department of Labor and Industries (L&I) administers worker's compensation claims. If one of your employees becomes injured or occupationally diseased on the job, L&I will pay the claim, but your next year's premiums could be unfavorably adjusted. The same is true if one of your employees is let go and then successfully applies for and receives unemployment compensation. The Employment Security Department may adjust your rates.
• Wrongful Termination
  4) Public policy forbids it. The public policy exception provides the employee with a tort cause of action against its employer for wrongful discharge if the discharge contravenes a "clear mandate of public policy." A clear mandate of public policy is usually based in a constitutional, statutory, or regulatory provision or scheme. Prior judicial decisions may be helpful in fleshing out examples of what constitutes a clearly mandated public policy. One Washington case that recognized the public policy exception described the meaning of "clearly mandated public policy" as concerning "what is right and just and what affects the citizens of the state collectively... Although there is no precise line of demarcation dividing matters that are the subject of public policies from matters purely personal, a survey of cases in other states involving retaliatory discharges shows that a matter must strike at the heart of a citizen's social rights, duties, and responsibilities before the tort will be allowed." Burnside v. Simpson Paper Co. (1992). Whistleblowers cannot be discharged out of retaliation under the public policy exception. Similarly, employees cannot be discharged for refusing to commit an illegal act, or be discharged due to race, religion, age, sexual preference, or disability.
• Employment Discrimination
  The Age Discrimination In Employment Act ("ADEA") is the main federal statute that protects employees from being discriminated against by their employers based on their age. Older employees are sometimes unfairly treated in terms of privileges and conditions of employment, and this is specifically prohibited by the ADEA. The ADEA governs employment agencies and labor organizations as well as private employers who employ more than twenty (20) employees for each working day in each of twenty or more calendar weeks in a year. To be covered by the ADEA, an individual must be at least 40 years old.
• Employment Contract
  Washington has long adhered to the "terminable-at-will" doctrine, which means that an employer can terminate an employee without having a reason. Some employment contracts expressly state that the employment is at-will. If no written employment agreement exists, the employee will be said to be working pursuant to a "unilateral contract", or a contract where performance constitutes acceptance of the employment offer. The default rule for unilateral employment contracts is that, unless the employer expressly states otherwise, the term of employment lasts only so long as the employer wills it. There are four important exceptions to the terminable-at-will doctrine, and they are as follows...
• Non-compete Agreement
  The term, "employment law" covers a broad category of laws and judicial decisions that generally serve to protect the rights of employees to work in an environment free of discrimination and unfair treatment based on factors that are irrelevant to their responsibilities. Employment law also regards agreements between employees and employers. Any work-related dispute between an employee and employer will invariably raise employment law questions. Just as the employee may have rights to certain employment conditions, the employer usually has rights which the employee must respect. Such is the case with non-compete agreements and confidentiality agreements. The following frequently asked questions touch on some of the more common questions asked in the field of employment law.

Property Law

• Real Estate Litigation
  The Legislature has spent years enacting statutes and regulations which directly affect the rights of property owners to use, develop and protect their real estate. Subdivisions, environmental impacts, building codes, warranties, easements, zoning, land use regulations, liens and the ability to convey property are all closely regulated by the government and its various agencies. The Washington Legislature has enacted a multitude of laws regulating real estate professionals and disclosures required to accompany the transfer of property. Additionally, Washington courts have helped form our current real estate laws by resolving disputes over boundary lines, adverse possession, trespass and nuisance. Collectively, these are the sources of real estate law in Washington State.
• Construction Litigation
  Construction laws have developed out of the necessity to resolve construction disputes. In turn, construction disputes are driven by numerous factors such as unforeseen site conditions, noncompliance with contractual notice requirements, withheld payments, backcharges, undocumented change orders, errors in bidding, and poor project scheduling. Nobody likes to part with their money. Construction usually involves more than pocket change. The checkwriter therefore sometimes seeks more than their money's worth, more than the contractor expected or agreed to deliver, or more than the checkwriter is entitled to receive. Plus, checkwriters sometimes run out of money before the contractor gets paid in full.
• Real Estate Transactions
  Title insurance is an essential part of a real estate transaction. Title insurance protects the new owner and new lender on the property against claims that the title to that property is somehow defective. Potential claims include, but are not limited to, the deed to the property was forged, the property you are purchasing doesn't belong to the seller, the property has no access, or a construction lien is about to be recorded against the property that you are unaware of. Title insurance costs relatively little in proportion to the protection it provides you at the time of purchasing real estate. It is something that should never be left out of any real estate transaction.
• Easement
• Land Use and Zoning
  Washington's construction laws have developed through the years as a result of the Legislature's enactment of statutes affecting the formation of business, bonding, registration, recording of labor and materialmen's liens, industrial safety, workmen's compensation, insurance, warranties, formation and enforcement of contracts, and the resolution of construction disputes by trial or arbitration. In addition to statutes enacted by the Legislature, public agencies (state, county and municipal agencies) such as the Department of Licensing, adopt their own rules and also decide individual cases. These actions add to the body of construction law, including zoning and land use regulation. Additionally, Washington courts have helped form our current construction laws by developing rules based on case-by-case analyses and decisions from the Washington Courts of Appeals and the Washington Supreme Court. Collectively, these are the sources of construction law in Washington State.
• Property Damage
  In some instances, a contractor will have as part of their insurance coverages, a defalcation policy that protects the contractor or employer against the intentional and/or dishonest acts of its employees. However, such coverage is often not part of the insurance policy that is purchased by a builder. In that case, intentional acts by your employees causing damage or harm at a construction site would not be covered. Typically, liability and property damage insurance provides coverage for accidental acts or damage caused by lack of care or negligence. Intentional acts are most often excluded from most insurance policies for coverage. In this situation you should consult an attorney immediately to determine whether or not you have insurance coverage for the problem at hand.

Health Law

• Personal Injury

Trusts and Estates

• Wills

Finance Law

• Bankruptcy
• Foreclosure
  It is possible for the owner to purchase which relieves the owner's property of your lien. This is known as "bonding around a lien." However, this does not make your lien worthless. Instead of the property serving as collateral for the owner's debt to you, the bond will now take its place. For liens under $10,000.00 the owner must purchase a bond an amount which is the greater of $5000.00 or two times the amount of the lien. For liens in excess of $10,000.00 the owner must purchase a bond that is one and a half times the amount of the lien. So you will still be secured, and then some. The key now will be to name the bond in your foreclosure lawsuit. That way if you prevail in your suit and the owner does not pay, you can tap the bond and get paid.
• Tax Law
  After attending law school at the University of Washington School of Law (2000), I earned my LL.M. in Taxation (2001) from New York University. Almost all business transactions involve tax consequences. There are deals to be made and deals to be avoided. Economics, law and tax consequences create options, issues, and challenges. My education helps me help my clients make the best choices, whether through negotiation with other parties or their lawyers, mediation, arbitration, courtroom litigation, or public agency hearings. The reality is that there is not too much in the business world, particularly construction or real estate, that does not involve the combination of economics, law, and tax issues. I represent clients facing issues at the state level with the Washington Department of Revenue and the federal level with the I.R.S.
• Debt Collection
  Linville Law Firm PLLC is located in downtown Seattle providing legal services primarily to contractors, owners, developers, suppliers, sureties, professional service providers, small business owners, architects and engineers. Our expertise centers around commercial and residential construction projects, recording of liens, foreclosures, construction defect claims, real estate matters, formation of businesses, preparation of contracts, contract disputes, debt collection, employment matters, tax audits and assessments.