Archives of Past Eastside Business Monthly Issues
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Judge Awards $50,000 to Northwest MLS For Expenses in Defending Frivolous LawsuitKIRKLAND - Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Steven J. Mura awarded the Northwest Multiple Listing Service of Kirkland $50,000 in sanctions against the Bellingham-Whatcom County Multiple Listing Service. The award, made Monday (Sept. 26), follows that judge's ruling in May to dismiss a lawsuit brought by B-WCMLS. NWMLS attorney Chris Osborn of Foster, Pepper & Shefelman in Seattle said the court took the unusual step of penalizing the Bellingham-Whatcom County MLS under a law that allows awarding a party reasonable expenses incurred in defending a claim that is “frivolous and advanced without reasonable cause.” A lawsuit is “frivolous” under the law when “it cannot be supported by any rational argument on the law or facts” Osborn explained. On May 6 the court dismissed B-WCMLS's lawsuit and claims that NWMLS's competition with B-WCMLS in Whatcom County was illegal and violated antitrust laws. That ruling followed voluntary dismissal by B-WCMLS of other claims it alleged upon filing a complaint in late January. (NWMLS opened a satellite office in Bellingham – the 13 th in its network – in October 2004 to serve its growing roster of members in Whatcom County .) In a statement announcing the favorable ruling, NWMLS president and CEO Jack Johnson said he is pleased with this outcome. Johnson called court's ruling a clear statement that NWMLS has done nothing wrong and that B-WCMLS had abused the legal system to try to prevent fair competition. |
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