Seattle Personal Injury Attorney

Archive for the ‘Injury Claims Against Government’ Category

Under the rescue doctrine a public entity has a special duty to exercise reasonable care after assuming a duty to warn or come to the aid of a particular plaintiff.[1] That special duty exists because a public entity’s assurances may induce reliance.  A person who voluntarily promises to perform a service for another in need has a duty to exercise reasonable care when the promise induces reliance and causes the promise to refrain from seeking help elsewhere.[2] Read the rest of this entry »

Washington governmental entities are immune to liability under the public duty doctrine for duties owed to the public generally.  “Failure to enforce” is a recognized exception to this rule. Read the rest of this entry »

The public duty doctrine is a defense to claims against state and local governmental entities.  The doctrine in its simplest terms is express by the observation that a “duty to all is a duty to no one”.[1]

The legislative intent exception applies where the terms of a statute evidence a clear intent to identify and protect a particular and circumscribed class of persons.[2] The statutory language must clearly express this intent; a court will not imply it.[3] Where the legislative intent exception applies, a member of the identified class may bring a tort action against the governmental entity for its violation of the statute.[4]

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To prove a claim for injury the injury victim must prove the existence of a duty and breach of the duty.

In Washington the state Supreme Court has adopted the public duty doctrine.[1] If the injury claim is against a non-federal governmental entity the injury claimant must prove there was a duty specific to the individual, rather to the public generally. Otherwise, if no duty of care is owed to the individual the injury claimant has no valid negligence claim. “A duty to all is a duty to no one”.[2]

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