On March 3, 2014, Washington’s Court of Appeals handed down an opinion favorable to hard working people exposed to asbestos. In Farrow v. Flowserve USA, Inc., a case handled by SGB’s asbestos trial attorneys, Kristin Houser, Tom Breen and Bill Rutzick, Division I reversed a trial court’s decision that originally favored corporate defendant Flowserve. The new published case is important because it holds that so long as other corporate defendants have a similar motive when examining an adverse witness, the testimony of the witness can be used against a corporate defendant who for whatever reason did not attend the first deposition. A party wishing to use the testimony must show that those who were present at the deposition had a similar motive (e.g. to discredit the witness) as those who did not attend the deposition would have had.

There’s no question: when it comes to making good law on Washington asbestos cases, no other law firm has the track record like SGB. As the law firm with the longest tenure championing the rights of Washington victims of mesothelioma, this victory is particularly gratifying. In an era when asbestos law firms travel the globe looking for mesothelioma cases, we’re content to do what we do best: representing mesothelioma victims who live right here in Washington State – our home state.