Washington Injury Lawyer Blog

Judge Cowsert, who has been on Snohomish County Superior Court bench since 1999, retired last Friday. I was fortunate to have tried the last case before Judge Cowsert with a verdict coming in last Wednesday. Judge Cowsert has been one of the bright lights on the Snohomish Superior Court bench and we can just hope that his replacement will be able to fill his shoes. During the trial Judge Cowsert was exceptional. He made very well reasoned rulings, was accomodating and respectful of all parties and counsel, and perhaps most importantly, let us try the case. Best wishes in retirement.

To read more about Judge Cowsert and his retirement, click here.

Yes, this is quite a bit off topic with no legal implications, but there are customer service implications. My brother who lives in the Phoenix area thought it would be really convenient to fly Allegiant Airlines from Mesa, AZ to Bellingham, WA, avoiding Sky Harbor and SeaTac. I'll let you read my brother email to Allegiant and Allegiant's response, but needless to say, he'll be flying from Sky Harbor to SeaTac from now on, as will I.

My brother's email to Allegiant, sent on 7/13/11:

Nature of Request: Cancelled/Delayed/Rescheduled Flight
Name: ***
Email: ***
Telephone: ***
Itinerary Number: ***
Relationship: Self
Request Details: Just want to voice my concerns on my 1st and most likely last flight on Allegiant Air. Flight 216 out of Bellingham, 7-9-11 delayed 1hour and 45 min. 1st time. Then another delay of 1 hour and 30 mins. to bring in another plane. Trying to get any info from your staff was a challenge at best, no communication at all and it seemed to be all too common to them. In the air and close to Mesa a little rough weather and not a word from the cockpit while flying around a storm. On the ground, on the tarmac, we were told we would not be able to de-plane until the lightning stopped, well the lightning stopped, it rained some then stopped and this took 2 hours and again nothing from the cockpit and flight attendants, we were just puppets. All in all, 6 hours of delays, poor communication, no free drinks or any offer of compensation, and I just don't believe I could get on another Allegiant flight and I really wanted this to work because of the convenience.
Pre-Travel inquiries receive a response within 24 - 48 hours.
Post-Travel concerns may require additional research and response time may take 4-6 weeks. (Apparently it's really 8 weeks....)

Allegiant's Response (Received 9/11/11, 2 months later)

From: "702_589-7277_AC_0109703/Conf_Call_Line/Corporate@allegiantair.com" <702_589-7277_AC_0109703/Conf_Call_Line/Corporate@allegiantair.com>
To: ***
Sent: Sunday, September 11, 2011 6:59 PM
Subject: Allegiant Itn# ***

September 11, 2011

Dear Mr. Williams,

Thank you for taking the time to convey your frustration about the delay on your recent flight. On behalf of the entire Allegiant Travel team, we wish to express our sincere apologies for any inconvenience you may have experienced due to your delayed/rescheduled flight.

We would like to thank you for taking the time to convey your flight experience with Allegiant Travel. As we grow and strive to serve more customers, it is imperative that we keep our service levels where our customers have come to expect from us. It is feedback, such as yours, that allows us to see our service through the eyes of our valued customers. We recognize that a delay can be an unsettling experience. Safety is our primary focus in all of our operations at Allegiant Travel. We want to reassure you that Allegiant Travel adheres to the most rigorous schedules of both mandated and preventive maintenance on all aircraft in our fleet.

We understand that a delayed arrival creates inconveniences to plans you may have already made. Please be assured that our greatest desire is to get each and every one of our customers safely to their final destination on time; however, we will never sacrifice safety to meet an on-time departure or arrival.

Allegiant Travel has the right to change or cancel flights without compensation per section 85 of our Contract of Carriage which states:

B. Carrier shall not be liable for any failure or delay in operating any flight due to causes beyond Carrier's control, including but not limited to, acts of God, governmental actions, fire, weather, mechanical difficulties...

In consideration of the inconvenience you experienced, Allegiant Travel has issued $35.00 worth of vouchers to your party. This voucher has been emailed to this email address, and it is good until the date specified on the voucher and is fully transferable. Please be advised this is a final decision for compensation, and nothing further will be authorized nor offered. We do apologize for the lack of customer service you have experienced, we appreciate all feedback from our customers.

When you are ready to rebook using this voucher, you can either book online at www.allegiantair.com, or you can call the Reservations Center at 702-505-8888, option 1, and inform the agent that you are making a new reservation using a credit voucher. Upon concluding your online booking process in the payment screen, select "Credit Voucher" as a payment type and enter the alpha-numeric voucher number, then click "continue." When calling into our Reservations Center, provide to the agent the alpha-numeric voucher number when prompted. Please be advised that all travel involving funds from this voucher must be booked and completed by September 10th, 2012, as we cannot extend the validity of this voucher for any reason.

Moving forward, we do hope you can provide us another opportunity to serve your travel needs in the future. If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact us. Thank you.

Respectfully,
Keith S.

Customer Relations Department
Allegiant Travel Company
P.O. Box 401026 Las Vegas, NV 89140
Phone: 702-430-3250 | Fax: 702-853-4264
customer.relations@allegiantair.com | www.allegiant.com

For anyone who follows the complete ineptness of Washington DSHS (Department of Social and Health Services) in Olympia, Washington, this certainly won't be a shock. In July, DSHS released the addresses of almost 4,000 custodial parents, "accidentally" to the non-custodial parent. Putting aside that this is a violation of health privacy laws, how would you like to be a single Mother with a crazy ex-husband who knows where you now live? But, here comes Adolfo Capestany, a spokesman for the Division of Child Support, who said that none of the released addresses were determined to be highly sensitive. Well, that's convenient. Why don't we let the custodial parents who just had his or her address released determine whether it was highly sensitive.

DSHS has become such a joke, this latest foray into complete incompetence isn't all that shocking, it's their response which just sets me off. Capestany said it was "human error", like that makes it all better and everything is ok. That's your state government at work. He also said it was an error in coding on a form and has since made changes to "minimize" the chance of it occurring again. You have got to be kidding me! Minimize the chance of it occurring again? Wow, your state government at work again. How about making changes to ensure that it NEVER happens again. Oh wait, I think I have been insensitive. I just noticed that DSHS set up a toll free phone number you can call if you're worried about identity theft or the possibility of physical or emotional harm as the result of the release. But didn't they say that none of the 4,000 addresses were deemed to be sensitive? Are you waiting to hear about the folks who got fired because of this incredible mistake? Keep waiting. That's your Olympia government at work.....

Posted by John Williams of Williams Law Offices, PLLC.

Date: July 5, 2011
Del Mar, California
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact
John Meade Williams
Williams Law Offices, PLLC
2825 Colby Avenue, Ste 302
Everett WA 98201

PRESS RELEASE
Telephone: 425.252.8547
Firm website: www.williamslawpllc.com
The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is pleased to announce that attorney John Meade Williams of Everett, Washington, has been certified as a life member of both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, www.milliondollaradvocates.com.

The Million Dollar Advocates Forum is recognized as one of the most prestigious groups of trial lawyers in the United States. Membership is limited to attorneys who have won million and multi-million dollar verdicts, awards and settlements. The organization was founded in 1993 and there are approximately 4000 members located throughout the country. Fewer than 1% of U.S. lawyers are members. Forum membership acknowledges excellence in advocacy, and provides members with a national network of experienced colleagues for professional referral and information exchange in major cases. Members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum must have acted as principal counsel in at least one case in which their client has received a verdict, award or settlement in the amount of one million dollars or more.

Members of the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum must be Life Members of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and must have acted as principal counsel in at least one case which has resulted in a multi-million dollar verdict, award or settlement. Mr. Williams has been approved for membership in both the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

John Meade Williams is a graduate of University of Toledo College of Law. His practice is focused on serious personal injury and wrongful death, also representing individuals in insurance bad faith claims.

Now that the outrage over Casey Anthony's acquittal has subsided a bit, I've had time to reflect on the verdict, the outrage and our criminal justice system. As a civil trial lawyer who hasn't tried a criminal case in many years, I found myself initially stunned at the verdict, but dismayed as well. Not dismayed at the verdict, but at the reaction of what seemed like the entire country, and even my very knowledgeable colleagues. I personally can't say either way that the Anthony jury got it wrong or right. And I find that most people's reaction to the verdict to be arrogant, based upon little or no information and driven by the media. Everyone who was outraged by this "travesty of justice" did all of their research on the case through their local and evening news. In a criminal case, do you realize how little information that is and that you receive the information in the format and from the perspective of the news station delivering the news? And with that, people are satisfied that they have enough information to decide whether a person is guilty of murder? Wow, what a scary society we live in.

This does not take away from the terrible death of Caylee. The idea of a two-year old being murdered, or even just dying at such a young age, shakes my very foundation. If anything happened to any of my children, the devastation would be unbearable. However, regardless of whether the jury got it right or wrong, they heard all of the testimony, saw all of the evidence and based their decision on 100% of the evidence, unlike many people who came to their decision via CNN. In a criminal trial, the verdict must be unanimous. All 12 members of the jury must agree on a verdict. All 12 members on the Anthony jury were able to put all of the media hyperbole and other distractions to the side, focus solely on the evidence and decide that the government did not prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt. While I'm hopeful that I will never be on the receiving end of a criminal trial, if I am, I want a fair and impartial jury like this one that will not be driven by forces outside the evidence presented in the courtroom or pure emotion. The pressure that these jurors felt being empanelled on such a high profile, national case, must have been overwhelming. However, in the face of such pressure to convict this obviously terrible parent, who made some very bad decisions, the jury still chose to express their doubt. If this jury had doubt, we need to accept that and truly believe that our criminal justice system worked. May Caylee Anthony rest in peace.

Posted by John Williams of Williams Law Offices, PLLC.