Carney Badley Spellman, P.S. is a Pacific Northwest law firm located in Seattle, Washington. Our clients will tell you we are known for providing exceptional value in legal services by recognizing case objectives early and obtaining cost-effective results. The Carney firm provides legal services in business, litigation, construction, government affairs and insurance to individuals and to privately-held and publicly-traded companies.

Experience.

The four principal lawyers in Carney's appellate advocacy group (Kenneth S. Kagan, Michael B. King, James E. Lobsenz, Gregory M. Miller) have more than 75 years combined experience arguing appeals in the state and federal appeals courts. They have won ground breaking victories in the Washington Supreme Court and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. They are familiar with the judges, the internal procedures, and the personalities of these courts. They have applied this in-depth experience earned in the Pacific Northwest to win victories for clients in state and federal courts from Alaska to Florida.

Appeals Are Different.

When a case enters the post-trial and appellate stages, significant changes occur that may cause a client to consider employing a new attorney to handle an appeal. Representation at the next level with attorneys who understand and are experienced at appellate litigation can be vital to the outcome of a case. Even if a party's trial lawyer is also an experienced appellate lawyer, it is often a good idea to get a new attorney in order to get a fresh view of the case. A new attorney may well see issues that the trial attorney did not.

While the predominant skills required of a trial attorney are the ability to examine and cross-examine witnesses and to make persuasive arguments to a jury, the skills of an appellate attorney are quite different. A good appellate attorney is a skilled brief writer who knows how to condense a lengthy trial with hundreds or thousands of pages of transcript into a written brief that generally may not exceed 50 pages. Arguments which might be expected to persuade a jury have no place in the context of an appeal. In general, arguments regarding factual matters and credibility issues are no longer fruitful. Rather, the focus shifts to highly legal arguments regarding the rulings made by the trial judge, the jury instructions, and other questions of law.

Consulting an appellate attorney before or during a trial may be advantageous if an appeal can be anticipated. An appellate advocate can help preserve errors so that an appellate court will be able to review them. If issues have not properly been preserved, appellate attorneys can help prepare post-trial motions for the trial court. These motions may either be successful in themselves or may at least insure that the issues are preserved for appellate court consideration.

Knowledge of Diverse Areas of the Law.

Carney attorneys have experience handling complex appeals in many different areas of the law, including constitutional law, evidence, labor & employment, insurance, products liability, negligence, wrongful death, civil rights, consumers' rights, libel, malpractice, breach of contract, criminal law, family law, professional discipline and disbarment, and dozens of other subjects. Some of the appeals which Carney lawyers have handled include the following:

Civil Procedure/Discovery

Foxworth ex. Re. Darden v. Kia Motors Corp., 2005 WL 2888216 (11th Cir. 2005) Successfully defended the summary judgment dismissal, on grounds of forum non conveniens and statute of limitations, of a double wrongful death action brought against client Kia Motors.
Magana v. Hyundai Motor America, 123 Wn. App. 306, 94 P.3d 987 (2004) Won a retrial for clients Hyundai Motor America and Hyundai Motor Corporation in a crashworthiness case involving paraplegic injury, by establishing prejudicial error caused by the failure to instruct a jury about the exclusion of wrongfully admitted alternative design evidence.
King v. Olympic Pipe Line Co., 104 Wn. App. 338, 16 P.3d 45 (2000) Corporate officer named as defendant in civil suit for wrongful death related to pipe line explosion could seek a stay of civil discovery, thereby avoiding potential self-incrimination, pending determination of whether there would be a criminal prosecution.
Washington State Physicians Exchange v. Fisons, 122 Wn.2d 299, 858 P.2d 1054 (1993) Won ruling that trial court must impose monetary sanctions against litigant that engaged in deliberate discovery abuse and litigation fraud.

Constitutional Law

Witt v. Department of the Air Force,527 F.3d 806 (9th Cir. 2008) Congressional policy excluding known homosexuals from the armed forces is subject to intermediate scrutiny, therefore outed lesbian officer cannot be discharged without a finding that her presence has a bad effect on the morale and discipline of her assigned military unit.
Hargis v. Foster, 312 F.3d 404 (9th Cir., 2002): Reversed dismissal of Idaho prisoner's 1st Amendment claim and remanded to determine whether discipline of prisoner speech violated the constitution.
Levinson v. Washington Horse Racing Commission, 48 Wn.App. 822, 740 P.2d 898 (1987)(revoking wife's horse racing license because her husband had a prior felony conviction violated wife's constitutional right to freedom of marriage).
Seattle v. Braggs, 41 Wn.App. 646, 705 P.2d 303 (1985) Reversed dismissal of an appeal due to the trial court's failure to properly advise the appellant of the timeliness requirements for filing appeals.
Seattle v. Camby, 104 Wn.2d 49, 701 P.2d 499 (1985) Case of first impression in Washington regarding the test to be employed in matters involving "fighting words." Appellant's conviction under municipal harassment ordinance unanimously reversed by the Washington Supreme Court, which dismissed the charge.

Criminal Law

State v. King & Israel, 113 Wn.App. 243, 54 P.3d 1218 (2002), rev. den., 149 Wn.2d 1015 (2003): Reversed four convictions for instructional error on conspiracy charges which permitted finding of guilt for accomplice liability based on reasonable forseeability of acts rather than knowledge of the specific substantive crimes charged.
State v. Stein, 144 Wn.2d 236, 27 P.3d 184 (2001) Murder convictions reversed because trial court erred in instructing jurors regarding the vicarious liability of a co-conspirator for the acts of other conspirators.
State v. Letourneau, 100 Wn. App. 424, 997 P.2d 436 (2000) Sentencing judge exceeded her authority when she forbade convicted defendant from profiting by selling her story to news magazine.
State v. Stegall, 124 Wn.2d 719, 881 P.2d 979 (1994) Conviction reversed because defendant did not waive his state constitutional right to a jury of twelve.
In Re Young, 122 Wn.2d 1, 857 P.2d (1993)(amicus) Argued against Washington's new involuntary, lifetime civil commitment law for sexual predators.
Seattle v. Mesiani, 110 Wn.2d 454, 755 P.2d 775 (1988) Washington Supreme Court held, without dissent, that roadblocks set up by law enforcement agencies to identify motorists driving under the influence of alcohol are unconstitutional under state law due to the absence of particularized suspicion.

For more information regarding criminal appeals, please go here.

Education & Administrative Law

M.L. v. Federal Way School District, 387 F.3d 1101 (9th Cir. 2005), amended by 394 F.3d 634 (9th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 545 U.S. 1128 (2005) Autistic child's right to a properly developed individual education plan was violated by failure to put correct people on education team.
Hunter v. U.W, 101 Wn.App. 283, 2 P.3d 1022 (2000), rev. den., 142 Wn.2d 1021 (2001): Reversed denial of administrative appeal; mandated grant of tuition wavier to law student because the University of Washington was required to follow administrative rule-making in adopting policies; awarded fees under EAJA.

Family Law/Community Property

Marriage of Katare, 125 Wn. App. 813, 105 P.3d 44 (2004), rev. den., 155 Wn.2d 1005 (2005), relocation/child custody appeal: Vacated 2-county travel restriction for visitations and remanded to clarify intent and rulings on permanent international travel restrictions.
Marriage of Possinger, 105 Wn. App. 326, 19 P.3d 1109 (2001), rev. den., 145 Wn. 2d 1003 (2002). Affirmed trial court's retention of jurisdiction for later determination of permanent parenting plan when, at time of divorce, circumstances were inadequate to determine permanent plan.
Keene v. Edie, 131 Wn.2d 822, 935 P.2d 588 (1997): Overruled, 9-0, Brotton v Langert, 1 Wash. 73, 23 Pac. 388 (1890), to correct construction of community property statutes and permit victim to recover from tort-feasor's interest in community real property where other resources were exhausted or inadequate.

Insurance Coverage

Abbott v. CUNA Mutual Ins. Soc., 102 Wn. App. 519, 7 P.3d 852 (2000) (amicus). Argued in favor of pubic policy ban on care-takers insuring the lives of their patients and disallowing life insurance recovery by quadriplegic's caretaker.

Labor and Employment

Lund v. San Joaquin Valley R.R., 1 Cal. Rptr. 3d 412, 71 P.3d 770 (2003) Persuaded the California Supreme Court to overturn a 33 year old precedent and align California with the emerging majority rule under which juries in Federal Employer Liability Act cases may not be informed as a matter of course that a FELA recovery is a railroad worker's primary source of compensation for on the job injury.
Ackler v. Cowlitz County, 2001 WL 115019 (9th Cir., 2001): Reversed denial of double damages; reversed refusal to award third year of damages for willful violation of Fair Labor Standards Act for overtime for sheriffs' deputies; awarded fees on appeal.

Medical Malpractice

Miller v. Phillips, 959 P.2d 1247 (Alaska 1998) Successfully defended judgment on jury verdict in a medical malpractice case, involving claims of obstetrical negligence.

Probate

Estrada v. McNulty, 98 Wn. App. 717, 988 P.2d 492 (1999). Vacated award of pension death benefits to deceased's ex-wife and awarded benefits to client because statute in effect at time of death did not require that the designated beneficiary have an insurable interest in the deceased. Obtained appellate stay to preserve benefits during appeal.

Real Property

Bank of America v. Prestance Corp., 160 Wn.2d 560, 160 P.3d 17 (2007) Persuaded the Washington Supreme Court to adopt the approach of the Restatement (3rd) of Real Property to equitable subrogation of real estate financing liens, under which junior lienor and client Wells Fargo was entitled to receive funds to the extent of its payoff of a senior lienor notwithstanding the existence of unsatisfied intermediate liens.
Swinomish Indian Tribal Community v. Island County, 87 Wn. App. 552, 942 P.2d 1034 (1997) Tribe's rights under Indian Graves and Records Act were not violated by County.
Keene v. Edie, 131 Wn.2d 822, 935 P.2d 588 (1997): Overruled, 9-0, Brotton v Langert, 1 Wash. 73, 23 Pac. 388 (1890), to correct construction of community property statutes and permit victim to recover from tort-feasor's interest in community real property where other resources were exhausted or inadequate.

Taxation

Ski Acres, Inc. v. Kittitas County, 118 Wn.2d 852, 827 P.2d 1000 (1992) Held State law providing for an "admissions tax" did not authorize County to impose a tax on ski lift tickets where there was no charge for permission to enter the ski resort area.