Craig Blackmon was the attorney for Sharon Hanks in the lawsuit of Hanks v. Grace and RE/MAX, King Co. Cause No. 08-2-32349-8. Craig recently tried the case to a jury — and won! The jury awarded Mrs. Hanks $195.5k in out-of-pocket economic damages caused by the negligence of her listing broker, James Grace and RE/MAX Eastside Brokers. In addition, the jury concluded that Mr. Grace knew of Mrs. Hanks’s precarious emotional state at the time and should have protected her from emotional distress. Because he failed to do so, the jury awarded an additional $170.5k in non-economic (emotional distress) damages, for a total verdict in favor of the plaintiff of $366,000. Great work, Craig!!

We’re excited to announce that our affiliated real estate brokerage WaLaw Realty been nominated for the prestigious 2010 Innovator Awards awarded by Inman News at the annual Real Estate Connect conference in San Francisco. Along with several impressive companies we’ve been nominated in the Most Innovative Real Estate Brokerage category. Since WaLaw and the firm work in tandem, the firm is just as entitled to the accolades!

Nominations are open to the public and winners are chosen by the Inman News editorial board. This year, for the first time, there is a “People’s Choice” Innovator Award as well so we need your vote so we can win twice!

Click here to register (choose the “limited access” option to register for free) then click here to vote.

Inman News prides itself as “the leading source of independent real estate news, information, advice, research, opinion and commentary for industry professionals and consumers alike” and they’ve been handing out the Innovator Awards annually since 1997. The awards go to forward-thinking individuals and businesses and past winners include Google Earth, Trulia, Redfin, New York Times Real Estate, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, RE/MAX International, E*Trade, E-Loan, Lending Tree.

It’s a big honor for us to be nominated and especially cool since it comes on the heels of an awesome article they about us last April. You have to be a dues-paying member to read the whole article so we’ll sum it up for you. The reporter looked all across the company to see if anybody else had a business model that combined the traditional strengths of a top notch real estate brokerage with the practical advice and counsel of a real estate law firm all for a low flat fee. Sure enough, we’re the first and only ones to do it and that, my friends, is the definition of innovation!

This nomination is right in line with our mission statement which makes it all the more satisfying. WaLaw Realty – Changing the way people buy and sell real estate!

Yup, we now have our very own office suite, which will allow us to hire agents/paralegals who will assist us in providing comprehensive legal counsel along with the services of a real estate agent.   Exciting times here at the firm!

We finally got around to adding Marc’s name to the door.  Congrats, Marc!  Who knew his legal career would rise so rapidly?  Well, truthfully, anyone who knows him.

As you can also see, we’ve updated the content of the web site significantly.  Have a look around for some helpful links and learn about our practice.  We’d love to hear from you!