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RCW 4.84.185

Prevailing party to receive expenses for opposing frivolous action or defense.

Applied in 199 court decisions — leading case 118 Wash. 2d 801 - Cowiche Canyon Conservancy v. Bosley (1992)

Most recently applied in Subcontracting Concepts Ct, Inc., V. Fernanda Manzi And Leonardo Manzi (May 2023)

1991 c 70 s 1; 1987 c 212 s 201; 1983 c 127 s 1.

How often courts cite this section

198519902000201020202023120
citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

In any civil action, the court having jurisdiction may, upon written findings by the judge that the action, counterclaim, cross-claim, third party claim, or defense was frivolous and advanced without reasonable cause, require the nonprevailing party to pay the prevailing party the reasonable expenses, including fees of attorneys, incurred in opposing such action, counterclaim, cross-claim, third party claim, or defense. This determination shall be made upon motion by the prevailing party after a voluntary or involuntary order of dismissal, order on summary judgment, final judgment after trial, or other final order terminating the action as to the prevailing party. The judge shall consider all evidence presented at the time of the motion to determine whether the position of the nonprevailing party was frivolous and advanced without reasonable cause. In no event may such motion be filed more than thirty days after entry of the order.

The provisions of this section apply unless otherwise specifically provided by statute.

Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.