In any action brought under this chapter, the court may award to the commission all reasonable costs of investigation and trial, including reasonable attorneys' fees to be fixed by the court. If the violation is found to have been intentional, the amount of the judgment, which shall for this purpose include the costs, may be trebled as punitive damages. If damages or trebled damages are awarded in such an action brought against a lobbyist, the judgment may be awarded against the lobbyist, and the lobbyist's employer or employers joined as defendants, jointly, severally, or both. If the defendant prevails, he or she shall be awarded all costs of trial and may be awarded reasonable attorneys' fees to be fixed by the court and paid by the state of Washington.
RCW 42.17A.780
Damages, costs, and attorneys' fees—Joint and several liability. (Effective until January 1, 2026. Recodified as RCW 29B.60.070.)
Known as the Fair Campaign Practices Act
The act spans §§ 42.17A.001 to 42.17A.920 (113 sections).
Applied in 3 court decisions — leading case State v. Grocery Mfrs. Ass'n (2022)
Most recently applied in State Of Washington, V. Meta Platforms, Inc. (December 2024)
2018 c 304 s 17.
How often courts cite this section
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.
Official source: Washington State Legislature. Reproduced from public-domain Washington statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.