Following nearly 5 years of litigation in Whatcom County Superior Court and a trial in May 2024, the Hillius v. 18 Paradise, LLP case is now in front of the Washington State Supreme Court.

Plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal to the State’s highest court in October 2024 and have further requested Direct Review, seeking to bypass the Court of Appeals to have the court review a slew of the trial court’s decisions on various grounds. Yet, the primary decision for which the Plaintiffs are seeking review is the trial court’s dismissal of the Plaintiffs’ Consumer Protection Act (“CPA”) claim against 18 Paradise and MJ Management on March 21, 2024 (see document 1 below) in addition to the trial court’s order of March 29, 2024, dismissing William “Mick” O’Bryan and Josh Williams from the case (see document 1 below). In the lead up to the trial, the CPA claim had been the heart of the Plaintiffs’ class action suit. After this loss, the Plaintiffs sought CR 54(b) certification of this decision on April 4, 2024 so that they could seek an immediate appeal (see document 1 below). Without the CPA claim, the trial went forward in May 2024, but the Plaintiffs did not file an appeal on their certified court decision.

After filing their Notice of Appeal, but before filing their Statement of Grounds for Direct Review, MJ Management filed a Motion to Dismiss Plaintiffs’ appeal on the basis that the Statement of Grounds had been filed late (nearly 2 months according the appellate court rules); the appeal of the CR 54(b) certified CPA claim had not been timely appealed, and MJ Management’s judgment against Plaintiffs and Plaintiff’s Counsel for unpaid attorney’s fees and costs had also not been appealed timely (see document 1 below). In addition to the Motion to Dismiss, both MJ Management and the City of Lynden filed objections to Plaintiffs’ request for the Washington State Supreme Court to take review of this issue instead of the Court of Appeals.

The parties have fully briefed these issues Motion to Dismiss (see documents 2, 3, and 4 below), Statement of Grounds (see documents 5, 6, and 7 below) and a hearing date has been set for April 1, 2025. The issues for the court are for the court to decide whether to grant MJ Management’s Motion to Dismiss and also to determine if they will take direct review of the Plaintiffs’ appeal.

Possinger Law Group represented MJ Management, O’Bryan, and Williams in the Hillis v. 18 Paradise litigation through the trial and has continued to represent MJ Management in the appeal brought by the Plaintiffs before the Washington State Supreme Court.

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References:

1_Order Dismissing CPA Claim, Order Dismissing O’Bryan and Williams, CR 54(b) Certification, MJ Management Judgment for Fees

2_MJ Management Motion to Dismiss

3_Plaintiffs’ Answer to Motion to Dismiss

4_MJ Management Reply

5_Plaintiffs’ Statement of Grounds

6_MJ Management Objection to Statement of Grounds

7_City of Lynden Objection to Statement of Grounds