Olympic Forest Products, Inc. v. Chaussee Corp.

It is common legal knowledge that the filing of an affidavit and bond results in the perfunctory issuance of a writ of garnishment, before judgment, in a suit for a debt. Since 1893, the affidavit only need be couched in the statutory language that “. . . such debt is just, due and unpaid, and that the garnishment applied for is not sued out to injure either the defendant or the garnishee.” Laws of 1893, ch. 56, § 1; RCW 7.33.010 (1) (b).

This case challenges that procedure. The major question is whether the prejudgment garnishment of a corporation’s bank account without prior notice and…