Banowsky v. Backstrom

*727¶1 Washington's superior courts are courts of general jurisdiction-most claims, on most subjects, valued at most any amount, can be decided there. Washington's district courts are courts of limited jurisdiction-only a subset of claims, on a subset of subjects, with $100,000 or less in controversy for civil cases, can be decided there.

¶2 Teresa Banowsky filed her claim for medical malpractice in district court on the last day of the statute of limitations. She sought over $100,000. District courts can exercise jurisdiction over medical malpractice claims, but they cannot exercise jurisdiction…