Volk v. DeMeerleer

*394¶1 We undertake the humbling and daunting task of demarcating the duty a mental health professional owed to third parties to protect them from the violent behavior of the professional’s outpatient client. The parties, the mental health care profession, and the residents of Washington State would be better served by the legislature addressing this question after a comprehensive review of scientific data and statistics and after a thorough airing of the competing interests and policies involved. Since we conclude that the state legislature has not addressed the duty owed in the context of an…