Beal v. City of Seattle

(dissenting) — Plaintiffs’ counsel filed a complaint naming plaintiffs who had no standing to sue the defendant.6 Rather than dismissing the case, the majority condones counsel’s conduct and allows counsel to avoid the effect of a statute of limitation he missed by 94 days. More significant because of its impact on existing law, however, is the majority’s treatment of the public duty doctrine. The majority makes municipalities insurers of all of the consequences of responses to 911 calls. I respectfully dissent.

A. Relation Back of the Amended Complaint

Although the majority opinion engages in…