Legal Question in Personal Injury in Washington

After reading your post, the first thing that lit up in my mind was how you know the school had your daughter named in the suit, since the school is not who is suing, but is also being sued. I'm just curious about that. Nevertheless, since your daughter is an adult and only she is named�as opposed to you, your wife, or any other guardian of your daughter�then for your purposes, you are off the hook.

From your daughter's perspective, I'm guessing she is still close to 18, and probably has no assets or means of paying a judgment. This means, come what may in the suit, if she is found liable for the plaintiff's injuries, she is what is known as "judgment proof," meaning she has nothing to use to pay and in effect any judgment against her is meaningless as a practical matter.

The judgment is good for 10 years and renewable for another 10 year. If your daughter accumulates enough wealth in those 20 years, then maybe the plaintiff or a representative acting on her behalf may come after her. Otherwise, the worst thing she stands to lose as a result of a judgment is the damage to her credit report that will cause for the 10 years following recording of the judgment against her, and thus her ability to obtain financing for anything from a home or car purchase to credit cards. Perhaps the biggest problem a judgment could cause her is if the judgment is sold to a collection agency who tracks her down and obtains wage garnishments against her. This is rare with someone of her age and probably lack of skills and thus a low salary, but still a possibility.

If you are at all in a position to help your daughter, try and hire an attorney for her. Although as a practical matter a judgment proof person will not be affected by the judgment, it will put her way behind financially if she even has the judgment to deal with on her record, and possibly make life very difficult if her wages are garnished. You may find an attorney willing to take the case on a payment plan. In fact, if you want to discuss such a possibility, please feel free to contact me.