Respondent Says Judge Freeman's Orders Should Be Affirmed; Panel Probes Post-judgment Relief

Reid Myers, counsel for respondent MJ Management, urged the appellate panel to affirm Judge Freeman's rulings. "Judge Freeman got it right all the way through and every order he ordered, and this court should affirm all of them," Myers said, asking the court to sustain the trial court's rulings.

The panel then questioned the practical consequences of a declaratory judgment that certain association amendments were invalid: whether that ruling entitles the plaintiffs to monetary recovery and, if so, whether they waived that relief by not pleading or trying damages at trial. The court and counsel discussed a motion in limine that excluded damage evidence and whether further relief would require an evidentiary hearing or individual collection suits in Whatcom County. The panel pressed why individual plaintiffs should be required to sue in county court to obtain money judgments when the class had litigated the declaratory judgment here.

Myers said the record lacked evidence of damages introduced at trial because defendants had excluded that evidence; he offered to supplement the brief with additional authority on the pleading question when asked by the panel.

Why it matters: The court's decision on whether monetary relief can be obtained post-declaratory judgment and where such relief must be pursued affects class members' access to remedies and the practical enforcement of favorable declaratory rulings.

The court took additional argument and later submitted the case for decision.