WSBA's "local heroes" helped make employment plaintiffs' attorneys' fees tax deductible

Earlier this month, the Washington State Bar Association gave its Local Hero Award to attorneys David F. Stobaugh and Stephen K. Strong and the law firm of Bendich, Stobaugh and Strong, P.C. Their pro bono work helped pass two pieces of legislation:

• The federal Civil Rights Tax Relief Act, section 703 of the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004, Pub. L. 108-357, 118 Stat. 1418, 1546, to allow plaintiffs in employment cases to deduct their attorneys' fees and costs in the years they receive awards or settlement payments. (This amends section 62 of the Internal Revenue Code.)
  
• Washington's law on liens for attorneys' fees, 2004 Laws of Washington ch. 73, amending RCW 60.40.010.

WSBA press release. Mr. Stobaugh and Mr. Strong are both alumni of the UW School of Law, by the way, as is their partner, Judith Bendich.

Categories: attorney's-fees, legislation, UW, Stobaugh, Strong, Bendich