Stratagem Law Group is a small firm that tries cases, argues appeals, and takes on regulators and national payers when a client’s business depends on it. The significant cases below are matters of public record in which Stratagem Law Group represented a party. Each entry links to the court’s decision and, where we have written about the case, to our analysis.
Chappel v. Johnson, 35 Wn. App. 2d 479, 576 P.3d 578 (2025)
Court: Washington Court of Appeals, Division One (published opinion, September 15, 2025), affirming the King County Superior Court after a bench trial. Stratagem Law Group represented the board of the Seattle Black Firefighters Association at trial and on appeal. The Washington Attorney General appeared as amicus curiae.
Members of a nonprofit sued its board over a proposed sale of the organization’s historic Central District house, alleging breach of fiduciary duty and violations of the Washington Nonprofit Corporation Act, chapter 24.03A RCW. After trial, the superior court found several statutory and bylaw violations but held that the directors had not breached their fiduciary duties and were not personally liable, that the organization was not a “charitable corporation” under RCW 24.03A.010(5), and that its house was therefore not subject to the Act’s restrictions on property held for charitable purposes. The Court of Appeals affirmed on every issue, holding that a violation of the Act is not, by itself, a fiduciary breach, that engaging in charitable activities does not make an organization a charitable corporation, and that the Attorney General’s controls over charitable property attach only once that definition is met.
Aunty’s Place Early Learning & Child Care Center v. DCYF (Thurston County Superior Court 2026)
Court: Thurston County Superior Court, No. 26-2-03325-34 (preliminary injunction entered June 26, 2026; Final Order and Declaratory Judgment entered October 1, 2026). Full caption: Aunty’s Place Early Learning & Child Care Center, LLC v. Washington State Department of Children, Youth & Families. Stratagem Law Group represented the petitioners, five licensed family home child care providers.
The providers challenged a 2024 amendment to the Department’s capacity-waiver rule, WAC 110-300-0358, under the Washington Administrative Procedure Act, RCW 34.05.570(2). The court first enjoined enforcement of the amendment against the petitioners. After a merits hearing on September 18, 2026, it declared the amendment invalid because the agency adopted it without complying with the APA’s rulemaking procedures: no rule-making hearing was held, the rule-making file cited no supporting data, and a timely public comment was never filed or answered. The judgment left the prior version of the rule in effect, barred the Department from relying on the invalid amendment to reduce the petitioners’ waivers, and reserved attorney fees under Washington’s Equal Access to Justice Act. The decision is a trial-court judgment and remains subject to appeal.
About these significant cases
We list a matter here only when it produced a public decision on a question that matters beyond the parties: a published appellate opinion, a judgment invalidating a state rule, or a ruling that shapes how regulators and payers deal with Washington businesses. Descriptions are drawn from the public record. Every case turns on its own facts, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Nothing on this page is legal advice or creates an attorney-client relationship.
Stratagem Law Group’s litigation, regulatory, and nonprofit work is described on our civil litigation, healthcare compliance, and nonprofit law pages. Learn more about Matthew T. Macklin, the firm’s managing attorney, who handled each of these matters.
Wherever Business Takes You
Legal Insight. Business Instinct. Serving clients throughout Washington State, in person and virtually.
