paragraphs describing those proceedings. FAC ¶¶ 2.3, 2.8, 2.18-2.20, 2

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 things) a declaration that the continuances are unconstitutional, and that “thousands” of other Washington litigants’ rights are being similarly violated. FAC ¶¶ 5.82-5.85. But in Washington, a trial court generally does not have the power to act in “cases . . . not pending before it,” particularly cases “pending in a different

county.” Am. Mobile Homes of Wash. v. Seattle-First Nat’l Bank, 115 Wn.2d 307,

319, 796 P.2d 1276 (1990). Under the “priority of action” rule, the court that obtains jurisdiction over a case first “retains the exclusive authority” over the action “until the controversy is resolved.” Frank Coluccio Constr. Co. v. King County, 3 Wn. App. 2d 504, 518, 416 P.3d 756 (2018). Lawsuits that violate the

rule are subject to dismissal. See Atl. Cas. Ins. Co. v. Oregon Mut. Ins. Co., 137

Wn. App. 296, 307, 153 P.3d 211 (2007). The gravamen of Plaintiffs’ complaint is that their constitutional rights are being violated by the continuances in their pending cases. That determination is fact-specific and committed to the discretion of the presiding judges and direct appellate review. See Willapa Trading Co. v. Muscanto, 45 Wn. App. 779, 785-86, 727 P.2d 687 (1986); State v. Harp, 13 Wn. App. 273, 275, 534 P.2d 846 (1975) (assessing “unnecessary delay” based on case-specific circumstances); Endicott v. Icicle Seafoods, 167 Wn.2d 873, 884-85, 224 P.3d 761 (2010) (assessing right to a jury trial “in a particular cause of action”). This Court should not indulge a collateral attack on its fellow trial judges’ discretion.

III. Plaintiffs Fail to State Legally Actionable Claims

Besides their lack of standing and ineligibility for collateral relief, Plaintiffs also fail to state legally viable claims. They read into three provisions

MOTION TO DISMISS Case No. 21-2-06462-7 SEA 22

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