Professional Incompetence not CPA Violation

    The Washington Supreme Court has held that professional negligence is not actionable under the Washington Consumer Protection Act. Professionals can only be liable for unfair and deceptive business practices (e.g. advertising). The court in Haberman v WPPSS, 109 Wn.2d 107,169, 744 P.2d 1032 (1987)put it this way:

The trial court held that intervenors’ allegations of unfair and deceptive acts or practices in connection with the sale of bonds by respondent professionals failed to state a claim under the CPA as interpreted by this court in Short v. Demopolis, 103 Wn.2d 52, 61, 691 P.2d 163 (1984). In Short, this court held that the term “trade or commerce” used by the CPA only includes the entrepreneurial or commercial aspects of the professional practice of law, not the substantive quality of services provided. Claims “directed to the competence of and strategy employed” by attorneys constitute allegations of negligence or malpractice in performing professional services and, as such, are not actionable under the CPA. Short, at 61.