SEATTLE -- Two California-based companies that sold legal service plans, including estate planning, agreed today to stop doing business in Washington and to refund consumers who either failed to receive legal advice from a licensed attorney or bought products as a result of high-pressure sales.

Attorney General Christine Gregoire today entered an Assurance of Discontinuance in King County Superior Court in the case of Family First Advanced Estate Planning, Inc., and Group Legal Services, Inc.

OLYMPIA -- Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire today took action before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to support efforts by Northwest utilities to obtain rate relief for customers who were harmed by the fraudulent activities by Enron.

OLYMPIA -- The failure of federal energy regulators to act may preclude Northwest ratepayers from ever getting financial relief for fraud committed by Enron traders, Washington Attorney General Christine Gregoire warned today.

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire today joined the Colville Confederated Tribes in their lawsuit aimed at forcing the Teck Cominco mining company to clean up Lake Roosevelt.

“We are joining the lawsuit because we believe that implementing the EPA order is the quickest way to complete the studies and begin cleaning up the lake,” Locke said. “We prefer not to use the legal route, but we are doing so because we must protect our state’s interests in this issue.”

SEATTLE - To win approval of the sale of its lucrative telephone directory business, which includes the Dex Yellow Pages, Qwest Communications should make sure its Washington customers share in any of the sale's benefits, Attorney General Christine Gregoire said today.

OLYMPIA -- Washington will receive $3.25 million as part of a multi-state settlement with Duke Energy, according to Attorney General Christine Gregoire.

"This resolves claims that Duke overcharged for wholesale electricity during the 2000-01 energy crisis," Gregoire said.

Duke was one of several companies the attorneys general of Washington, Oregon and California investigated regarding claims of market manipulation and overcharges. During the 2000-2001 energy crisis electricity rates skyrocketed for Washington consumers.

Seattle -Aug. 23, 2000- A lawsuit filed today against three Washington travel companies is part of a coordinated nationwide effort to crack down on unscrupulous travel and timeshare operators, Attorney General Christine Gregoire announced.

The companies are accused of using misleading and deceptive tactics, failing to deliver on promises, and trying to sell interests in timeshare properties not registered in Washington state.

Olympia -March 6, 2000 - A settlement announced today involving the planned merger of US West and Quest Communications is designed to ensure that Washington customers receive adequate and affordable service from the merged company, Attorney General Christine Gregoire said.

The agreement was reached by the Attorney General's Office, the staff of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC), US West, and Qwest. The agreement now must receive approval from the WUTC, and will only become binding when the companies complete the merger.

SEATTLE - July 31, 1998 - The Attorney General's Office today took action against travel sellers in Yakima and Bellevue for allegedly failing to deliver the travel purchased and deceiving consumers about cancellation rights and refund policies.

“People take vacations to get away from their troubles, not add to them, ” said Attorney General Christine Gregoire, “Not only were vacations unexpectedly canceled, consumers never got their money back.”

OLYMPIA -- Gov. Gary Locke and Attorney General Christine Gregoire today announced that Washington state intends to sue the federal Department of Energy (DOE) to halt further shipments of waste to Hanford because the agency has not fully complied with federal environmental laws.

Next week, attorneys for the state will ask a federal judge for permission to expand the state's original lawsuit, Washington v. Abraham, to include low-level and mixed low-level radioactive waste. The original lawsuit, filed in 2003, involves only shipments of transuranic waste.