March 2004

The Board's Work

by Lindsay Thompson

Olympia, January 7-8, 2004

Since pretty much forever the BOG has gone to Olympia for its January meeting. It's when the Legislature convenes, after all. When I started with Bar News in 1988, then-Governor Booth Gardner used to come over every year for a visit.

That tradition withered away, either because Governor Gardner stopped or because his successor, Governor Lowry, didn't start; I can't recall. Over time, January in Olympia has become the time for meeting with the Supreme Court and the Government Lawyers Bar Association.

This year a freak snowstorm in western Washington made travel problematic at best. President Dave Savage needed something like 15 hours to get from Pullman to Olympia; I just stayed home. But thanks to my crack investigative skills (calling up Executive Director Jan Michels and asking for a copy of her minutes) you get a report anyway.

Here, as they say on the BBC World Service, are the main points:

1. The nonprofit corporations bill that looked so snarky in December looked better in January. It was pulled off tabled status. After a brief discussion, the BOG voted to sponsor it in the Legislature, 11-0.

2. Four bills treating jury service were considered. One would eliminate drivers' license records from jury source lists. One would create a service exemption for caregivers. One would separate jury pools for King County's two courthouses. One would define jury terms. None having reached their final draft form, the BOG took no formal action, but concern was expressed that dividing King County's jury pool might create racial or economic disparities.

3. The BOG held a brief debate on double taxation and attorney liens; they voted to be against double taxation of jury awards without supporting any of several competing bills specifically.

4. Tort-reform legislation continues to evolve. Nothing to act on yet, so they didn't.

5. The MCLE Board proposed giving CLE credit for judging law school moot court competitions; the BOG said OK.

6. The mother-of-all cats-versus-dogs debates — interviewing witnesses in criminal cases — came back. The BOG tweaked the language of proposed rules some more and voted to pass on revision of CrR 4.11 to the Supreme Court. The amendment of CrR 4.7 was deferred until July, because the Court Rules Committee felt a new approach to the subject needed devising.

7. The BOG approved a recommendation for a rule change on unpublished appellate opinions, which these days seem to outnumber published ones, and yet you can read them online even though they aren't published … you get the idea.

8. The BOG told the Rules Committee to work on civil discovery rules next in their cycle of revision and updating, but not to be bound by our traditional tracking of federal court rules when it comes to laydowns of discovery early in a case. CR 37 conferences and discovery disputes remain a favorite member contact sport.

9. The WSBA's Member Benefits Task Force recommended sponsoring GEICO's car insurance plan. The BOG agreed, and you can get the gecko for 8 percent less than TV viewers.

10. The WSBA's Legal Services to the Armed Forces Committee persuaded the BOG to ask the MCLE Board to exempt active-duty military lawyers who are also WSBA members from meeting CLE requirements. Additionally, the BOG approved a bylaw amendment that allows active-duty military lawyers to waive WSBA license fees and remain active members for up to five years.

Next stops on the road show: Seattle, February 27-28; Seattle Southcenter, April 2-3; Ocean Shores, May 14-15; Yakima, June 11; Coeur d'Alene, July 30-31; and Seattle, September 16-17. Meetings are open to members except for an hour's executive session at the start of each meeting. Y'all come. And as Alice Roosevelt Longworth used to say, "If you haven't got anything good to say about anyone, come and sit by me." I'm outta here.

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The Board's Work is an unofficial report on meetings and actions of the WSBA's elected governing body. Official minutes, containing matters not covered here, are kept by the WSBA executive director. WSBA members are welcome to attend and speak at all Board meetings.

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