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September 2004FYI: For Your InformationFamily Law CASA of King County Call for Training-class Volunteers CASA volunteers represent the best interests of children involved in contested family-law cases in King County Superior Court. These cases typically involve allegations of substance abuse, domestic violence, mental health, and physical or sexual abuse. Volunteers do not have to be attorneys, but need to have a strong interest in doing investigations, making home visits, writing reports, and testifying in court. The program provides ongoing supervision and support following the initial training period. For more information or to request an application, call 206-748-9700 or visit www.familylawcasa.com. Civil Legal Aid Providers Host Open Houses across the State The Open House Project will showcase Washington's efficient and well-coordinated network of legal-aid providers while emphasizing that access to justice is still out of reach for an overwhelming majority of low-income people. Recently, the Washington State Supreme Court's Civil Legal Needs Study concluded that, due to inadequate funding, over 85 percent of low-income people are unable to secure necessary legal assistance. The Open House Project is an excellent opportunity to raise awareness about these critical problems and the significance of being assisted by a lawyer. Legal aid promotes fairness and justice; helps families in crisis return to safe, productive lives; saves dollars for taxpayers by preempting a spiral of costly social problems; and helps ensure a well-ordered society. The theme of the Open House Project is "Pro Bono," and the Access to Justice Board looks forward to recognizing the contributions of attorneys who give volunteer legal aid worth over $11 million each year to help meet the civil legal needs of our state's poor. Community and state leaders will be speaking at each of the 19 locations. The success of this project depends upon the support of the most important participants in the justice system: lawyers. For more information about the time and location of the Open House in your community or to get involved, please contact the Equal Justice Coalition at 206-447-8168 or equalj@ejc.org. Please save the date October 27 in your calendar to attend an open house in any of the following cities: Bellevue, Bellingham, Bremerton, Chehalis, Ellensburg, Everett, Kennewick, Kent, Mount Vernon, Oak Harbor, Olympia, Port Angeles, Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma, Vancouver, Walla Walla, Wenatchee, or Yakima. Law Firm Serves Meals to the Homeless Letter to the Equal Justice Community about CLS Restructuring and Transition from Ada Shen-Jaffe As you may know, in 2003, Columbia Legal Services (CLS) and its equal justice network partners embarked on a difficult restructuring process to address looming fiscal and client service delivery-related challenges facing our state's civil-equal-justice delivery system. Our goal was to restructure in a way that would be consistent with our State Plan and "Hallmarks of an Effective Statewide Civil Legal Services System" (our statement of core values). (The Hallmarks, which were recently revised as part of an inclusive statewide equal justice leadership effort, can be found at www.wsba.org/atj/publications/hallmarks2004web.doc.) As part of the resulting plan for reconfiguration, on July 1, 2004, CLS stepped aside from the role it has had as the principal contractor and network-wide fiscal agent since 1992 for state civil legal aid funding. These roles were taken on by our federally funded partner organization, the Northwest Justice Project (NJP). The result of this restructuring will be significant for CLS, NJP, and our state's equal-justice community. As state funding represented nearly 50 percent of the annual CLS operating budget, the loss of these funds will result in CLS becoming a smaller statewide provider that will focus its resources on meeting the needs of low-income populations who need legal assistance in areas that other legal-aid providers are unable to address. CLS will place primary emphasis on serving highly vulnerable populations who are disparately denied access to justice, who have critical civil legal needs, and for whom no alternative legal-aid services are available. CLS will also maintain the capacity to represent individual clients and client groups in class actions and before local, regional, and statewide regulatory and legislative bodies. NJP will, with the addition of state funds, be able to expand its footprint and assume a greater client-service-delivery presence throughout the state. The restructuring plan has been endorsed by the Access to Justice Board (our state's civil-legal-aid planning entity, established in 1994 by the Washington State Supreme Court). While disruptive, we believe that this restructuring will result in greater role clarity between the two statewide providers, help limit the potential for unproductive political controversy over civil legal aid funding efforts, and ensure fidelity of our statewide delivery system to deliver services consistent with the core vision and values that guide our statewide ATJ network, from the Supreme Court to all of our locally based and regional providers. In accordance with the restructuring plan, after over 18 years as director of Columbia Legal Services and Evergreen Legal Services, I handed over leadership of CLS, effective July 1, 2004, to a new team. This transition is part of a leadership development and succession plan initiated by the CLS statewide Board of Directors and implemented by the CLS leadership team over the course of the past two years. I am proud and excited to be able to step aside and place the future of CLS into the hands of such a gifted team. CLS' new leaders are: director, John Midgley; deputy director, Aurora Martin; statewide advocacy coordinator, Dan Ford; controller, Liz Stonehill; and information technology manager, Sandra Victoria. All can be reached at 206-464-1122. I would like to express special thanks to the members of the CLS staff who lost their jobs, and those whose offices were closed as a result of the changes. I am grateful for their commitment, along with the efforts of their CLS co-workers, to put our clients first, in spite of wrenching professional and personal disruption and dislocation. Our partners have extended as much assistance and cooperation as they can, consistent with their own independent responsibilities and legal obligations, to minimize the amount of disruption in client service delivery, and for this, I am grateful. I will continue to serve as a senior advisor at CLS available to assist with the transition for a few months until CLS has completed its shift to its new roles and functions under the restructuring plan. Joining me as senior advisors available to assist with the transition and to provide short-term continuing support for the community of providers now known as Washington State's Alliance for Equal Justice will be Debbie Juntunen, also known as "DJ" (former CLS chief financial officer); Jim Bamberger (former statewide coordinator in charge of government and public relations); and Gail Jackson (former human resources/operations manager). I am grateful for the support that my statewide board, staff members, partner organizations, and colleagues throughout the justice community have so generously given to me throughout my tenure as a statewide leader, and particularly as we have been making this important transition into the future. Together, we have accomplished so much, and yet still too little, in the struggle to ensure that equal justice is a reality for the poorest and most vulnerable people in our state. It has been gratifying to participate in the growth of our state's overall justice community and the intensified focus and commitment of its leaders to ensuring that we "walk the talk" of equal justice for the people who need it most. I feel privileged to have shared nearly three decades in the service of justice with so many of you, and I thank you for all you have done and shared with me over the years. Welcome to the WYLD's Newest Officers Noah C. Davis, of the Seattle firm In Pacta PLLC, was elected 2004-2005 WYLD president-elect. Todd W. Wyatt, of the Seattle firm Salter Joyce Ziker, PLLC, was elected to represent the King County District. Christopher D. Bell, of the Everett firm Bell & Ingram PS, was unanimously appointed to represent the Snohomish County District. Rachelle Anderson, of the Spokane firm Smith Hemingway & Anderson PS, was unanimously appointed to represent the Greater Spokane County District. For a full WYLD Board of Trustees roster and more information about the WYLD, please visit www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/wyld. Legal Foundation of Washington Notice of Public Meeting Senior Attorneys Discussion Group WSBA Court Rules and Procedures Committee 2004-2005 Agenda APR 11 Regulation 110 Changes Approved by Supreme Court The revised Regulation 110 disallows exemption from CLE credit for active members on the basis of restricted practice. Active members with restricted practice will now have the option of complying with the CLE requirements or changing to inactive status. If members switch to inactive status and at some point in the future want to return to active status, they will need to satisfy the CLE requirements for the period in which they were inactive. This is required by the WSBA Bylaws of all members who change to inactive status on or after September 1, 2003. The amendments to Regulation 110 are also much more specific about the criteria that must be met in order for an exemption, waiver, or modification of the CLE requirements to be granted by the Board. The member must be experiencing a condition of undue hardship, age, or disability warranting approval of such a request. Regulation 110 also now requires that a sworn affidavit be submitted with the request in order for the Board to consider it. The member must establish in his affidavit to the Board's satisfaction that the member's condition warrants the exemption, waiver, or modification, and that the member has not been and will not be engaged in the active practice of law during the relevant period. A new section was added at the end of Regulation 110 that addresses members who have been called up to active military duty. Members on active military duty may request an exemption, waiver, or modification of the CLE requirements if they can prove undue hardship because of their military assignment. This amendment takes the place of the MCLE Board policy on military service that allowed members called up for military service to request a temporary waiver until 60 days after discharge from the military. All members who have already received this temporary waiver will be able to retain it. All new applications from members called up for military duty will be considered under the provisions of the new Regulation 110 amendment. For the text of the amendments to Regulation 110, visit www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/?a=court_rules.list&group=ga&set=APR (click "Regulations of the Washington State Board of Continuing Legal Education"). MCLE Certification for Active Members General Information Group 1: Admitted through 1975, 1991, 1994, 1997, 2000, or 2003.* Credit Requirement. The following credit requirements must be met by December 31 of the last year of an active member's reporting period: Earn at least 45 total credits of WSBA-approved CLE activities, which must include a minimum of 30 live credits and a minimum of six ethics credits. A/V courses can be no more than five years old, except skills courses. No more than four pro bono credits can be earned per year. Carryover CLE Credits. Carryover credits from the previous reporting period must be used to meet the requirements of the current reporting period. If your current reporting period total credits exceed 45, you may carry over a maximum combined total of 15 general and ethics credits. Only two ethics credits and five A/V credits may be carried over. MCLE Late Fees. All active members who have not completed their credits by December 31 of the last year of their reporting period, or who submit their C2 reporting forms after March 1 of the following year, must pay a late fee of $150. The late fee increases by $300 for each consecutive three-year reporting period of noncompliance. Newly Admitted Members. If you are a newly admitted member, you are exempt from reporting CLE credits for the year of your admission and the following calendar year. If you were admitted in 2003, you will not report this reporting period (2002-2004) even though you are in Group 1. You will first report at the end of 2007 for the 2005-2007 reporting period. When you report at the end of your first reporting period, you may claim all CLE credits earned on or after your date of admission to the WSBA. MCLE Comity. If you are an active member of the WSBA and your primary practice is in Oregon, Idaho, or Utah, you may meet your mandatory CLE requirements by providing proof of current compliance. Only a Certificate of Compliance from your state bar will satisfy your MCLE requirements in Washington. MCLE System Course Listing and Member Profiles. You can use the online MCLE system at http://pro.wsba.org to review courses taken and credits earned, apply for course approval, apply for writing credit or for prep-time credit, and search for approved courses being presented in the future. To use the MCLE system, go to http://pro.wsba.org, click on the Member tab, then select Member Login. The online instructions will lead you through the process of creating a confidential password and beginning to use the system. Online help is available. If you have any questions about using the MCLE system or about the MCLE compliance requirements, please contact the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA, or questions@wsba.org. Address Update Reminder Northwest Indian Legal Scholarship Program Receives ABA Project Award Asian Bar Association of Washington 16th Annual Banquet 2004 WSBA Annual Awards Dinner and Business Meeting Upcoming Board of Governors Meetings September 16-17 Seattle With the exception of a one-hour executive session the morning of the first day, Board of Governors meetings are open, and all WSBA members are welcome to attend. RSVPs are appreciated but not required. Please contact Donna Sato at 206-727-8244 or donnas@wsba.org. The complete Board of Governors meeting schedule is available on the WSBA website at www.wsba.org/info/bog/schedule.htm. Usury Rate Interest in Establishment of New State and Local Tax Section Access to Justice Board Thanks Conference Sponsors The conference ran the gamut from comical to inspirational to poignant all in the name of ensuring equal access to the justice system. If you are interested in participating in the planning process for the 2005 ATJ Conference or in getting on the conference mailing list, please contact Sharlene Steele at 206-727-8262 or sharlene@wsba.org. The 2005 conference will be held at the Bellevue Doubletree and promises to be a great 10-year celebratory event. |
