April 2000

Board's Work - February 2000

by Sherrie Bennett

February 18, 2000 meeting

Court funding and operations were top concerns and topics of discussion for the Board of Governors at the February 18, 2000 meeting in Tacoma. Immediate Past-President Wayne Blair reported on new internal rule changes within the Board for Judicial Administration (BJA) which should make it a more effective forum for policy decision-making within the judiciary. The BJA has formed a new subcommittee, dubbed Project 2001, to study court reform. Former WSBA President Paul Steere and Thomas A. Swayze, a former president of the Superior Court Judges Association, will co-chair the subcommittee.

After announcing the appointment of Eugene I. Annis of Spokane to the Public Trust and Confidence Committee of the BJA, President Dick Eymann presided over a discussion regarding legal services funding, and the chronic underfunding of state courts. Governor Walt Krueger pointed out the need for WSBA members to further educate themselves on the legislative funding process. The Board subsequently formed an ad hoc budgetary study group to meet over brown-bag lunches to reach a better understanding of legislative budgetary forces and processes.

YLD President Lisa Castilleja reported on efforts to recruit diverse membership, including lawyers of various ethnic and geographic groups, government lawyers and lawyers in solo practice.

Katrina Glogowski encouraged attendance at YLD’s Mid-Year Conference, which will be held in Winthrop May 5-7, 2000. She also reported on YLD’s Pre-Law Student Leadership Conference, to be held in Yakima on April 15, 2000. At the conference, high school students are encouraged to become lawyers through leadership development training with lawyers as role models.

Steve Marsalis gave the Board an overview of YLD’s Aspiring Youth Program, designed to educate and inspire at-risk youth. The pilot program now operating in Spokane is destined to future expansion into the Seattle area.

YLD president-elect Tom Quinlan described YLD’s Scholarship Mentorship Program, which pairs attorneys and judges with high school students who observe the attorneys in action. Students then write about what they learned. YLD awards scholarships for college expenses. The program started in Tacoma, but has now spread to Seattle.

Vonda Sargent reported on YLD’s ABA model program for community outreach and education clinics staffed by young attorneys, tackling such issues as domestic violence, family law and landlord/tenant problems.

John Brangwin talked about YLD’s sponsorship of brown-bag lunch discussions regarding equality in practice. Paul Lehto described the Law Student Mentorship Program, which is venturing into an area the Board of Governors encouraged all to explore.

Walt Olsen discussed the Youth and Law Program, for elementary and middle school children to participate in mock trials and related discussions. Law enforcement officers are part of this program, which included Johnnie Cochran as a speaker last year.

YLD’s immediate Past-President Patrick Palace, showed a representative video of YLD’s Law Talk, providing TV programming regarding basic legal rights and remedies, processes and legal resources. Upcoming video topics include tobacco litigation (with Attorney General Christine Gregoire), the inner workings of Congress (with Jay Inslee and Patty Murray) and health insurance (with Tom Kindle).

Jon Winemiller reported on YLD’s Trial Advocacy Program, a 12-week intensive mock trial program. Brian Born described YLD’s Greater Access Program (GAP), which YLD has partnered with the Access to Justice Board and the Northwest Justice Project to interface with the CLEAR project in providing discounted legal services on a sliding scale. Ken Norris discussed some of the focus points for YLD’s Practice Conditions Program, including professional development, stress of young lawyers, financial planning and balancing young lawyers’ personal lives with the law.

WSBA lobbyists John Fattorini and Gail Stone gave the Board an update on the fast-and-furious workings of the legislature during the pending session. As of press time:

WSBA-sponsored SB 2320 and SHB 2321, regarding electronic notice and proxies for nonprofit and for-profit corporations, passed the House and Senate and was on the way to Governor Locke for action. The bill was amended in the House Judiciary Committee to address a member’s concern about the security of electronic voting, requiring transmittal with security or validation controls.

WSBA-sponsored EHB 2322, regarding limited liability partnership, is in front of the Governor for action.

WSBA-sponsored SSB 6186, an overhaul of Uniform Commercial Code Article 9, has passed and is waiting for the Governor’s approval.

WSBA-sponsored bill SB6138, modifying disclaimers of interest under the probate and trust laws, has passed and is on the way to the Governor.

WSBA-sponsored SB 6139, modifying estate tax apportionment, passed and is on the Governor’s table.

WSBA-sponsored SB 6140, updating probate and trust laws, passed and is waiting for the Governor’s action.

SSB 6550, amending the Equal Access to Justice Act, died in the Senate Ways and Means Committee under the weight of a nearly $10 million fiscal note from the Department of Labor and Industry. This issue will continue to be developed between sessions.

2SSB 5659, regarding offers of compromise in mandatory arbitration and supported by the WSBA, passed the Senate but died in the House Judiciary Committee. The bill, which also included an increase in the MAR jurisdictional amount to $50,000, made it out of the Senate with only nine "no" votes, but could not get out of the House.

WSBA-supported EHB 2713 on mandatory arbitration fees, passed the House and the Senate, and is on its way to the Governor. This bill creates a local-option fee of up to $120 for filing a statement of arbitrability. The bill came out of the House with an amendment requiring that the fee be sent to a vote of the people if a court of competent jurisdiction determines that the fee is subject to I-695.

HB 2571/SB 6379, clarifying that attorneys’ fees may not be awarded against administrative tribunals, died in House committee. The Senate version passed out of committee but got caught in a strategy to revive SSB 6550 by amending it onto this bill. As discussions proceeded, time ran out and the underlying bill did not make it to the Senate floor for a vote.

You can access more information on the legislative progress at http://www.leg.wa.gov/wsladm/bills.htm.

The Board received a report on Public Legal Education Council progress from Marlin Appelwick, Judith Billings, former Board member Mary Alice Theiler, Laurie Rosenfeld and Joan Fairbanks. The organizational structure, which will likely be a 501(c)(3) corporation, is expected to be decided shortly. Members are looking at the effectiveness of institutional civics class opportunities in the short-run, and will develop additional methods of education over time.

General Counsel Bob Welden and Governor Steve Henderson met with Oregon and Idaho Bar Association representatives in February to discuss the WSBA’s newly adopted reciprocity rule and ways to make it easier for Washington, Oregon and Idaho lawyers to practice in the other states. Discussions centered on the potential of a two-day course and two-hour exam on black-letter law differences and court structure differences among the states. The group will meet again shortly to continue discussions.

President-elect Jan Eric Peterson and Randy Beitel reported on a potential program to develop a kinder, gentler WSBA disciplinary system. According to Jan Eric Peterson, the diversion program would move the disciplinary process "away from crime and punishment toward prevention, education, reform and customer service." Potential diversion programs could include fee arbitration, mediation, law office management assistance, lawyer assistance programs, psychological or behavioral counseling, monitoring , restitution and continuing legal education programs. The Board will discuss this matter further in the future.

Wayne Blair, Governor Krueger and former Governor Marijean Moschetto discussed the future of implementation of long-range planning goals developed by the Board over the past two years. The issue of how to involve members of more diverse backgrounds came to the forefront. Moschetto suggested that the Long-Range Planning Committee could assume many roles (for instance, as a think tank, administrators, etc.) into the future, and would await the Board’s direction.

Bertha Fitzer reported to the Board regarding the activities of the Amicus Brief Committee, including a decision not to file an amicus brief in a case where the issues were fact specific and well briefed.

Governor Krueger reported that the WSBA budget is on target for the year, financial auditors have given WSBA a "clean bill of health," and the conversion to a standard accounting system is going well. No further staff additions are expected at this time, there will be no reductions in staff salary this year, and staff turnover is down from 25 percent to 18 percent.

The Board appointed Judge Rebecca Baker and Richard W. Kuhling to the Access to Justice Board. The Legal Foundation of Washington representative will be Dwight Williams.

Mark D. Schedler was appointed to the Limited Practice Board.

Phillip Ginsberg will be the WSBA’s new representative on the Defender Association Board.

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