September 2001

Parting Shots

by Jan Eric Peterson, WSBA President

This is my last column as your president and though I won't miss the monthly pressure of a deadline, I will probably soon miss the opportunity of this bully pulpit. So I am determined not to waste it.

First, I must say I have enjoyed being WSBA president and before I wander off into obscurity, I want to acknowledge the daily work the WSBA staff does for all of us. I especially want to personally and publicly thank Executive Director Jan Michels, whom we are very lucky to have at the helm; my very efficient personal assistants at the Bar, Lori Lee and Lisa KauzLoric; and Judith Berrett, director of communications, for helping get the message out that we are "proud to be lawyers." Last, but most deserving of my thanks, are my assistant, Mary Monschein, my law partners, and my family for allowing me to do this.

One of the achievements of the WSBA that has made me proud to be a lawyer is the remaking of our self-discipline system that I have been pleased to be a part of reshaping for nine years. With the current implementation of the diversion rules, the job is complete. You, the members, put your money where your collective mouth is and increased your dues support for our biggest budget department. As a result, we have created the best lawyer discipline system in the country, and completely eliminated caseload backlog. Now our system, while being more efficient and fair in processing prosecutions, emphasizes prevention and treatment before punishment. We have the Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP), the Lawyers' Assistance Program (LAP), Rule 11 open public proceedings, financial audits, mediation services, voluntary fee arbitration, diversion of minor misconduct, and the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. In addition, the consumer affairs staff handles thousands of client calls that don't become grievances. By helping each other and protecting the public, we have fulfilled our duty, not only to our profession but to consumers. What other profession does it as well? And Washington does it better than anyone.

These past two years, I have been all over the state attending lunches, dinners and meetings with lawyers. You know what? Most lawyers care about their clients, the justice system, and the public's interest before themselves. We have celebrated local heroes across our state who have given so much of themselves to our profession and to their communities. More than ever, you have made me proud to be a lawyer.

There are a few things that still trouble me, and as comedian Dennis Miller says, "I don't want to get off on a rant here, but¡K"

The hypocrisy of our drug laws. Fred Noland's noble campaign as King County Bar Association president has rightly focused attention of the bar and bench on reconsidering the failed punitive laws of the war on drugs. It's a big step in the right direction. What troubles me most is the hypocrisy. We criminalize and harshly punish the use of recreational drugs, but not alcohol and tobacco. We are a national drug culture hooked on pharmaceuticals to solve our problems, from impotence to weight loss. Every other block has a store advertising drugs in neon letters. Our children are brought up amidst the message that problems can be solved by using drugs. And then we send them to jail for possessing marijuana, because they don't understand our hypocritical distinctions that tell them killers like alcohol and tobacco are okay.

This hypocrisy is undermining the credibility of our entire justice system and burying it in a tidal wave of prosecutions and jail sentences. Such hypocrisy cuts at the core of faith in justice, and a country without justice is doomed. I say it is high time to save the justice system from this moralistic madness and start treating drug abuse as a medical problem, not a criminal one. Decriminalize drug possession and use. Put money wasted on police, prosecutions and prisons into education and treatment, and give us back our courts.

Public funding of the judiciary. Speaking of courts, as developing third-world and former Communist countries are discovering, an essential element of a democracy is an independent judiciary. Our forefathers knew this and established the judiciary as the third branch of government. It is so important that our pledge of allegiance says "liberty and justice for all." To be true to the promise of American-style democracy, that third branch of government must be independent, which means funded. We must find a better way than the current hodgepodge of county commissioners with strained local tax bases, state legislative appropriations limited by tax initiatives, municipalities contracting for part-time justice, and courts trying to patch it up with fines and fees.

Our courts are overburdened and understaffed, some without copy machines, let alone computers. Judges are underpaid, so they quit and go to the ADR business, where the public itself must go more often because public justice is inaccessible and unaffordable. Justice for only those who can afford it is not the democratic ideal. We must lead the demand for realistic public funding of the judiciary and courts, public defense and civil legal services. Justice is the most important service of government, and it must be funded. Demand it. Accept no more Band-Aids and half measures. Who, if not us, will lead the creation of the political will to see it done?

Professional independence. We are first a public trust and a service, not a business. The public interest must be our first priority, and we must return to core values of professionalism. The more we lawyers become big business, the more we lose the trust and respect of the public we are pledged to serve. The people know the bottom line for business is the bottom line. Profit rules. We cannot go there and survive. Multidisciplinary practice is a bad idea. Do not give up our professional independence. My dad was right when he said, "Do the right thing, and the money will take care of itself." You can do well by doing good. Sometimes that requires taking the long view and having patience. So be it. We are not in this to get rich; we are in this to help people.

Public justice and secrecy. Speaking of helping people, while keeping client confidences is a cornerstone to the trust in an independent profession, secrecy deals that thwart public safety are not. When we lawyers are party to confidentiality in settlement agreements and agreed orders that seal discovery to keep consumers in the dark, we do a public disservice. We are party to the payment and acceptance of hush money from corporate wrongdoers as the price of compensation for their victims. We ought to make court rules and ethical rules that don't allow this practice unless exceptional circumstances apply, solely for the client's benefit and approved by the courts. Secrecy should be the rare exception rather than the rule. It is, after all, public justice, and a system that's supposed to be open to the public. Only then will it be trusted.

As Dennis Miller further says, "That's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

Thanks for the privilege of being your president. When I began, I was asked how I wanted to be remembered. When I thought about it, I said, "I hope they'll say, He made me proud to be a lawyer." I'm going to continue to help the Bar shout from the rooftops: "I am proud to be a lawyer."

Back to table of contents >>