August 2002

FYI: For Your Information

The Grays Harbor County Bar Association recently presented Creed of Professionalism plaques to the county's superior, district and municipal court judges. WSBA Governor Stephen J. Henderson was on hand to talk about the history of the creed, and county bar members presented each judge with a plaque.

L-R: WSBA Governor Stephen J. Henderson; Elma Municipal Court Judge David Hatch; Ocean Shores Municipal Court Judge Paul L. Stritmatter; McCleary/Montesano Municipal Court Judge Arthur Blauvelt; Westport Municipal Court Judge Stephen Hyde; Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge David Foscue; Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge Gordon Godfrey; Grays Harbor County Superior Court Judge Mark McCauley; Grays Harbor County Bar President Erik Kupka; and Hoquiam Municipal Court Judge Bill Stewart.

Seattle University's Access to Justice Institute (AJI) has launched a program to create five community justice centers in communities of color. The Community Justice Project will target Seattle's Central District and International District, Crossroads (Bellevue), White Center (South Seattle), and the Hilltop area of Tacoma. Representatives of law firms, legal service agencies and specialty bars will work with judges and law school faculty to provide topic-based legal advice. In some cases, pro bono representation may also be provided. The Community Justice Project is co-chaired by Seattle Municipal Court Judge Judith Hightower, King County Superior Court Judge Richard Jones, AJI Director Sudha Shetty, and Val Carlson of the King County Bar Association.

The Washington State Hispanic Bar Association (WSHBA) hosted a Latino-style barbecue honoring Washington State Supreme Court Justice C.Z. Smith. Justice Smith was recognized for his long-standing support of Washington's Latino lawyers and his commitment to equal justice under the law. He has been a long-time member of the WSHBA and the National Hispanic Bar Association.

Every Thursday on the 6:30 news, KING-5 TV presents Legally Speaking, short segments addressing a wide variety of legal topics. It's a wonderful partnership between KING-5 TV and the WSBA. News Anchor/Reporter Allen Schauffler does an outstanding job hosting and coordinating Legally Speaking, and many WSBA members give generously of their time and expertise.

Legally Speaking is also shown on Northwest Cable News, so it is seen throughout the state, as well as in Oregon and Idaho. This project originated from the Proud to Be a Lawyer Task Force, formed by 2000-01 President Jan Eric Peterson.

At the Access to Justice Conference in June, the ATJ Board presented KING-5 TV with its Community Partnership Award. Allen Schauffler had planned to attend the conference to accept the award, but was unable to be there. He asked that we publish his acceptance speech, and we are happy to do so.

Note: Allen Schauffler can be reached at 206-448-3614 or legallyspeaking@king5.com. Visit http://www.king5.com/localnews/legallyspeaking.

The WYLD Bridging the Gap Conference will be held in Seattle September 20-21. This two-day CLE will include skills training on subjects like brief-writing and arguing motions. For more information and registration forms, go to www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/wyld/.

The WSBA annual awards dinner and business meeting will be held Thursday, September 12 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at the W Seattle Hotel, 1112 Fourth Ave., Seattle. To make your reservation, please use the form on page 54 of this issue.

There's a new Web site you'll want to bookmark: http://www.LegalWA.org. This site contains Washington State Supreme Court opinions from 1939 to present, and published Court of Appeals opinions from 1969 to present. It also includes links to the full text of the RCW, WAC, and 70 Washington city and county municipal codes.

LegalWA.org was created cooperatively by the Washington State Bar Association, Municipal Research & Services Center, and the Washington Office of the Code Reviser to provide free public access to case law.

The site has been designed for ease of use. The full text of court decisions is searchable by keyword, and navigation around the site is simple and straightforward. The site also contains useful links to other legal resources, and is updated weekly.

We are pleased to announce that informal ethics opinions are available on the WSBA Web site at http://pro.wsba.org/. You can search by subject, key word(s), opinion number, year issued or authority.

Informal ethics opinions are issued by the WSBA RPC Committee, which researches and prepares responses to written ethical inquiries submitted by WSBA members. Informal opinions have not been approved by the Board of Governors, nor do they reflect the official position of the WSBA.

To discuss ethical questions about your own prospective conduct, phone the WSBA ethics line at 206-727-8284 (or 800-945-WSBA, ext. 8284). Your inquiry is considered confidential. If you have a question about the ethical conduct of another lawyer, please call 206-727-8235.

The Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) has unveiled a newly automated program to find appearance dates for cases in Washington district and municipal courts. Located on the courts' Web site at 
http://www.courts.wa.gov/calendars, the program enables the public to locate future proceeding dates by entering a valid name or case number. This new program utilizes information from the Judicial Information System, which provides case-management automation to Washington courts. The program includes systems for appellate, superior, limited jurisdiction and juvenile courts.

On August 14, the WSBA's Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) will present an expanded version of its popular traveling seminar. The seminar will be held at Bell Harbor Convention Center from 8:00 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., and will cover such topics as practice management, trust-account rules and client-relations ideas. A social hour follows the seminar. For more information, contact Pete Roberts at 206-727-8237 or peter@wsba.org.

The WSBA Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) office maintains a computer for members to use to review software tools designed to maximize office efficiency. LOMAP staff are available to provide materials, answer questions and recommend options. To make an appointment, contact Pete Roberts at 206-727-8237 or peter@wsba.org.

The WSBA uses e-mail to communicate with members quickly, efficiently and inexpensively, and increasingly it is becoming the preferred method of communication among committees and sections. Please consider providing us with your e-mail address. Contact the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA, 206-443-WSBA, or questions@wsba.org. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

The WSBA's new Lawyer-to-Lawyer Program matches newer admittees with experienced lawyers. Help them get a head start on learning those lawyering skills not found in any textbook. The program is not a structured mentoring program and does not supplant any similar programs of local or specialty bars. We connect lawyers with similar practices in the same geographic area for mutual information-sharing and goodwill. For more information, contact Pete Roberts at 206-727-8237 or peter@wsba.org.

Retired Washington State Supreme Court Justice Robert Utter and Seattle lawyer Hugh Spitzer have published The Washington State Constitution: A Reference Guide. The book provides a comprehensive review of the history and key cases interpreting Washington's constitution. Royalties from book sales will be donated to the Washington Law Foundation in support of diversity enhancement at the University of Washington School of Law.

The trustees of the Legal Foundation of Washington (LFW) will meet on September 13 at the LFW office in Seattle. The public may appear to comment on the foundation's activities between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m.

The WSBA gratefully acknowledges the following law firms for their generous donations to the "You have rights. Lawyers protect them" radio campaign: Fury Bailey; Stafford Frey Cooper; and Walthew Warner Thompson Eagan & Keenan PS.

This campaign, which was one of the projects undertaken by the Proud to Be a Lawyer Task Force formed by 2000-01 WSBA President Jan Eric Peterson, has run on radio stations in Seattle, Spokane, Wenatchee and Yakima. For more information, contact Allison Parker at allisonp@wsba.org or 206-733-5932.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington has begun faxing orders, judgments and notices to lawyers. To learn more about this new service, go to the court's Web site at http://www.waed.uscourts.gov. Lawyers who choose to participate authorize the court clerk to fax copies of orders, judgments and notices entered in civil and criminal cases directly to their firm fax numbers in lieu of mailing copies of the documents.

Liberty International Underwriters has been selected to replace Great American Insurance Company in the WSBA-sponsored professional liability insurance program. Liberty has committed to continuing the current program's focus on broad coverage at competitive rates. They have also agreed to maintain all of the current policy features such as claims expense outside the limits of liability, an aggregate deductible providing first-dollar defense, broad prior-acts coverage, and a 50 percent reduction in deductible for early claims reporting. The WSBA program continues to be administered by Marsh Affinity Group Services. For more information about the carrier change, contact Pamela Blake at 206-613-7802 or John Chandler at 206-613-7804.

In June, the Washington Pattern Forms Committee and the Administrative Office of the Courts published updates to the domestic relations, domestic violence, anti-harassment, juvenile court, misdemeanor judgment and sentencing, and felony judgment and sentencing forms. Unless otherwise specified, the forms became effective June 13, 2002. A list of the modified forms follows.

•  Child-support forms: WSCSS schedule (only the cover page was changed)

•  Child Relocation Act forms: WPF DRPSCU 07.0720, WPF DRPSCU 07.0730

•  Uniform Child Custody Jurisdiction and Enforcement Act form: WPF DRPSCU 08.0580

•  Court files – Confidential information forms: WPF DRPSCU 09.0220, WPF DRPSCU 09.0230, WPF DRPSCU 09.0240, WPF DRPSCU09.0250

•  Chapter 26.09: WPF DR 01.0200, WPF DR 01.0270, WPF DR 01.0290, WPF DR 01.0300, WPF DR 01.0500, WPF DR 04.0180, WPF DR 04.0200, WPF DR 06.0200, WPF DR 06.0300, WPF DR 07.0120, WPF DR 07.0200

•  Chapter 26.10: WPF CU 01.0200, WPF CU 01.0300, WPF CU 01.0500, WPF CU 03.0180, WPF CU 04.0200

•  Chapter 26.26: The entire set of Chapter 26.26 RCW forms, which now includes forms developed to implement Chapter 302 L 202, relating to the Uniform Parentage Act

•  Domestic-violence forms: WPF DV 1.040, WPF DV 2.015, WPF DV 4.020, WPF DV 5.035, WPF DV 5.040, WPF DV 6.020, WPF DV 7.010, WPF DV 7.030, WPF DV 9.040

•  Deleted domestic-violence forms: WPF DV 6.010, WPF DV 8.010, WPF DV 8.020

•  Anti-harassment forms: UH 01.0400, UH 02.0150, UH 02.0160, UH 02.0200, UH 02.0400, UH 04.0110, UH 04.0500, UH 04.0700, UH 05.0100, UH 05.0500, UH 06.0100, UH 06.0200, UH 06.0300, UH 09.0100, UH 09.0200, WPF DV 6.020 (WPF DV 06.020 may be used in both domestic violence and anti-harassment cases)

•  Deleted anti-harassment forms: UH 09.0300, US 09.0400

The forms may be ordered by calling the AOC forms line at 360-705-5328. They are also available on the AOC Web site at http://www.courts.wa.gov/forms. For more information, contact Merrie Gough at 360-357-2128 or merrie.gough@courts.wa.gov. 

The WSBA is pleased to offer photo bar cards to active members. This is an option for those who are interested in having their photo on their card; original and replacement cards without photos are provided at no cost. More information and to order.