October 2002  

by Jan Michels
WSBA Executive Director
janm@wsba.org

The new Bar year started October 1. We have a new president and five new governors. And … we have the ambitious list of action items resulting from the long-range planning process that I wrote about in September. We also have a number of multiyear projects that have finally flowered.

After years of languishing, the WSBA Foundation has emerged with new leadership and a close connection to the Board of Governors (BOG) and the WSBA's Long-Range Strategic Plan. The foundation is debating about tackling a "Democracy Project" aimed at providing public legal information to citizens. This project could provide Web information; target citizen and student groups with specific information about our democratic form of government; and sponsor projects aimed at increasing the public's awareness of the importance of concepts like due process, separation of powers, independence of the judiciary, and the jury system.

The WSBA's new CLE director is Mark Sideman. He stands for member service and a strategic approach to professional adult education. Mark will work closely with other WSBA staff, including professionalism counsel, to integrate existing services, such as the ethics call-in line, the Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) and discipline diversion, with the goal of crafting CLE offerings that best meet member needs. He is also committed to developing mutually supportive relationships with sections and other bar associations in the interest of providing seminars and publications in substantive areas.

Mark will put his technology background to work in designing programs and materials for interactive distance learning, teleconference seminars, and programs that address the changing face of technology in the practice of law.

In implementing the new ELCs, the WSBA will appoint a chief hearing officer who will, in addition to handling his or her own caseload, act as a supervisor and coordinator of other hearing officers and will enter orders in cases for which a hearing officer has not yet been appointed. This, coupled with mandatory hearing-officer training and standards for selection of hearing officers, aims to assure more consistency in discipline outcomes. Members should also find the new ELCs easier to follow.

The WSBA will also launch a project to put disciplinary notices online, searchable by subject matter and respondent. (Currently, Bar News disciplinary notices dating back to January 1997 are posted on the WSBA Web site [http://pro.wsba.org/PublicDisciplineSearch.asp], but they are searchable only by respondent.) The goal of these improvements is discipline prevention and uniformity in outcome.

The Supreme Court has made 13 appointments to the PoLB and appointed Steve Crossland chair for this first and very important year; Judge Paul Bastine has been appointed vice-chair. The board has met and is working through the backlog of issues and practices that will be their fare for the coming years. There are nonlawyers practicing law to refer for prosecution; there is a list of recommendations from the Access to Justice Family Law Committee about areas in which non-lawyers can assist the public and should be regulated; there is a request from the Supreme Court that the board look at possible expansion of courthouse facilitators to areas of law beyond family law; and there are issues to resolve about independent paralegals and persons who sell legal forms.

Many members responded to the Facilities Committee's request for feedback on the potential location of the WSBA (July Bar News, p. 11). The most frequent question, often adamantly raised, was: "Why downtown Seattle?" Here are a few examples:

• "The services of the Bar Association should not be for the benefit of Seattle lawyers. It should not matter where the Bar offices are located in this day of electronic communication. In 26 years of practice I have been to the Bar headquarters only twice. I suspect the vast majority of attorneys both in Seattle and outside the Seattle area would say the same."
• "The critical mass of the Bar is in King County, not necessarily downtown Seattle. Downtown Seattle is a 'good thing' for the majority of WSBA's members, but is problematic, too: difficult to reach, suffers traffic congestion, and is often plagued with construction projects. Probably only a minuscule number of lawyers commute by ferry."
• "The biggest cost savings are likely to result from a move to Tacoma or area south of Seattle. Most lawyers have very little need to be physically present at the WSBA. Phone, fax, e-mail and Web site access are sufficient for most lawyers. Staff desires should not drive location decisions."
• "There are other bus routes with regular service equal to the downtown area. Parking is free and available at areas outside downtown Seattle. Consider the U-District."

The most frequent plea was for parking and an in-house CLE facility or teleconferencing capacity:

• "We need a way to reduce our collective trip miles. Compared to building ownership and teleconferencing facilities, all other priorities have merit but are minor factors."
• "The Bar should not be in the CLE conference-room business. It is expensive."
• "Parking downtown is extremely expensive no matter who is paying for it, assuming you can find parking at all."

There were mixed feelings about ownership:

• "With so much available office space downtown, we should lock in a favorable lease now. Buying a building seems to be a huge expenditure which would take away from member services."
• "Ownership could only be considered if it would save the association money and would make economic sense."

And there were some general comments about other features:

• "All we need is office space that meets our needs and has a pleasant appearance. Anything more will be construed as extravagant by the general public and many members of the association. It appears that many of the characteristics listed in the article are ego-driven and are unnecessary for the purpose for which our association exists."
• "Do not spend Bar funds to create a monument to lawyers. This should be a 'service' facility."
• "Regardless of whether the Bar space is downtown or in another place, please consider scheduling more meetings at the beginning or end of the work day. Will the new federal courthouse now under construction at Stewart and 4th affect the Bar's current location? Some longtime downtown attorneys have already relocated to this area because of the rents. … It would be nice to have it all: easy access and parking, and access to public transportation."

A survey was administered to sections at midyear meetings and to the BOG with the following results:

The BOG discussed this feedback at their July meeting. Their concerns are parallel to that of sections and members-at-large. The BOG endorsed the idea of staying in Seattle because it's an accessible location for most members, and downtown because it's a hub for those members who participate in WSBA activities. The BOG added that stretching beyond the actual retail core to include near-downtown may make economic sense. We know that the WSBA cannot afford to own a building in the downtown core, but we might find an economically favorable ownership option a little further from the retail core. We have also determined that to ease the parking situation, we might have to move, whether leasing or purchasing, even if it's simply to be more proximate to large public parking garages.

The Facilities Committee will work to address members' requests for a CLE facility/teleconferencing capacity. It may be desirable to have a dedicated facility to control costs and quality. A CLE facility would fix many seminars in one easily accessible place, but this place must have ample parking available. The WSBA's use alone could not cost-justify a dedicated facility, but a multipurpose conference-facility option might meet this goal. A teleconferencing facility that would allow for remote attendance at CLEs is also desirable.

As a result of the BOG's discussion, the Facilities Committee has issued to building owners and developers (and posted on the WSBA Web site) a Request for Information (RFI) for buildings that meet the Bar's criteria for both lease and ownership options. The RFI asks respondents to address the features we heard members ask for. Member feedback will be used as evaluation criteria for considering the responses. Following this, the WSBA will issue a Request for Proposal to the owners of promising facilities. The Facilities Committee intends this process to be completed by the end of 2002.

The Facilities Committee and the PoLB continue to welcome feedback from members.