September 2002

FYI: For Your Information

The WSBA is pleased to announce the winners of the 2002 Annual Awards: Matthew Geyman, Pro Bono; Walt Kreuger, President's Award; Jerald Hamley, Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service; Lise Olsen, Excellence in Legal Journalism; Steve Crossland, Award of Merit; William Jaquette, Courageous; Justice C.Z. Smith, Special Lifetime Service; Smithmoore P. Myers, Professionalism; Judge Michael Hurtado, Outstanding Judge; Judge James Murphy, Outstanding Judge.

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 call the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA. The deadline for reservations is September 3.

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 contains links to other legal resources, and is updated weekly.

The WSBA is delighted to welcome Mark Sideman as the new director of continuing legal education. Prior to joining the WSBA, he was the CLE & IS director at the King County Bar Association. His experience includes working as a child and family therapist, and as a consultant in private business, including training, staff development, training curricula, "train-the-trainer" programs, and personal-growth seminars.

The Northwest Justice Project board of directors will hold its final 2002 meeting on October 19. The public meeting begins at 9:30 a.m. For site information, contact Lisa Giuffré at 888-201-1012 or 206-464-1519.

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

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 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.

The WSBA Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) office maintains a computer for members 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.

The trustees of the Legal Foundation of Washington (LFW) will meet on September 19 (date changed from 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 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 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.

The Northwest Indian Bar Association (NIBA) is a nonprofit organization of Indian attorneys, judges and advocates in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and the Yukon Territory. The association aspires to improve the legal and political landscape for the Pacific Northwest Indian community. For more information about joining NIBA, contact Gabriel S. Galanda at 206-628-2780 or ggalanda@wkg.com.

The WSBA gratefully acknowledges the Kennewick firm Rettig, Osborne, Forgette, O'Donnell, Iller & Adamson LLP for their donation to the "You have rights. Lawyers protect them" campaign. 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.

WSBA-CLE Introduces New Edition of Washington Life Insurance Trust Deskbook at September 18 Seminar

The 2002 edition of WSBA-CLE's Washington Life Insurance Trust Deskbook is now available. It includes three model trust forms on disk (one entirely new), each with extensive annotations to applicable IRS cases and rulings, plus expert commentary on planning techniques, a comprehensive review of Washington trust law, and the estate tax, gift tax and income tax provisions of the Internal Revenue Code. The Washington Life Insurance Trust Deskbook was edited by Paul R. Willett, chair of the estate planning, probate and trust administration group at the Seattle firm Short, Cressman & Burgess. To order the deskbook, call 206-733-5918 or e-mail OrderF@wsba.org. For seminar information, call 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA, or go to www.wsba.org/cle/seminars/.

Yes, it's possible! Regulation 103(g) of the Washington State Board of Continuing Legal Education allows WSBA members to earn up to six hours of credit annually for providing pro bono direct representation under the auspices of a qualified legal-services provider. APR 8(e) creates a limited license status of emeritus for attorneys otherwise retired from the practice of law to practice pro bono legal services through a qualified legal-services organization.

For more information, contact Access to Justice Liaison Sharlene Steele at 206-727-8262 or sharlene@wsba.org.

October 18-19 – Silverdale

December 6-7 – Everett

January 17-18 – Olympia

With the exception of a one-hour executive session the morning of the first day, BOG meetings are open, and all WSBA members are welcome to attend. RSVPs are appreciated but not required. Please contact Lori Lee at 206-727-8244 or loril@wsba.org.

Several King County Superior Court local rules have changed. They are: LR 4, 4.2, 4.3, 5.7, 40, 41, 94.04, 98.40; LCrR 5.1, 7.1; and LjuCR 7.3 and 7.15. Copies of the changes are available in cross-out and underline form on the clerk's Web site at http://www.metrokc.gov/judicial/lrmenu.htm. 

Using the online MCLE Credit-Tracking System, you can do the following:

•  View your CLE courses and credits on your online attendance roster.

•  Make changes to your online attendance roster.

•  Search for approved courses.

•  Apply for course approval.

To enter the MCLE Credit-Tracking System, go to http://pro.wsba.org/ and click on the Member tab. Select Member Login, and follow the onscreen instructions. If you have questions, please contact the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA.

A link to your Web site can be added to your directory listing, so current and potential clients can find out more about you and your practice at the click of a button.

The fee is $75 annually ($50 if you sign up July 1 or later). If your firm has seven or more lawyers, you'll save through our special pricing structure. Special pricing is also available for those who work for nonprofit or government agencies. For more information and sign-up instructions, see www.wsba.org/
media/publications/barnews/addlink.htm.

The WSBA online store is open at http://www.wsba.org/store/default.htm. You can purchase Cutter & Buck polo shirts, twill baseball caps, ballpoint pens, and brass luggage tags emblazoned with the WSBA logo. The store features secure online credit-card ordering. You can also purchase logo merchandise by calling the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA.

• Polo shirt (pewter or white, size L or XL) – $56

• Baseball cap (stone) – $24

• Ballpoint pen – $12

• Luggage tag – $7

Prices include shipping and handling. Sales tax (8.8 percent) will be added to orders shipped within Washington.

When it reconvenes later this year, the WSBA Court Rules and Procedures Committee is scheduled to review the Rules of Evidence and the Infraction Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction. Please send any suggestions for rule changes to the Supreme Court of Washington, Temple of Justice, PO Box 40929, Olympia, WA 98504-0929, or e-mail Lisa Bausch at lisa.bausch@courts.wa.gov.

The WSBA Law Office Management Assistance Program (LOMAP) kicks off its annual traveling seminar series in October. Under the theme "Smart Strategies for Improving Efficiency," topics will include case-management software, client management, and career transitions. The course offers 4.0 CLE credits, including 2.0 ethics credits (CLE credits pending at press time). "LOMAP on the Road" will visit Pullman (October 21), Walla Walla (October 22), Kennewick (October 23), Yakima (October 24), Vancouver (November 5), Aberdeen (November 6) and Olympia (November 7). The cost is $69. For more information, visit www.wsba.org/lawyers/help/lomap.htm or contact the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA or 206-443-WSBA. Please reference event code LOM1102.

The Legal Foundation of Washington is accepting nominations for the 2003 Goldmark Award. The award is given annually to an exceptional individual or organization that, by their vision, leadership and creativity, has provided meaningful access to Washington's civil justice system. Nomination forms are available by calling 206-624-2536, or by e-mailing dtheories@legalfoundation.org. Nominations are due by September 6, 2002.

King County Superior Court is seeking volunteers to serve as court-appointed special advocates. Volunteers receive extensive training to represent children involved in custody and visitation disputes in family law cases. They conduct interviews, write reports, and testify in hearings or trials. For more information, call 206-296-9320.