September 2006

The Commish: Unsung Hero of the Washington State Supreme Court

by Kathy George

Can you guess which judge at the Temple of Justice in Olympia has walked its marble hallways the longest? Here are some hints: He doesn't wear a black robe; he hears oral arguments on the phone, not from a lofty perch behind the bench; and although he rules on hundreds of motions to the Washington State Supreme Court each year, he is not nearly as well-known as the nine justices.

For more than a quarter-century, Geoffrey Crooks has quietly wielded the power of the state's highest court as its appointed commissioner, issuing about 700 rulings per year. He decides independently whether to dismiss original actions against state officers, for example, and whether to grant review of the many personal-restraint petitions filed by prisoners hoping for one last chance at redemption. Crooks also has considerable influence as a gatekeeper, advising the Court on whether to grant petitions for review, which now number nearly 700 per year. By the commissioner's own estimate, the Court disagrees with his recommendations "maybe once in 20 times."

But soon his 27-year reign as Supreme Court commissioner will end. Crooks will retire on September 8 to the dismay of justices and attorneys who credit him with shaping the role of commissioner. "It's going to be hard to replace him," said Justice Charles Johnson, the most senior member of the Court. As an indication of the commissioner's influence, Johnson said he personally views the memos prepared by Crooks and his staff as "more critical than the Court of Appeals's opinions, as a starting point" for reviewing a case. 

The commissioner's job was created in 1976, when the Court first adopted the Rules of Appellate Procedure. The first commissioner did not stay long, opening the way for a young associate attorney from Seattle to step in. At the time, Crooks had been practicing for about five years with Helsell Fetterman. He had never appeared before the Washington State Supreme Court, nor did he know exactly what a Supreme Court commissioner was. 

"I responded to an ad in the Bar News," he recalled. "It sounded enticing." By a 5-4 vote, the justices hired Crooks in 1979. He outlasted all of them and quite a few of their successors.

"He has really defined the job," said Phil Talmadge, an appellate attorney and a former justice. "He is not seen as a partisan," said Talmadge. "Geoff just gives you a good, solid sounding board."

Sheryl Gordon McCloud, a criminal defense attorney who frequently deals with the Supreme Court, said of Crooks, "He's pretty brilliant. He consistently gets to the heart of an issue and slices through it in relatively few words." That Crooks can write with clarity and brevity is not surprising. Before practicing law, he taught legal writing at the University of Washington School of Law for six years. "I don't always agree with his decisions, but he's really incredibly insightful," McCloud said. "He's sort of an unsung hero."

Crooks is not one to sing his own praises. Asked why his rulings are so rarely overturned (only three or four out of 700 a year), he joked, "Of the 700, there are a certain number of no-brainers — no brain in and no brain out." He also said he has become a good predictor of the Court's collective thinking: "My job in deciding a motion is to do what five of the nine of them would do, if they all had to stop and think about it."

Crooks said his greatest influence on Washington law probably has been "helping the Court identify the cases and issues that most needed to be addressed, and trying to get the right cases to address those issues." He mentioned the aftermath of the Sentencing Reform Act and the Growth Management Act as examples. How does he find the right cases? "You read and read and listen and look. You can watch for the cases with the good lawyers, for the cases that haven't got an issue buried in a lot of other issues. One does develop something of an instinct for the cases that are important and will turn out to be well-presented."        

Although Crooks has operated largely out of the limelight, in 2000 he ran for election to the Supreme Court. He finished seventh of seven candidates. "There was not a chance in hell, with a name like Crooks, that I was going to get more than laughs," he said. "But I didn't know until I tried."                

Today, Crooks is not so sorry he lost that race. "I enjoy doing what I'm doing. I get to look at all of the interesting cases. I don't have to defend myself against the cranks," he explained. He said he is leaving now because "it's just time to go. I've been at it long enough."

Although he decided to retire before the current election season began, he said the current friction on the Court "doesn't make me sorry I've decided to leave. I think there is a diminished sense of collegiality around here," said Crooks. "I think the campaign stuff is certainly part of it all."

We wish Geoffrey Crooks all the best on his retirement and thank him for 27 years of service as the "sounding board" of the Washington State Supreme Court.

Kathy George is a first-year associate at Gendler & Mann, and recently completed a clerkship with Chief Justice Gerry Alexander. She is a former reporter and editor at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. She can be reached at kathy@gendlermann.com.