The International Action Network for Gender Equity and Law (IANGEL) connects volunteer lawyers to the cause of gender and justice locally, nationally, and around the world, and we have exciting pro bono opportunities for you, your colleagues, or members, to advance women’s rights:

Nonprofit Formation and Related Advice - IANGEL has multiple project partners needing assistance with formation of nonprofit entities; these projects involve advice concerning whether to form a 501c3 or c4 or something else, preparing formation documents, applying for tax-exempt status, etc.  We have opportunities in California and Ohio for lawyers with this expertise to provide ground up guidance and advice, working with leaders of exciting initiatives of impact and influence for gender equality.  

Mentoring Afghan Women Lawyers – We have been assisting the Alliance for International Women’s Rights in securing attorney volunteers to mentor Afghan women lawyers, judges, or law professors.  This is a wonderful program where direct contact with mentees over Skype provides important friendship, support, and English language skills.  This requires spending a few hours a week, for a three month commitment, and can make a huge difference in the lives of both mentor and mentee.  Prospective mentees include: (1) a woman attorney who works with a women's rights organization providing free representation to indigent women clients in matters including domestic violence, inheritance, and divorce, (2) a woman law professor who focuses on criminal law and labor law, (3) a woman judge who works in a special court addressing governmental corruption; (4) a woman law professor who focuses on international arbitration and business law, (5) a woman doctor by training who works on women's rights and shelters for battered women with an international organization, and (6) a woman lawyer who teaches women empowerment courses at universities and advocates for women on international women's rights issues.

Please consider these exciting opportunities and pass on to any lawyers you know who wish to do pro bono work to promote gender equality.  If interested,  please contact barbara@iangel.org,

Beyond the Dialogue Town Hall, June 8. The Washington State Bar Association’s Diversity Program and Washington Women Lawyers invite you to this upcoming Beyond the Dialogue: Women Race and Age Part 2: Role of Allies. This will be held between 3:00 pm-5:00pm at the WSBA Office in Seattle. Members statewide can also participate remotely. Register here: http://www.wsba.org/Events-Calendar/2017/June/Beyond-the-Dialogue. 

A reception will follow.

Invites you to attend our next monthly lunch seminar:

Kids & Screens: Impact of Screentime

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When: Tuesday, June 6, 2017, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m. Presentation will be from 12-1, with networking time before and after.

Where: Davis Wright Tremaine LLP, 1201 Third Ave., Floor 22, Seattle, WA 98101

RSVP: through Big Tent (preferred if you are a MAMA member) or by email to lunchseminars@mamaseattle.org. If you plan on participating by phone, please indicate that in your RSVP so that we may email you any handouts ahead of time.

In our digital age, kids have constant access to screens – smart phones, tablets, televisions, computers, game consoles and more – and everything seems to be on demand. While many parents allow at least a little screen time for their kids, whether for educational purposes or just to get a moment of peace, it can be hard to know how much is too much and what the real impact of screen time is on our kids and their community.

Speaker: Scilla Andreen is the CEO and Co-Founder of IndieFlix and the founder of the IndieFlix Foundation, an organization that supports independent documentary filmmaking, and is one of the producers of the acclaimed documentary Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age. She is an Emmy-nominated Costume Designer and award-winning Producer of such films as Outpatient, The Flats, Bit Players, The Empowerment Project. She is a popular speaker at Sundance, Cannes, CES, SXSW, Women in Film, and other major industry events. Scilla believes film is the most powerful medium on the planet. Her mission is to use film to start conversations that become movements that can change the world for the better.

As an added bonus, Ms. Andreen will also talk about the latest documentary she is producing, Angst: Breaking the Stigma Around Anxiety. The film focuses on kids and young adults who suffer or have suffered from anxiety and the experts who help them, as well as the causes and sociological effects of anxiety.

We encourage you to attend our lunch seminar in person to facilitate both networking and a lively discussion. Please bring your lunch and join us for this presentation, and meet fellow MAMA members! Cookies and drinks will be provided.

For those who cannot attend in person, we offer the option to participate by phone.

Call in #: 888-757-0729; Passcode: 1396142354#

When attending via telephone, please use your mute button to prevent background noise, but do not place the call on hold. Some firms have hold music, which is disruptive to the presentation.

MAMA Seattle would also like to thank our

Platinum sponsors:

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

Garvey Schubert Barer

Gold sponsors:

K&L Gates LLP

Keller Rohrback LLP

Perkins Coie LLP

Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt

Summit Law Group PLLC

www.MAMASeattle.org

Starbucks Corporation

Law & Corporate Affairs Department

2017-18 Diversity Mentorship Program

Starbucks Law & Corporate Affairs Department is pleased to solicit participants for the Starbucks Diversity Mentorship Program.  This program will connect Starbucks in-house lawyers with private practice junior attorneys from diverse backgrounds in one-to-one mentorship relationships.  Starbucks legal department boasts one of the most experienced and diverse groups of attorneys in the region, and its lawyers are excited to share their insights into learning the practice of law, succeeding in law firm and other private practice environments, and for those who are interested, planning for in-house career opportunities.  

Following a kick-off reception for incoming mentees and past participants, this program will foster direct, informal interactions over a one-year period to help diverse junior attorneys learn their craft and network in the local community of legal professionals and business leaders.  The program is open to all lawyers in private practice in their first six years as an attorney, and who are members of one or more minority bar associations or diversity affinity groups. 

If you are interested in applying, please submit a cover letter and resume to David Byers at dbyers@starbucks. com by Friday, June 2.  In your cover letter, please identify your current area of practice (and your desired area, if different), your general interest in receiving mentoring, and the minority bar association(s) or affinity group(s) to which you belong.  If you have any questions, you may contact committee chairs Amy Hughes (amhughes@starbucks.com) or Joanie Kim (jokim@starbucks.com).

LFI provides pro bono legal assistance to young people between the ages of 17-25 who have lived experience in foster care, group care, or kinship care, and those young people who are currently, or at risk of becoming, homeless. The goal at LFI is to provide representation to young people who are looking to overcome legal barriers that jeopardize their ability to live successful, independent, adult lives. As a volunteer-based program, they rely on the partnership of our exemplary volunteer attorneys to achieve that goal. Their volunteers regularly help clients with civil legal issues such as sealing juvenile records, landlord/tenant disputes, employment matters, credit/debt concerns, identity theft, family law, protection orders, and public benefits.

Both of the upcoming CLEs are free to attend and are open to anyone who is currently, or is interested in, volunteering with the LFI program.

• June 23, 2017 – Common Issues Facing LFI Clients: Adolescent Development & Trauma Informed Representation, Housing Disputes, and Identity Theft

5 CLE credits (2 Ethics)

Hosted at K&L Gates

• July 7, 2017 – Common Issues Facing LFI Clients: Juvenile Record Sealing, Housing Disputes, and Identity Theft

5 CLE credits (2 Ethics)

Hosted at Davis Wright Tremaine

The 23rd Annual Northwest Dispute Resolution Conference will take place March 23 and 24, 2017 at the University of Washington School of Law. Visit the conference website at  www.wsba-adr.org/page/northwest-dispute-resolution to register

Office Space / Virtual Tenancy Available in Southcenter

Five female attorneys are opening an office in Southcenter area in the Park East Office Building (130 Andover Park East, Tukwila, WA 98188).  Move in date is May 1, 2017.

We have three open office spaces to fill.  Our vision is to have a full-service law firm with different practice areas represented, yet still maintain our own solo/small practices.

The practice areas currently represented are: criminal defense (felonies and federal), real estate, landlord tenant, business, estate planning, and family law.

We are still looking for lawyers in immigration, personal injury, bankruptcy, and employment law.

Offices are large and have floor to ceiling windows with good light. 

Offices rent for $1,500 per month and require a one-year lease.  We require a face-to-face meeting to determine fit with lease signing up front. 

The office space comes with a shared receptionist, covers copy and printing costs, phone, internet, fax, shredding, privacy, coffee/tea/water, cross-referrals, and offers a large conference room with reservation system through our receptionist.  There is ample free parking.  The office building is close to Southcenter mall, public transportation, and many restaurants. 

We have a total of 8 office spaces, with adjacent cubicle space for future growth for adding a paralegal or legal assistant.  As this is a collaborative office share, we anticipate being able to bring in contract paralegal and legal assistants or sharing support staff amongst several attorneys as an option.   

In addition to office space, we are also offering virtual office space.  This would include an address for your mail, mail sorting, business fax number for sending and receiving faxes, fax forwarding to email, access to a conference room for meeting with clients through reservation system, acceptance of service on your behalf, receptionist services for greeting your clients, as well as refreshments for your clients for meetings.  A virtual office space with us is $250 per month and is on a month-to-month lease arrangement.  Instead of an impersonal office like Regus, you will get the look and feel of a legitimate law office without having to pay for an actual office space.  We will also have some work stations for our virtual office tenants to be able to drop in and work from.

If interested, please email Emily Gause at emily@emilygauselaw.com with “Office Space” in the subject line.  We look forward to meeting you! 

• (1)    Pro Bono Attorneys Needed for Virtual Legal Aid Clinic—Second and Fourth Tuesdays (ongoing).
• Provide pro bono legal advice (via Skype!) to Enumclaw’s new legal aid clinic, Reach Enumclaw. Reach provides general legal advice on civil matters on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month, from 5:30-7:30pm. Volunteer attorneys can team together or work individually to virtually staff the clinic. For more information and to schedule a time, please contact Jeffrey Hamilton at hamilt25@seattleu.edu.

• (2)    Volunteers Needed to Assist Powerful Voices with Girlvolution Conference – April 22^nd. Powerful Voices is a a non-profit that works with girls 12-19, most of whom are girls of color who regularly have experienced oppression through violence, poverty, racism and sexism in their lives. At Powerful Voices, the conference invites girls to realize their dreams, engage their communities and shape a more just world through a series of girl-led workshops. Volunteers are needed to help set-up the event on April 21^stand 22^nd, and a team of volunteers is needed to provide feedback to girls hosting the workshops at a dress rehearsal on April 1^st. For information on how to volunteer, please contact Layla Taylor, Community Engagement Coordinator, at layla@powerfulvoices.org.

• (3)    Donations Needed for Powerful Voices Girlvolution Conference – April 22^nd.  . The youth attending the conference are in need of several toiletries and body care products. Please consider donating shampoo, deodorant, lotion, menstrual products, and make-up, as well as gift cards, or hosting a body care products drive at your workplace. Layla Taylor can help facilitate pick-up at  layla@powerfulvoices.org.

Join the Gender and Justice Commission for a lunch honoring Women’s History Month, on Friday, March 3, 12:15-1:30 in the Chief Justice’s Reception Room at the Temple of Justice in Olympia. This year’s national theme is “Honoring Trailblazing Women in Labor and Business.” The event will feature Ms. Kalen Holmes, Community Advocate & Corporate Board Member, and Ms. Nicole Vallestero Keenan, Executive Director of the Fair Work Center, with an introduction by Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud, Washington State Supreme Court. Please RSVP by February 28 to Nichole.Kloepfer@courts.wa.gov

The King County District Court is seeking letters of interest from those attorneys who would like to attend the King County District Court Judge Pro Tempore training class and serve the Court as a Judge Pro Tempore.  Interested attorneys are invited to send an email of interest to Todd Bandazy at todd.bandazy@kingcounty.gov. To be considered for the upcoming pro tem class, an attorney must be an active member in good standing with the Washington State Bar Association, have a minimum of five years of civil or criminal experience as a practicing attorney, and have a currently sitting King County District Court Judge as a sponsor.  King County District Court encourages applicants of diverse backgrounds to apply.