PRACTICE OF LAW BOARD

STATE OF WASHINGTON

1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600, Seattle, WA 98101-2539

(206) 727-8252 § Fax (206) 727-8314

Opportunity for Service on the Practice of Law Board

The Practice of Law Board has two openings on its Board effective immediately. We’re looking for thoughtful and hard-working people committed to the Board’s mission of serving the public. The Washington Supreme Court established the Board and described its purpose in General Rule 25(a):

• · Promote expanded access to affordable and reliable legal and law-related services;
• · Expand public confidence in the administration of justice;
• · Make recommendations regarding the circumstances under which nonlawyers may be involved in the delivery of certain types of legal and law-related services;
• · Enforce rules prohibiting individuals and organizations from engaging in unauthorized legal and law-related services that pose a threat to the general public; and
• · Ensure that those engaged in the delivery of legal services in the state of Washington have the requisite skills and competencies necessary to serve the public.

The Board has 13 members, at least four of whom must be non-lawyers. The Board represents the public interest in the delivery of legal and law-related services and should reflect the broad range of diversity of individuals who use or are part of the justice system in Washington State.

Responsibilities:

• · Attend 8-10 Board meetings each year (most in Seattle, half by phone, usually on Fridays)
• · Attend a day-long annual retreat (usually in Seattle)
• · Participate in Board initiatives or committees

The term of service is three years. Board members are eligible for reappointment for a second term.

Board members are not compensated for their service, but are reimbursed for travel and other necessary expenses under the reimbursement policies of the Washington State Bar Association.

How to Apply:

The application deadline is February 28, 2013. Please send us a résumé and letter describing your background, qualifications, commitment, experience, and interest in service to:

Practice of Law Board

1325 Fourth Avenue, Suite 600

Seattle, WA 98101-2539

Additional information is available at www.WSBA.org/PracticeOfLawBoard. If you have any questions, contact Practice of Law Board Administrator Julie Shankland at JulieS@WSBA.org or at (206) 727-8280.

The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law seeks enthusiastic applicants from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds for the second installment of its Judicial Diversity Program. Applicants should be interested in pursuing a career on the bench in Washington State. Judicial diversity is essential to helping our judiciary deliver equal justice, countering perceptions of systemic bias, and fostering the public’s faith in the legal system.
The need for good mentors is important when one enters the legal profession, and it becomes even more important as one seeks a judgeship. The Judicial Diversity Program will pair selected lawyers with an active or retired Washington State judge. Judges will assist mentees in:

1. Demystifying the judicial appointment and election process
2. Providing professional guidance and support
3. Increasing awareness regarding what it is like to serve as a judge
4. Increasing mentee’s understanding and knowledge of the judicial system

In addition, throughout the Judicial Diversity Program, quarterly workshops and panels will be organized to enrich participants’ understanding of the judicial process.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed fifty years ago at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE
The ideal candidate will have many of the following professional experiences and personal characteristics:
 Applicants must have at least 2 years of experience as a licensed attorney.
 Display an interest in seeking a career in the judiciary.
 A passionate, demonstrated commitment to civil rights and equal justice.
 An ability to navigate opinions and suggestions with grace and humility.

TO APPLY:
Please send in one mailing: a completed application, statement of interest, and a résumé. The application can be found at: http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/admin/site/issues_documents/files/Judicial-Diversity-Program-Mentee-Application-Fillable.pdf. Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis until February 18, 2013. The program commences on March 15, 2013 and runs through December 2013.

Please send via mail or email to:

Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
1401 New York Avenue, N.W.
Suite 400
Washington, D.C. 20005
Fax: (202) 783-0857
JudicialDiversity@lawyerscommittee.org
Please visit our website for more information: http://www.lawyerscommittee.org/issues?id=0008

Each year, our Integrated Studies program at Nathan Hale High School in Seattle runs a Mock Trial for the novel “Lord of the Flies”, by William Golding, as a culminating assessment for second quarter, which also happens to be a major highlight of the students’ high school experience.

Teacher Starr McKittrick is currently in search of volunteer lawyers to be judges for the trials (one in each of the 10 IS classrooms). As of today, we have six of the ten judge positions filled by local attorneys- all of whom are male. We would like to help you in your efforts to “further the full integration of women into the legal profession” by requesting help in filling our last four spots with female lawyers whose presence will broaden the reach of inspiration that comes from student participation in this experience. The trial dates and times are:

Tuesday January 29 – 12:00-3:00 (includes lunch and orientation)

Wednesday January 30 – 9:15-11:30

Thursday January 31 – 9:15-11:30

Thank you in advance for your help in our effort to present a diverse panel of experts for our students here at Hale.

Starr McKittrick
emmckittrick@seattleschools.org
LA 10/ AP L&C 11

--
Jen Goldstein

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(954) 263-6221
jennifersgoldstein@gmail.com

Farmers’ Legal Action Group, Inc. and the National Agricultural Law Center are working with USDA to develop a network of attorneys willing to assist Hispanic and women farmers, either on a pro bono or compensated basis, in completing and submitting claims forms in a non-judicial process designed to resolve past claims of discrimination in United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Loan Programs for certain periods between 1981 and 2000.  For more information, please see the USDA’s Attorney Recruitment Notice as well as an article on the National Agricultural Law Center's blog that provides further explanation. 

A Senior at Nathan Hale High School would like to connect some Nathan Hale students with local community organizers and leaders in order to get students involved in North Seattle. The project is called an Author of Change Project and it involves getting some our 10th grade students to shadow community leaders. She would like to  invite some North Seattle leaders to Nathan Hale for 1-2 hours on March 8th to let the students ask questions about your organization and getting involved as a shadow. Shadowing is where students follow a community leader and learn what they do. If you are interested in finding out  more about this please contact me at sklaviolette@comcast.net

The Washington State Parks Foundation is currently seeking new members, particularly with legal expertise, to serve on its Board of Directors.  The Foundation is a non-profit organization whose activities include helping to raise operating revenues for parks, building a constituency of park supporters, and funding projects that enhance recreational opportunities, restore habitat and provide educational as well as event programming.  Please visit wspf.org for more information about the Foundation, and contact Executive Director John Floberg (john@wspf.org) if you are interested in being considered for a Board position.

Washington Courts: Press Release Detail
Monday’s Supreme Court Inauguration to Mark the First Time in State History for Female Majority, Chief Justice
January 10, 2013

OLYMPIA, WA - On Monday, January 14th at 9:30 a.m. newly-elected Justice Sheryl Gordon McCloud will be sworn in as the newest Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court, marking the first time in state history that the Court will have both a female majority and female Chief Justice.

The ceremony will also mark the inaugurations of Justice Susan J. Owens and Justice Steven González, who were both elected to six-year terms, and Chief Justice Barbara Madsen, who was re-elected by her colleagues to a four-year term as Chief Justice.
 
The event is open to the public and will be held in the Supreme Court at the Temple of Justice in Olympia.
Sheryl Gordon McCloud graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1976, and graduated from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law in 1984. She clerked for Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Warren Ferguson before beginning her practice, which included extensive experience in appellate law. In 2008, the Washington Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers awarded her their highest award, the William O. Douglas Award, for "extraordinary courage" in the practice of law.
 
Steven González is the first justice of Mexican heritage to serve on the bench of the Washington State Supreme Court since the formation of the Court in 1889. González was appointed to the Court in 2012, and served on the King County Superior Court bench from 2002-2012. González earned his J.D. from the University of California at Berkley’s law school and was admitted to the Washington state bar in 1991. He graduated from Pitzer College, a member of the Claremont Colleges, with a B.A. in East Asian Studies and studied abroad in undergraduate and advanced studies in Japan and China.  From 1997 to 2002, González was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the state’s Western District. He also worked in the City of Seattle Attorney’s Office from 1996 to 1997 as a trial attorney in the domestic violence unit. Before that, he practiced business and civil law with the firm Hillis Clark Martin and Peterson from 1991 to 1996.
 
Susan J. Owens was first elected in 2000 to the Supreme Court. She joined the court after serving nineteen years as District Court Judge in Western Clallam County, where she was the County's senior elected official with five terms. She also served as the Quileute Tribe's Chief Judge and Chief Judge of the Lower Elwha S'Klallam Tribe.
 
Chief Justice Barbara Madsen was elected to serve a second term as the 55th Chief Justice of the Washington State Supreme Court in October. As Chief Justice, she is the court's chief spokesperson, presides over Supreme Court hearings and conferences, and co-chairs the state's Board for Judicial Administration. The voters elected Justice Madsen as the third woman to serve on the Washington Supreme Court in 1992, and she was re-elected in 1998, 2004, and 2010. 
For full biographies, please visit www.courts.wa.gov. The ceremony will be covered by TVW, Washington's Public Affairs TV Network. For channel information, or to view coverage online, visit www.tvw.org

Support Washington Cease Fire On Jan. 13, 2013

Washington Cease Fire was started 28 years ago by attorney Tom Wales. It is working on a 2013 legislative agenda to (1) push to toughen penalties on underage possession on firearms which has bi-partisan support (this is Senator Adam Kline’s bill) and 2) a comprehensive ban on the sale of semi-automatic assault weapons including a limit of the capacity of the magazine clip to more than ten bullets.

Washington Cease Fire will hold a march beginning at Westlake Center at 1pm to Seattle Center for a rally at 2pm on Sunday January 13, 2013 (the day before lawmakers return to Olympia). The rally will include a wide swath of students, parents, religious leaders, educators, and business and civic leaders. The march will include signs, speeches and perhaps some high profile musical entertainment. The core focus in the speeches and at the rally will be on moving our legislators to support a ban on semi-automatic weapons.

Christensen O'Connor Johnson Kindness PLLC Announces the Election of Pam K. Jacobson to the Membership

COJK has announced that Pam Jacobson, Co-Vice President of Professional Development on the WWL State Board, has been elected to its membership.  Pam is a registered patent attorney with extensive experience litigating intellectual property disputes throughout the United States.  She also maintains an active patent prosecution docket and manages the intellectual property asset portfolios of her clients. Please join WWL in extending her a well-deserved congratulations!