A Time to Thank
At the KCBA Annual Banquet on June 21, several well-deserving individuals will receive awards in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to our bar association, our community and our legal profession. (See pages 13–20 of this issue for profiles of the award recipients.)
It is fitting to recognize publicly the good work done by our award recipients. But there also are many other KCBA members who have worked quietly and effectively for the public good throughout this past year. I want to give special thanks to just a few of them here. (I apologize that space limitations prevent my mentioning many others whose efforts should be highlighted but are not.)
Rosemarie Warren LeMoine, who coordinated three outstanding pro bono programs in which Family Law Section members: (1) prepare pro se litigants to appear at status conferences in their divorce cases; (2) teach classes for unrepresented parties about how to complete their own divorces; and (3) provide an hour of free legal advice to low-income individuals in divorce cases.
Peter Greenfield, who organized and led a “full-court press” lobbying effort that resulted in the passage of a new statute that establishes an office of public guardianship within the Office of the Administrator of the Courts. The new law is intended to provide a safety net for individuals who need, but would not otherwise have access to, the services of a guardian.
Court of Appeals Commissioner Susan Craighead and K.M. Das, the co-chairs of the Community Legal Services Committee. During 2006–07, the Committee oversaw a network of pro bono legal services programs through which approximately 1,100 volunteer lawyers and 70 volunteer paralegals provided more than 18,000 hours of legal services to some 2,600 low-income clients.
Fred Tausend (chair) and Karen Murray (president) of the Future of the Law Institute, whose volunteers this year initiated a record 78 high school students into its nationally recognized program that introduces young people of diverse backgrounds to the possibilities of careers in the legal profession.
Brian Esler, Morris Rosenberg and Stacy Plotkin-Wolff, who led the effort to draft pattern interrogatories for use in automobile tort cases. The pattern interrogatories were adopted by the King County Superior Court in December 2006 and should substantially reduce pretrial preparation costs in those cases.
Henry Lippek and Jay Krulewitch, the 2006 and 2007 chairs, respectively, of the Judicial Evaluation Committee, who led that committee in making important changes to the quadrennial survey questionnaire that is used for performance evaluations of King County Superior Court judges. The new survey is being sent (by email whenever possible) to lawyers within weeks after they have appeared in each judge’s courtroom. The improved format promises to provide judges with more timely feedback and provide voters with more accurate data regarding judges’ performance.
Mary Wechsler, Charles Wiggins and Jeffrey Frank, who have guided the Judicial Selection Coalition in its many initiatives to promote the independence of our state’s judiciary. The Coalition’s members (including KCBA) were instrumental in securing passage of the 2006 law that limits contributions to judicial candidates’ campaigns; promoted and widely publicized the judicial voters’ Web site, www.votingforjudges.org, during the fall 2006 election; worked closely with legislators in crafting this year’s bill proposing publicly funded judicial elections; helped craft the prototype of the judicial performance survey instrument that KCBA is using for its new online judicial performance evaluation program (see above); and are continuing to explore other possible improvements to Washington’s current judicial selection system.
Amelia Adair, Dean Little, Michael Louden, Mark Rising and Mark Weiss, who served with KCBA First Vice-President Eileen Concannon and me on the newly-created Board Legislative Group (BLG). The BLG members’ work with Donna Christensen, KCBA’s lobbyist, vastly improved KCBA’s ability to advance a legislative agenda and also allowed the association to provide timely input on bills that would impact the judiciary and the legal profession.
Ken Masters and Esther Bartfeld, who co-chaired the 70-member Judicial Screening Committee in evaluating candidates in the 2006 judicial elections. KCBA’s judicial candidate ratings are the most widely cited bar ratings in the state, due to the committee members’ impartiality, thoroughness and high standards.
Joe Bringman, who chaired the Fair Campaign Practices Committee in its careful investigations of several complaints that were lodged during the King County District Court elections last fall. The committee’s work helps ensure that judicial election campaigns in King County are conducted according to the highest professional and ethical principles.
These colleagues have led us quietly by their example. I thank them, and I also thank all of our many other members whose generous efforts have made the King County Bar Association the preeminent voluntary bar association in Washington.
Lastly, I thank all of you for granting me the privilege of serving as an officer of the association during the past three years. I am confident that KCBA will be in excellent hands with incoming President Eileen Concannon and the new board next year, and I sincerely hope that their experiences will be as rewarding for them as my tenure has been for me.
