By Averil Rothrock, Presiding Judge, in collaboration with Amy Roe, Court's Communications Manager and Public Information Officer
The practice of law is known for being adversarial, but establishing common ground is often the key to success. Before resolving what is in dispute, lawyers recognize all that is agreed upon: definitions, limitations, evidence, and rules are common ground to which even the most ardent legal adversaries can agree.
There is another common ground in King County Superior Court: Hawaii.
Several King County Superior Court judicial officers are from or have strong ties to the Aloha State. In March, I had the honor of swearing in Commissioner Sarah Moen to the King County Superior Court bench.
Commissioner Moen describes herself as a “proud Maui girl, born and raised.” Maui is a close-knit community, with only about 100,000 residents when Commissioner Moen was growing up. Thus, when she became a pro tem commissioner in 2018, she was already aware of the King County Superior Court connections to that community.
“Being from Hawaii, you kind of just know who is from Hawaii,” she said. The connection is evident in the warmth, and the way you greet each other, she explained.
Judge Patrick Oishi is from Maui. Commissioner Jonathon Lack grew up in Alaska, but his mother, grandparents, and some of his great-grandparents are from Maui, and he spent many summers and Christmases there. Judge Wyman Yip was raised on Oahu. Judge Michael Scott went to junior high and high school on Oahu, while his father was stationed in the Air Force there.
Each of these judicial officers say that living and growing up in diverse Hawaii communities helped them understand and appreciate a wide range of cultures and traditions.
Commissioner Moen, who is Filipina, Norwegian and English, describes herself as a Maui local, and her island upbringing is central to her identity. She feels a bond with others from the same place. And they feel a bond with her — some 60 people rose by 5 a.m. Maui time to join the Zoom to see her sworn in as Commissioner. She was presented with leis from several people with Hawaii ties, including Judge Oishi.
Judge Oishi said the word ohana (family) describes the importance of relationships, even among those who are not biological relatives. It’s a powerful part of Hawaii culture, and something he brought to the role of Presiding Judge, encouraging people to put aside their differences and work together, and signing off meetings and emails with “aloha” and “mahalo.”
“That’s not a gimmick,” Judge Oishi said. “That was me.”
Commissioner Moen said of meeting another person from Hawaii in social settings, “There is a mutual respect, there is an understanding between us, ‘You’re one of my people, and I’m going to look out for you.’”
She said that on the culturally and racially diverse island of Maui, “We see everybody around us as part of the family.” She brings this perspective of inclusion to her role as a judicial officer.
Family was a major influence on Commissioner Moen’s decision to practice law. “Everybody in my family was a lawyer and I felt like I needed to measure up to that,” she said.
She earned her B.A. from the University of Washington (Commissioner Moen is a third-generation Husky) and then received her law degree from Whittier Law School, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law.
Law school and her upbringing were at times at odds. “The faculty, the whole institution, the law school — you’re there to learn not necessarily the law, but to change the way you think and the way you process information.” A cool, analytical approach was emphasized over the warmth and welcoming that she knew. The transition was significant: “I actually thought I lost a lot of my cultural identity” in law school, she said.
Likewise, early in her career Commissioner Moen felt she needed to have a “killer instinct and intense personality” that seemed to characterize lawyers in the profession.
“When I first started practicing, I thought, I am in the big city, I have to present myself as others do,” she said. “That really wasn’t me. It took me a few years to feel like I could be my own type of lawyer.”
She learned from her uncle, attorney Bruce Moen, that it is possible to maintain one’s personal identity while building a professional persona. She adopted his problem-solving style, with a calm approach rather than a “cutthroat personality.”
She also started dressing a little differently, forgoing full suits for business casual when the circumstances allowed. For her, it instantly brought the intensity down.
“I wanted to present myself as approachable. I didn’t want to start wars. I wanted to solve problems.”
The problem-solving approach helped reduce the friction inherent in probate litigation, which she practiced for 25 years. Siblings fighting over their parents’ money was a common scenario. Commissioner Moen often thought of the Hawaiian word ho’oponopono, which roughly translates into healing family relations.
She grew up with the word, she said, using it among friends and siblings. It encourages everyone to do the right thing and “go back to a better place.”
Ho’oponopono became a mantra for Commissioner Moen: “I wouldn’t use the word when representing clients, but I would plant the seeds.”
The spirit of inclusion and respect, all hallmarks of her persona and approach to the work of a legal advocate, now describes Commissioner Moen’s demeanor on the bench. Prior to Commissioner Lack assuming the duties of the unlawful detainer calendar full time, she would often hear cases involving pro se litigants. If she can see that a pro se litigant is frustrated and confused and starting to panic, she will utilize a more informal voice. She explains that her intonations and speech patterns change. She slows down. She uses plain language. She makes sure to provide people with the time they need to express themselves, and to feel heard.
Judge Wyman Yip observed that his Oahu upbringing helped him appreciate that people may look or behave “differently” due to culture or generational differences. For example, he said eye contact or lack of eye contact while speaking isn’t necessarily indicative of whether someone is telling the truth.
All litigants are looking for the same thing, Commissioner Moen said: “They want something explained to them in a manner they can understand. They want to be treated as humans.”
When they experience this, litigants seem to appear less angry, more at peace with the outcome, Commissioner Moen said, even if things don’t go as they’d hoped. Commissioner Moen observed that what once felt at odds with the legal process is now common ground that supports it: “My upbringing has allowed me to connect on another level.”
Mahalo, Commissioner Moen. We welcome your insights and expertise to the Court.
Happy Retirement to Judge Rogers and Bailiff Monica Gillum
On April 23, we bid happy retirement to Judge Jim Rogers and his bailiff Monica Gillum. Both have more than two decades of service to King County, making them among the most experienced courtroom teams in Superior Court.
Tenacity and a can-do attitude epitomize Judge Rogers as presiding judge, a position he held for three years. He came up with the idea of doing remote civil trials at Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center to preserve access to justice during the pandemic, and as a result, King County Superior Court led the nation in trials completed during that time.
Judge Rogers said justice is a “team sport” and thanked Monica Gillum for being part of the team. He said that the talent already in place at Superior Court made the COVID adaptations possible.
“Our court has consistently come up with big projects to overcome big challenges,” Judge Rogers said. “The thing I’m going to miss the most is seeing you all.”
Welcome Judge Scheinman
Judge Tenaya Scheinman was sworn in on May 1. Appointed by Governor Ferguson, she takes over Department 45, which was vacated by the retirement of Judge Rogers. She will preside over criminal hearings and trials and manage civil cases.
Judge Scheinman has more than 20 years of litigation experience. Since 2024, she has been an attorney at the King County Inquest Program in Seattle. She also served as a judge pro tempore in King County District Court, Snohomish County District Court, and Edmonds Municipal Court.
Before joining the Inquest Program, Judge Scheinman served for 16 years as a public defender in King County. She started her career litigating complex securities fraud cases at the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati in Seattle.
Judge Scheinman earned her bachelor’s degree from Swarthmore College and her law degree from the University of Virginia.
Therapeutic Courts Month
The King County Council on May 5 proclaimed May Therapeutic Court Month in King County. I was honored to accept the proclamation for the Court. With me were graduates from our therapeutic courts along with Judge Michael Scott and Judge John McHale who have most recently presided over Drug Court, Drug Court Manager Christina Mason, and Family Treatment Court Supervisor Jill Murphy and additional staff from these successful teams.
King County was among the first counties in the nation to adopt a therapeutic court model 30 years ago: King County Drug Diversion Court. Between the district and superior courts, King County has now added Family Treatment Court, King County Regional Mental Health Court, King County Regional Veterans Court, Juvenile Therapeutic Response & Accountability Court (JTRAC) and several District Court Community Courts.
Because therapeutic courts interrupt generational cycles of substance use, foster care, and incarceration, they “are one of the most important, effective, humane, and fiscally responsible things that county government does,” said King County Councilmember Rhonda Lewis, who sponsored the proclamation. Therapeutic courts address the reasons for participants’ involvement in the criminal legal and dependency systems, with the goal of, for example, having their charges dismissed or their children returned home and avoiding future legal involvement when they work hard and meet demanding requirements of the programs.
Family Treatment Court graduate Tami Siemers, who graduated nearly a decade ago and is now a Family Recovery Support Specialist with the program, addressed the Council. She said the combination of support and accountability provided by Family Treatment Court helped her sustain positive changes and build healthy relationships over the long term: “They taught me how to fish and didn’t just hand me the fish.”
The Court is grateful to King County for joining us to celebrate the success of participants.
