I’ve been a member of the King County Bar Association for many years. I joined KCBA on January 21, 2009, just after being sworn in by Chief Judge Marywave Van Deren of the Washington State Court of Appeals Division Two, the judge for whom I was acting as judicial clerk at the time. My absolute favorite thing about KCBA membership was the Bar Bulletin. I loved (still love) the newspaper layout, the recurring columns, the local news, and updates.
So funny, though; other than keeping up on my Bar Bulletin, I never really took advantage of my KCBA membership in those years. Now that I am here on the inside as Member Services Director, I can see all the amazing advantages an attorney can gain by becoming involved in KCBA leadership, committees, and sections. How did I miss all of these incredible resources and opportunities?! To help you from missing out, here is a list of all the things of which members can take advantage:
Sections: Section membership can be whatever you make of it. Each section focuses on a particular practice area. Most of the sections have a monthly meeting, at which there is a one-hour CLE for credit on a topic of interest. KCBA does all of the logistics, from setting up the Zoom link to sending in the attendance for CLE credit. Section members can simply attend meetings and mixers, or they can get more involved by joining the leadership team. Each section’s leadership team works to find speakers for the monthly meetings, as well as plan social events and recruit new leaders for the following year. KCBA takes care of the rest!
Committees: KCBA’s Board of Trustees relies upon several committees to consider certain issues and make recommendations to the Board. For example, the (formerly known as) Diversity Committee recently recommended to the Board a name change to the Anti-Racism & Equity Committee. The Committee, made up of volunteer judges and attorneys with a variety of years of practice under their belts, discussed this change together, worked to draft a memo to the Board explaining the reasons for the change, and approved the recommendation for submission to the Board. The Board approved and the name was changed! Other committees do important work such as conducting Judicial Candidate Evaluations for folks interested in being considered for judicial positions, considering and recommending changes to the court rules, brainstorming new and interesting member benefits for KCBA’s membership, and planning the much beloved annual MLK Luncheon. Any KCBA member can join any committee! You need not be a Board member to participate and can make an immediate impact on the direction of KCBA. Plus, you meet the most interesting people!
Bar Bulletin: Yes, I mentioned the Bar Bulletin already, but here I’m not talking just about reading it! We are always looking for new and exciting articles for our pages. Writing for the Bar Bulletin is a fantastic way for newer attorneys to add chops to their résumés and to get their name out to others in their practice area; or, for more experienced attorneys to impart their wisdom.
Leadership: In addition to the leadership of the various sections and committees discussed above, KCBA and its counterpart the King County Bar Foundation (KCBF) are always interested in cultivating potential future leaders. Both the KCBA and KCBF Boards need new members on a rolling basis. And eventually, you may also be interested in considering a position among the Executive Committee. Another avenue for leadership is to join the New Lawyers Division (NLD) Board. If you are a KCBA member and have been practicing for fewer than 10 years, you are already a member of the NLD. Joining the Board and eventually the leadership is an excellent way to dip your toe in. NLD board members act as liaisons to each of the KCBA Board of Trustees committees, meaning that you could play an essential role in a committee full of judges and accomplished attorneys. It is a perfect gateway to future KCBA leadership roles.
CLEs: As I’ve mentioned, each section works hard to find speakers for their monthly meetings. In addition, KCBA hosts larger CLEs open to anyone (not just section members) on a variety of topics throughout the year. Consider being a speaker! We are always happy to receive suggestions from members regarding topics they’d like to hear and/or speak about. Please don’t be shy. Speakers receive additional CLE credit for the time they spend preparing for the presentation, so it’s really a win-win. Beef up that résumé; all ideas welcome!
Lawyer Referral Service: This is yet another opportunity I missed as a practicing attorney. For several years, I ran my own solo practice. It would have made a huge difference for me as a solo attorney if I had joined KCBA’s Lawyer Referral Service. This service helps members of the public find attorneys for hire. A person calls or submits a request, the LRS staff follows up with the person, and then the LRS staff provide several names of attorneys in the right practice area to the person. And there are some areas of law that have few or no attorneys currently on the panel. LRS receives hundreds of calls a week. Get yourself on those panels so you can reap the LRS benefits.
New Lawyers Division: I’ve already mentioned NLD, but it’s worth mentioning again. This group is probably the most active among all of KCBA’s sections and committees. It hosts social events (the Board aims for at least one a month), CLEs (again, at least one a month is the goal), and fundraisers, and also plans volunteer opportunities for its members to join. NLD is an invaluable resource for newer attorneys to meet their peers and get to know the legal community. If you’re not active in NLD, you are cheating yourself out of the best 10 years of your legal career. Next time you get an invitation to Trivia Night, drop everything and get yourself down there. You won’t regret it.
There are so many things you can gain from KCBA membership. If you’re not currently a member, now is a great time to join since the membership year starts July 1. If you are a member already, don’t let these fabulous opportunities drift by. If you don’t know where to start, email me! I’m happy to chat in person or via phone/Teams/Zoom to help find you the right entry point to match your interests. We’ve got so much going on, KCBA really is where it’s at!
Bridget Schuster is an attorney and KCBA’s Member Services Director. You can reach her at bridgets@kcba.org.
