Washington State, including King County, is facing a crisis in public defense. Experienced lawyers are leaving the practice because of the overwhelming caseload. In some counties, accused persons are waiting weeks without a lawyer.1 Many new law graduates who are interested in public defense are not even applying for open positions because they know that the workload is so high and in many parts of the state, the compensation is so low. The criminal legal system is on the verge of collapse.

The proposal by the WSBA to reduce case loads for public defenders has generated significant commentary from across the state, all of which is available here1. The KCBA has not taken a position on this issue but presents this summary and citations so that members can access the differing viewpoints on this issue. Some of the objections to the current proposal discussed in Robert Boruchowitz’s article are further articulated in the comments below. To better understand the context of comments both in favor and against the proposal, the full statement should be read.

Although oral argument gets all the attention, most appellate lawyers (and all appellate judges) will tell you that appeals are in the vast majority of cases decided on the briefs. An appellate law firm—and ours is no exception—is a persuasive writing factory. There’s no formal assembly line, the product is always “bespoke,” and the only manufacturing instructions are the Rules of Appellate Procedure (which, in RAP 10.3, exhorts the laborer to be “concise” and “fair” in drafting). But in our office we have instituted a primitive form of “quality control”—no briefs leave our office without at least two lawyers having read, and edited, the final product.
 

Arthur Beardsley was the founding director of the University of Washington’s Law Library. He served in that position from 1922–1944 and during his tenure built the collection to over 100,000 volumes with a strong foreign law emphasis including English, Russian, Chinese, and Japanese concentrations. He founded the University of Washington’s law librarianship program and left his footprint on generations of law libraries. Beardsley was also a scholar, archivist, and historian. During his tenure at UW, he compiled a vast archive of materials on early Washington legal luminaries. As a student, I remember going down to the scary, dark basement of the law library at Condon Hall and seeing the file cabinets that held what was called the bench and bar files. Each legal luminary had a file folder with news clippings, correspondence, photographs, and various other ephemera tucked in. One could easily lose track of time sifting through all those bits of history—despite being in a dark, scary basement.

After many months of effort by a group of dedicated and enthusiastic advocates spanning several converging areas of law, the KCBA Board of Trustees approved a resolution at their November 20, 2024 Board Meeting to add a new Child Law Section to its practice area section offerings. This is exciting news because, while other organizations and institutions address different aspects affecting children, none of these groups provide a place for attorneys and advocates spanning a variety of practice areas to come together to form real solutions.
 

As a recent law school grad almost everything I learned about the world of appeals in law school came from Legal Writing II: Written and Oral Advocacy, which is taken by Seattle U students in their 2L year. Without a shadow of a doubt, Legal Writing II set me up for success by teaching me what I needed to know to write an appellate brief; but appellate practice, as I have been finding out, was still an open question. So, I write to you today with newfound answers about the ins and outs of appellate practice.

With Thanksgiving leftovers still taking up some real estate in the refrigerator, I am in the mindset of considering all that I have to be thankful for. For me, the national election did not go way that I hoped it would, which initially led to tossing and turning at night. However, when I consider the leadership and structure of our county and state, I am thankful to live and practice in King County Washington. I work every day in a community that continues to value the rule of law, protects the rights of immigrants, reproductive rights and medical choice, embraces a code of ethics and does so with the support of leaders devoted to promoting diversity and inclusion.

After 18 years of serving as the Associate Executive Director and a recent stint as Interim Executive Director of the King County Bar Association (KCBA), I am honored to step into the role of Executive Director. This milestone is not just a reflection of my career journey but a testament to the unwavering support I’ve received from so many along the way.

You may think you know James Williams, Seattle Office Managing Partner at Perkins Coie. He’s your Washington State delegate to the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates. Or maybe you know him as a founder and, until recently, co-chair of the Washington Leadership Institute. And, of course, he’s been a leader in the local bar—not just the KCBA, but also the Loren Miller Bar Association, of which he is a past president. But a leader like James doesn’t just pop up fully formed. He is an amalgam of his life experiences. And that’s what brings us to the many things you likely don’t yet know about James Williams.

In past articles, we’ve talked about the well-worn negotiation goal of “getting to ‘Yes.’” As many of you know, this comes from the book, Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In, written by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton and published in 1981. The book outlines a method of negotiation, focused on finding mutually beneficial agreements. It presents four fundamental principles: