The Board of Trustees convened with President Sidney Tribe presiding. Trustees, officers, staff, and guests received updates on recent member engagement events, budget planning, governance initiatives, and ongoing developments related to the Housing Justice Project (HJP) spin-off process.

Legal professionals bring a wide range of perspectives, experiences, and differing opinions to their work, yet the common thread is a commitment to service, advocacy, and justice. Through open dialogue and mutual understanding, attorneys, judges, legal staff, and community partners can learn from one another and collaborate toward meaningful progress. Lasting impact is achieved not only through individual expertise, but through the collective strength that emerges when people come together to listen, learn, and work toward common goals.

Office Space

Mercer Island Office for Sublease. Modern, quiet downtown office (160 sq ft), perfect for a solo attorney. Rent is $1,650/month. Includes ample free parking. Share kitchen and reception with two solo attorneys. Easy I-90 access from Seattle/Bellevue. Walking distance to Light Rail. Email gwynna@normanlegalgroup.com to schedule a viewing.

Grandmother Laura is speaking out about the challenges she faced in trying to secure legal guardianship of her granddaughter, highlighting both the emotional toll of family separation and the complexity of navigating the court system without legal support.

Did you know? At our standing monthly meeting the KCBA New Lawyers Division (NLD) board was pleased to have received multiple applications for trustee positions for the 2026-2027 board term. The board was excited about the caliber of applicants, and is pleased to announce the 2026-2027 Board slate here. As we look to next year, it is exciting to have new voices, new ideas, and new enthusiasm joining the NLD board team.

On May 6, the King County Bar Association hosted a swearing-in ceremony with 42 new attorneys and three limited practice officers participating. The King County Superior Court room was full of friends and family celebrating the new admittees’ achievement alongside Presiding Judge Averil Rothrock.
 

Do you remember why you wanted to become an attorney? Well, I would like to share a story; it is a beautiful one at that. And I think it may remind some of us why we chose this profession.

A cheerful Seattleite, bursting with energy at 69 years young, recently came to the Records Project hoping to finally put his past behind him. His past reflects many encounters with the criminal legal system, several convictions, all non-violent and tied to a years-long struggle with substance use disorder that dates back to the late 1970s. He has been sober since completing a King County recovery program some 17 years ago. His life, by every measure, has changed completely.

The King County Bar celebrated its annual Bar Scholars Reception on April 8, 2026, honoring 2025–26 minority law students supported by scholarships. More than 50 scholars joined faculty from Seattle University and the University of Washington, along with Bar leaders, to recognize achievement and promote connections. Student speakers shared personal journeys to law school, emphasizing how scholarships helped overcome barriers such as first-generation status, language challenges, and financial hardship. Since 1970, the Bar has awarded more than $3.25 million to underrepresented students, strengthening diversity in the legal profession. The event also emphasized mentorship, networking, and appreciation for supporters, community impact.

One of the first things that struck me when I started working with pro se litigants at KCLL was that many folks were operating in a vacuum with no real sense of how the litigation process works or why. It occurred to me that pro ses could really use an introductory civil procedure class. To that end, the law library joined forces with fabulous volunteer attorney Jeff Cowan in 2018 to create the class, Civil Litigation without Tears: The Basics of Representing Yourself in Court. While the class might be more accurately called Civil Litigation with Fewer Tears, it was a 90-minute dive into the court rules, deadlines, and procedures that pro ses are most likely to encounter.

Eric Gillett examines how lawyers should handle mediation when the opposing party refuses to move from an opening position. Drawing on personal experience, he argues that immobility is usually strategic rather than personal, driven by authority limits, precedent concerns, or signaling. The article offers a step-by-step playbook: avoid emotional reactions, stop unilateral concessions, reframe offers as information, shift discussions away from numbers, use conditional movement, and let mediators apply pressure. Gillett emphasizes knowing when to walk away, noting that disciplined patience often preserves leverage and leads to later settlement on better terms.