The following are highlights from the KCBA Board of Trustees meeting held Dec. 17, 2025, and convened by KCBA President Sidney Tribe.

Did you know? The Mission of the King County Bar Association New Lawyers Division is to further the objectives of new and aspiring lawyers by representing the diverse interests of the Division’s members to the Association and the legal community, creating opportunities for continuing legal education, mentoring, and networking, as well as addressing the needs of the community through pro bono and volunteer service

Facing fear is an important part of professional development. The fear of making mistakes is one such fear, and while overthinking and hesitation are byproducts of this fear, these aspects slow productivity and limit growth. This is a reminder that viewing mistakes as a natural part of learning and improvement, and errors as opportunities for feedback rather than failure, allows for more confidence in decision-making.

We are living in very strange times. The practice of law, in particular, seems perched on notably shaky ground. Court orders are routinely ignored at the highest levels, longstanding norms and precedents are swept away in shadow docket opinions with no explanation of the reason why, and AI assistance that was supposed to be a boon to the overextended attorney has resulted in the public shame of sanctions for several.

At the law library, our resources and services can help take some of the stress out of the daily woes of practicing law. And we can even help you find a good place for lunch when you’re down at the courthouse.

Retired federal prosecutor and uber volunteer William Braun explains how the Court of Appeals strengthened enforcement of firearm surrender in DVPO cases, ruling that trial courts abuse their discretion when they refuse to impose sanctions or end proceedings without accounting for missing weapons. The decision underscores the courts’ duty to protect survivors and reduce the heightened risk of violence when abusers retain guns.

Your job search is like a strategy game. You won’t always be in the mood to look for jobs, so it’s important to build engines that will keep you moving, even when you’re not feeling particularly motivated. Every bit of planning you do moves you closer to the finish line.

Natalie Kim lays out how legal teams can reduce chaos and increase impact by adopting a product management mindset focused on clarity, prioritization, and continuous improvement. Kim outlines how user-centered design, ruthless prioritization, and tight feedback loops help lawyers work more strategically rather than reactively. 

Every day I count myself lucky that I am living in Washington state where there are so many wonderful organizations doing their best to ensure that pro-se litigants have access to resources that help them successfully navigate their cases. Being in King County, I am particularly grateful to Kristina Ralls and the King County Family Law Facilitators program for creating concise and easily accessible form packets for those dealing with family law issues. You can see the breadth of their handiwork at their How-to Resources for Family Law page. In addition to their web presence, the facilitators also run a walk-in Family Law Helpdesk in both the Seattle and Kent courthouses from 9 a.m. to noon every day. At the helpdesk, after a short consultation, patrons are given forms and instructions responsive to their legal issues. As you might guess, the helpdesks are very busy. They lack the capacity to assist people with drafting their forms.

Two interesting cases highlight the apparent difficulty of valuing cases these days. In one, the plaintiff refused to accept any settlement below $10 million, confident their client’s injuries along with what they believed would be considerable frustration with the defendant would get them at least as much at trial. The defendant’s insurance carrier disagreed. They were willing to offer low seven figures (which the plaintiff declined), but nothing close to $10 million, and the plaintiff’s demand left them no choice but to go to trial. After two weeks, the jury came back with a defense verdict.

Dedicated Always Appealing readers will remember an article I wrote nearly three years ago about an amendment to RAP 10.8, the rule allowing parties to submit a statement of additional authorities. The old rule prohibited any argument, so submitting additional authority typically meant providing a case citation with a short reference to the relevant legal issue and nothing else. Sometimes, courts received citations without any explanation at all.¹