What the heck is happening with juries? If you are a litigator, you have had some form of this conversation over the last few years. It is being discussed everywhere…at the watercooler, in CLEs, in private plaintiff listservs, in corporate in-house retreats, and more. We’ve even had judges pull us aside and ask us our thoughts on the matter. Everyone seems to have a story about something crazy a jury did in their case or a colleague’s. And we’ve all seen the headlines about extraordinary damage awards in some cases. Plaintiff attorneys now think every case is a seven-figure case while some defense attorneys are truly convinced there is an actual, physical reptilian part of the brain that is driving all this. And last we heard, Reptile authors Don Keenan and David Ball are still wondering why everyone ignores their recommendation (from the same book and theory) to incorporate scripture into every case presentation.

January marks the new year, a time for optimism and for many, hope for better things to come. As any sharp business attorney knows however, hope is a lousy strategy—particularly for companies looking for solutions to their toughest financial and operational challenges. Eventually those searches will involve technology and initiatives aimed at transforming some aspect of the enterprise, which is often where things start to unravel.

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.