Did you miss your chance for tickets to see U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson speak on September 9?

KCBA hosted a reception at Benaroya Hall before the discussion between Justice Jackson and Melinda Gates, and this event was only available for purchase by our current membership.

What once was old is not new again. For years trial attorneys relied on shortcuts to make key decisions in the process of striking jurors they believed to be biased against their clients. 

One hallmark of our democracy is the peaceful transfer of power, dating all the way back to George Washington. For over 200 years, even bitter political opponents have yielded their authority to the candidate who receives the necessary votes to claim victory. 

As our country’s presidential candidates offer divergent promises to protect our constitutional freedoms, one segment of America remains categorically excluded from any such promises.

My friend and colleague, Judge Kristin Richardson, has quietly and humbly served us well in her public service career both in the King County Prosecutor’s Office for 29 years and on the King County Superior Court bench since 2017. 

An anonymous letter highly critical of Judge Debora Juarez was published in the September 1995 issue of the Bar Bulletin.

In 2017, Yale professor, Timothy Synder, published “On Tyranny. Twenty Lessons From The Twentieth Century.” In that book, he wrote about the rule of law and how it is hard to subvert the rule of law without lawyers.

A recent Washington Supreme Court ruling has major implications for physician errors that harm patients, making Washington one of the only states to prevent hospitals from avoiding responsibility for medical errors when they choose to staff their emergency rooms with physicians who are independent contractors rather than hiring them as employees This closes a significant loophole in the law and marks a significant step forward for accountability and patient safety.

There have been plenty of post-Covid openings and we certainly have not been able to get to them all. This month we are trying to catch up on that, at least a little. And, as our exploration continued, this edition ended up with a post-Spanish Empire theme.

On October 14, 2024, King County will celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. King County Superior Court recognizes that we provide service to a community, populated by residents from a rich variety of cultures and lived experiences. In recognition of this holiday marked by reflection and service, we wanted to take the opportunity to share with the Bar the significant work the Court is undertaking to improve and coordinate our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion.