KCBA and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Luncheon Committee are excited to announce this year’s luncheon will be held on Friday, January 12, 2024, from 12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m., at the Washington State Convention Center. Please join us in celebrating Dr. King and his legacy.

KCBA Classifieds-December 2023

By the time you see it, it might be too late. Set aside your feelings about Donald Trump and take yourself back to his run-up to victory in the 2016 Presidential election. What was his appeal to millions of Americans? Why did so many people want what he offered? The answers are complex and multiple, but among them is a key to understanding how jurors feel today about trial advocacy and persuasion tactics of yesterday. Mr. Trump did the opposite of what so many people had tired of and no longer wanted. Many of his independent or moderate supporters described how much they liked that he spoke and sounded unlike the other candidates and “spoke his mind.” People were tired of the prepared lines and everything else that comes with politician-speak and Donald Trump offered a refreshing alternative.

You asked for it—nay, you demanded it—and now the Supremes have drafted a “code of ethics.”  Of course, it is not binding, fails to identify any enforcement agent or mechanism, and makes a mockery of KCBA’s and ABA’s resolutions to impose a binding code of conduct on our cagey, robed oracles.  This month, the Bar Bulletin graciously provides members with their own annotated copy.

In re Pers. Restraint of Knight, No. 101068-1 (Nov. 9, 2023). At issue: whether separate convictions for felony murder and first-degree robbery violate the state or federal constitution when evidence was insufficient to justify a conviction for the underlying felony. Washington’s Supremes held they do and remanded for resentencing.

The past waits as a mirror which reveals the present.  One need only look.  Despite reliable data suggesting an impending attack in the mid-Pacific in December 1941, the U.S. Government was caught seemingly unprepared.  Intelligence failure or failure to act?  And what can those failures teach us about geo-political gamesmanship today?

In cities as diverse as Seattle, Spokane, Portland and even Austin, Texas, retail rents and those for manufacturing and warehouse spaces have increased by double digit percentages over the last year alone. As such costs rise, neighborhoods which have long provided the kind of favorable environments in which entrepreneurs thrive are becoming increasingly inhospitable to them. Independent businesses which serve the everyday needs of their communities are being forced out and replaced by national chains that can negotiate better rents or can afford to subsidize a high-visibility location.

One of our favorite contributors returns to provide clarity regarding new student loan repayment programs.  If you are one of 40 million Americans whose student loan payments resumed recently, you won’t want to miss this article.

When serious doubts arise regarding a party’s competency, the appointment of a guardian ad litem may be a necessary means of protecting their interests.  This article discusses the nuances of competency and GAL appointments in family law settings. 

DeSean v. Sanger, No. 101330-2 (Oct. 5, 2023). At issue: whether a reasonable belief in capacity to consent is a viable affirmative defense to a sexual assault protection order. Washington’s Supreme Court held no such defense exists.

While traveling out of state to visit a friend, Petitioner met Respondent, her friend’s roommate. During her visit, the three drank “heavily” one evening.¹ Petitioner’s third adult beverage contained tequila and vodka; as she consumed it, Respondent chanted, “chug, chug, chug.”² Respondent also observed, “you’re going to feel that.”³ Petitioner became noticeably intoxicated, the manifestations of which included throwing up and an inability to speak coherently.