Beginning July 1, 2023, KCBA’s membership dues will increase. KCBA’s last dues increase occurred more than seven years ago. Inflation and the high cost of living in Seattle make this increase is necessary. We want to ensure KCBA can pay living wages to our staff members who bring so much to our community and to members like you.

Colleagues, especially those suffering losses in the Court of Appeals or Superior Court, frequently ask if it’s harder than it used to be to get a case heard in the Washington Supreme Court. The short answer is not really — the percentage of accepted cases is low but remains on par with its historic norm.1 But the perception that the Court is hearing fewer cases is accurate. Our state Supreme Court simply does not decide as many cases as it used to.

Quinn v. State, No. 100769-8 (Mar. 24, 2023). Washington’s highest court recently addressed whether the newly-enacted capital gains tax presents an unlawful tax on income. The Court held the tax to be a permissible excise because it will be levied on the sale or exchange of capital assets, not on capital assets or gains themselves. Before you complain the ruling is political, not based in law, dictionary definitions, or common sense, and shows the dangers attendant to the judicial branch’s trespassing clumsily into the political field, consider: unlike recent mystifying decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court, the majority here simply confirmed the legislative branch’s power to make findings, enact legislation, and tax residents.

That’s a wrap folks! Since no petition was filed to challenge the slate of board candidates, please welcome your official 2023–2024 Board of Trustees: President Karen Orehoski, First Vice President Erin Overbey, Second Vice President Sidney Tribe, Secretary Caleb O. Bonm and Trustees Amit D. Ranade, Joanna Boisen, Shashi Vijay, and Emily Gause. They will join Treasurer Theresa H. Wang and Trustees, Paul Crisalli, William L. Dixon, Robert Flennaugh II, Cynthia B. Jones, Dylan Kilpatric, Michelle Pham, Chalia Stallings-
Ala’ilima, and Ian Warner.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

Charles Dickens’s words ring true today as I contemplate the health and well-being of our community, particularly in regard to record numbers who struggle with the disease of addiction. And while it can feel like the winter of despair, one sign of hope can be found in the good work of our therapeutic courts here in King County Superior Court.

Defense frustration and disbelief have become the staple of post-pandemic mock trials, focus groups, and trial conclusions. Damages seem to be going up and jurors seem to hate large corporations, often ignoring or explaining away important facts which might help the corporate defendant in a case. These feelings are not unwarranted. After all, a November 2022 Pew Poll found that distrust of large corporations is one of the few things voters on both sides of the aisle seem to agree on. Conservative jurors used to be reliably pro-business and anti-lawsuit (or at least anti-nuclear verdict), but that is no longer the case, which may explain the inflationary trend in damage awards.

As many of you know, Reptile Theory, as a litigation strategy, slithered into existence in 2009, made popular by David Ball and Don Keenan in their book, Reptile, The 2009 Manual Of The Plaintiff’s Revolution. Since then, thousands of lawyers, both plaintiff and defense, have employed the tactics promoted by this book.

I recently did a presentation for the KCBA Solo and Small Firm section on time management. And during that presentation, I touched briefly on boundaries. There were quite a few comments that came in during that portion of my presentation, as well as some “a-ha” moments, so I thought those who missed the presentation might be interested in reading this article.

During the height of the pandemic and the insanity of the 2020 election I sought out things that were peaceful and calming. One of my usual moments of Zen was looking at my friend Ward’s YouTube channel where he posts a short clip of himself doing a “fast and loose” painting each day. It is very meditative to see the process of him turning a photograph into a painting. The paintings soften the edges of the photographs, but at the same time bring the subject matter to life.

For roughly two decades, the King County Bar Association has supported the Housing Justice Project to provide free legal representation to tenants facing housing instability in King County. KCBA has supported the program through administrative and financial support as well as encouraging its members to offer pro bono help to tenants. Hundreds of local attorneys have offered their time and expertise to local tenants through the program and prevented countless evictions.