Greetings, and happy summer. I hope you are planning for vacation travels, family time, or simply rest and relaxation. Summer is often a time for optimism as we rejuvenate with some well-earned time off and anticipate a busy fall season.

Presiding Judge Ketu Shah draws attention to the escalating threats and vilification of judges — fueled by social media, public officials, and general misunderstanding of the judicial role — which pose a serious risk to civil society and the rule of law. Judge Shah underscores that disagreement with judicial decisions should be addressed through the appellate process, not personal attacks or calls for impeachment. He asks the legal community to actively support initiatives that promote understanding of the courts and protect the judiciary from politicization and violence. 

As legal professionals, we are experiencing a confluence of events that are testing the bounds of the rule of law. Some law firms are being pressured to make choices about who they represent and what access they will have. There are judges’ orders that are being attacked for their independence. And finally, we are seeing extreme vitriol towards people who disagree with each other.

I often get questions from folks who are thinking of a judicial career about what actions they can take to position themselves to be an excellent judicial candidate. Often, I speak about getting trial experience to show your proficiency in managing a courtroom, be professional and respectful to everyone especially opposing counsel and staff because that will reflect on your demeanor. Be engaged in your personal and legal community because it shows your commitment to public service. And of course, work hard, meet deadlines, be prepared, and demonstrate your intellectual analytic ability in your written and oral presentations. For many people, these are some obvious points of advice. Often people have practices where they do not get the opportunity to be in court, so I recommend they volunteer as Guardian Ad Litems (a huge need in minor dependencies and for vulnerable adults) or volunteer with the Court looking for attorneys to assist those litigants who have an ADA accommodation. Also, there are great legal clinics (KCBA Neighborhood clinic, ELAP clinic, NWIRP clinic, and many others) where you can get cases to help folks and get real world courtroom experience.

In these turbulent times, we face choices about how we want to exist as a civil society. When faced with real world budget limitations and reductions of services, we are presented a society that will function very differently than before. 

Greetings, now that we have started 2025 and made our judicial rotations and moves, we are excited to hit the ground running. We have many people rotating to new departments to offer their expertise throughout the Court. We also have new transitions in our leadership with Judge Rothrock as Assistant Presiding Judge, Judge Scott as Chief Civil Judge, Judge Young as Chief Criminal Judge, Judge McDonald as Assistant Chief Criminal Judge, Judge Keenan as MRJC Chief, Judge Sutton as UFC Chief, and Judge Galvan as CCFJC Chief. These chiefs meet regularly and discuss operations to ensure cases get to our judges in an efficient and timely manner. They are continuously analyzing how to get calendars covered, how to manage staffing levels to ensure courts are operational and to discuss changes in law that affect filings and capacity issues.

Happy New Year! We begin 2025 with a sense of hope and gratitude. We are hopeful with new additions to our bench and new rotations as of January 13, we will tackle the work of the court with effort and energy and continue to provide access.

As we wind down the year, and folks take well-earned time off during the Holidays, it is a good time to take stock of the year for our Court. We started the year with worrisome trends of increased filings in eviction cases and civil protection orders. 

As we are in the midst of harvest season, and giving thanks for all that we have, I want to thank the Bar Association for being partners with the Court to improve accessibility to courts, for championing the rule of law, and for ensuring we work toward a more civil society.

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.