The following are highlights from the KCBA Board of Trustees meeting held Oct. 15, 2025, and convened by KCBA President Sidney Tribe.

The KCBA Board of Trustees met on Oct. 15 under the leadership of First Vice President Mary Sakaguchi. Trustees covered a full agenda, including updates on governance, programs, and operational issues that continue to shape KCBA’s service to the legal community.

The construction industry is confronting a pivotal and prolonged workforce crisis. Demand for new infrastructure, commercial projects, housing, and advanced manufacturing facilities continues to grow at record-setting levels. Yet, the supply of skilled and semiskilled labor is shrinking, not simply at a gradual pace but at an alarming rate.

Every November, a small involuntary flinch returns. Veterans Day arrives, and something in me contracts. It is a reflex made of regret, belated reverence, and the uncomfortable truth that, for years, I misunderstood the very people the day is meant to honor.

Weather experts have put a La Niña advisory in place, which typically brings cooler and wetter conditions to Seattle and amplifies our region’s rainy fall and winter seasons. It also means a heavier snowpack in the Cascades. This might mean cozy vibes with warm drinks in hand for some of us or hitting the powder for the adventurous. Whatever you decide, my hope is that we make the most of what this season has to offer.
 

Office Space

In his seminal “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrote the words that hang in law offices and courthouses across the nation: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
 

Shaun Watchie Perry took on a pro bono asylum case for a detained client fleeing persecution and uncovered serious errors by his prior attorney. Though Perry rebuilt the case, the judge dismissed key evidence and denied relief, reflecting systemic bias. Perry urges lawyers to take immigration cases to defend due process and stand with vulnerable clients.

Last year I wrote in this space regarding two decisions from the Washington Supreme Court in which all of the justices agreed there was an error, but they disagreed about what, if anything, they could or should do about it.¹ The Supreme Court issued another such decision two months ago in Luv v. W. Coast Servicing, Inc.² This article starts with a discussion of the complicated procedural history of Luv, then discusses the three opinions in the case, and then offers my own thoughts on the case.

“The most important thing an institution does is not to prepare a student for a career but for a life as a citizen.”
— Frank Newman, American education reformer

“We cannot sustain a democratic republic with a citizenry that is completely uninformed about, and basically estranged from, our Constitution and our institutions.”
— Judge Douglas H. Ginsburg of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit

As the year draws to a close, so too does the annual influx of donation requests from nonprofits across our region. Each envelope or email received represents an organization striving to meet urgent needs. If you are like me, your mailbox is fuller than ever with requests from those who provide essential human services and others who fight the diseases and social challenges that shape our daily headlines. When these requests come in, I am reminded of this year’s uncertainty; however, they also bring a renewed sense of hope as I see our community supporting one another in new and inspiring ways.