Welcome to the final installment of this three-part series where I get the pleasure of telling you about the hard work that our volunteer members put into our Sections to provide valuable learning opportunities and engaging special events for Section members.

There are many benefits to joining a Section. For one, every Section has a designated listserv, where Section members can email their colleagues with questions, suggestions, and cross-referrals. Another benefit of Section membership is access to all Section CLEs through our KCBA CLE Video Library. And perhaps, best of all, most of our Sections put on monthly one-hour lunchtime CLEs from September through June. Many of the Sections also host special events such as receptions, happy hours, and other networking opportunities.

“Always Appealing” is a column addressing current issues in appellate practice and recent appellate cases written by the lawyers of Smith Goodfriend, P.S., a Seattle law firm that limits its practice to civil appeals and related trial court motions practice.

An appellate court has authority under RAP 18.9 to impose sanctions or award attorney fees “on its own initiative or on motion of a party” against “a party or counsel,” who “files a frivolous appeal.” The purpose of sanctions is to deter frivolous appeals and, when the sanctions are in the form of an award of fees to respondent, to compensate the respondent for being forced to defend against the frivolous appeal.

Three years before Washington became a State, King County Bar came into existence, built upon the social rubble of the anti-Chinese riots of 1886.

How deep is juror distrust today? When we asked a recent set of focus group jurors to reveal their first impressions after hearing a defendant had admitted liability, their immediate reactions were telling:

As I enter my final month as President of the KCBA, June is beginning to reveal glimmers and glimpses of our long-awaited summer weather. The often gray and gloomy days of the past months are slowly beginning to dissolve into the fresh and bright days and evenings which make the Northwest so special to many of us. It was worth the wait.

June 2024 marks the end of my first full membership year as your Member Services Director. It’s been a wonderful year, and I am proud of all the work our staff, Committees, and Section leaders have put in to make it a year full of engagement, education, and fun.

Several years ago, in my mid-fifties, I took up the sport of mountaineering. Several friends who were experienced in this sport encouraged me to the point that I began to believe it was possible. What I did not appreciate initially was the amount of work required.

Welcome to the second part of this three-part series where I get the pleasure of telling you about the hard work that our volunteer members do in our KCBA Sections to provide valuable learning opportunities and engaging special events for Section members.

Rainmakers bring in clients. But nobody shares the secret sauce about how to become a rainmaker. The common advice includes: “Do a good job for your clients, practice with civility to opposing counsel, and referrals will follow.”

In August 2023, Education Coordinator Emily Lake and Member Services Director Bridget Schuster partnered up to launch the KCBA member bookclub. The bookclub aims to bring the legal community together on issues of diversity and equity; to build community and friendships among our members and staff; and to expose our broader community to books it might otherwise have missed.