2023 April Hearsay

HearSay

April 2023

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

JACOBS DON JACOBS

April Hearsay Contributors

Whitney Hawke

Wheeler Boyd, Attorney’s at Law

Whitney Hawke is an Associate at Wheeler Boyd. Her practice focuses primarily on family law.

Josh Sherman

Jane Clark Legal P.C.

Josh Sherman is a Civil Litigation Associate at Jane Clark Legal P.C. where he focuses his practive on plaintiff medical malpractice.

Bryan Farrell Clark County District Court

Bryan Farrell is the Clark County District Court Administrator. He was appointed to the position on June 1, 2022.

April is here! Spring has sprung! And while the weather may not have gotten the memo (it was 39 degrees when I got into my car this morning), the cherry blossoms are blooming and spring festivities are underway. We held Barrister’s Ball last month, which I would venture to say was the most successful one we have ever had. Our spring Swearing-in Ceremony was held on April 17th, welcoming new Washington lawyers who successfully passed the winter Bar Exam. And planning is underway for all of our summer events, so stay tuned.

March and April also typically bring the dreaded “spring cleaning.” And while I personally have not engaged in any drastic spring cleaning this year (everything is hard with a toddler…), the Superior Court and Superior Court Clerk’s office have. The Clerk’s office unveiled new hours starting April 3 and is now open from 9:00am-4:00pm, closed for the lunch hour. Our Superior Court bench also enacted a big calendar overhaul, which has been slowly phased in over the last few months.

This overhaul was prompted by the consultant’s report from the National Center for State Courts which was commissioned by Superior Court and finalized in the summer of 2022. Based on the recommendations from this report, Superior Court first split into three divisions: Family, Civil, and Criminal judicial rotations. In early March, the Family Law calendar changes were implemented. Most notably, the three Superior Court Commissioners took on more specialized docket roles, with Commissioner Hayes handling more of the Juvenile Dockets, Commissioner Ellis focusing on Dependency Dockets, and Commissioner Sasser taking charge of most Civil Protection Order Dockets. Finally, there were significant changes to the Criminal Dockets that began on April 3. First appearances have been moved from the morning to the afternoon, shifting many previously held afternoon dockets to the morning. The Criminal Judges have also added both omnibus and status conference hearings as part of normal case scheduling in an effort to prevent backlog and resolve cases in a more efficient manner.

If you have any questions about these changes, check the Superior Court website or reach out to Superior Court Administration. And hopefully your spring cleaning is more successful than mine…

We protect what our clients value most.

McKinley Irvin attorneys are known for their relentless pursuit of successful results, whether representing individuals in financially complex divorce or high conflict parenting disputes. But perhaps our most noted distinction is our steadfast commitment to protecting what our clients value most.

Volunteer of the Month

March 2023

Moloy Good

And his (fantastic) paralegal

Judy Fryer

Why do you volunteer with the CCVLP?

It has been an honor and a privilege to work with the Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program for these last several years. The work they do is fundamentally critical to our community, and to be able to lend a hand with it is immensely rewarding. I began my career as a legal aid lawyer representing low-income tenants, and the volunteer work I do through CCVLP allows me to continue providing this much needed help. Finally, the CCVLP staff is truly amazing and always there to provide whatever support and assistance I need. I am truly grateful and appreciative of this recognition!

Some words from staff about Moloy and Judy:

He is a dedicated advocate for every single client he meets with. He frequently goes above and beyond to ensure that each tenant has their specific needs met, whether that means spending extra time on the phone or arranging another time to meet with them so they can follow up to see that the issue is resolved. In addition, Moloy and Judy are so easy to work with; we are extremely grateful to have them as volunteers.

Moloy is a staple in our housing program

If Moloy wasn't fantastic enough already on his own, he has a GEM of a paralegal in Judy. She is sharp, quick to respond, considerate, and generally lovely to communicate with. They are quite the team and we love the opportunity to get to work with them.

March 2023 Attorney Volunteers:

Anne Ajayi, Josh Bean, Alyson Beck, Rachel Brooks, Chuck Buckley, Conor Buie, Chelsey Butchard, Ed Dawson, Scott Edwards, Chelsie Elliott, Peter Fels, Philip Foster, Laurie Garber, Moloy Good, Marlene Hansen, Lincoln Harvey, Courtney Himes, Scott Horenstein, Jennifer Joslin, Jeff Keddie, Crystal Lambert, Juliet Laycoe, Mary-Anne Linden, Beatrice Lucas, Jeffrey Peterson, Mercedes Riggs, William Robison, Tonya Rulli, Amber Rushbanks, Eulalia Soto-Esquival, Anna Vujovic, Marisa Nelson, Michelle Prosser, and thank you to support staff at Stahancyk, Kent & Hook.

Clark County Bar Association

CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING

March 7, 2023

Minutes for the CCBA Board of Trustees Meeting March 7, 2023

Called to order 12:08 p.m. Phelan, Hawke, Larson, Aquadro, Sutanto, and Executive Director Darco February 2023 board meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Hawke / Phelan) Approved

Treasurer’s Report (Phalen): There will be a cost overrun for the Barrister’s Ball because it was planned for 140 and turnout will be better than forecast. 210 tickets were sold. We’ll tell Ben about this overrun after the event.

Ongoing Action Items

Committee Reports:

Hearsay Committee: (Hawke): discussed upcoming articles

Social Committee:(Phelan) Barrister’s Ball is in four days. Board members are needed on the decorating crew.

CLE Committee: (Aquadro) 3/8/23 Nuts and Bolts: Bankruptcy; 4/12/23 Nuts and Bolts: Trusts and Estates; the first brown bag CLE (free for members) will be in May. A June CLE is being planned. For a later CLE, the board discussed the topic idea of practice tips when appearing in our neighboring counties and how practice and procedures differ from Clark County courts.

DEI Committee: (Aquadro) Wechselblatt emailed their report.

Vancouver Public Schools Street Law program: Phalen volunteered last week for the first class. Courtney Mendoza is assisting with scheduling and coordination-- Thank you Court -ney! You can contact Courtney or Deb Wechselblatt if you are interested in volunteering to teach a class.

Pride CLE: Tentative date 6/28/23. The event will be virtual to allow statewide participa tion. The CLE title is in development, but the current working title is “Will the Kids Be Alright? School Controversy Over Gender Affirmation and Anti-Trans Legislation.”

Judicial Mentorship Program: Tentative start is September 2023. Applications will be due over the summer. The program will include shadowing and small group discusssions.

Membership Committee (Sutanto) No updates

Previous Action Items:

Judicial Survey: (Phelan) no updates

Current Action Items

Membership Update (Darco) 2022/2023: 396 members, Nonrenewed: 55, New Members: 34, 2021/2022: 409 members

CCBA March General Meeting (Phelan) March 13th. Will move to amend CCBA Bylaws section 6.02 to add the DEI Committee and remove Bench/Bar from the CCBA standing committees.

Meeting with Cowlitz County Bar Association (Hawke) Hawke and Darco met with Tom from the Cowlitz Bar Association Board. Jessi Anderson from CCVLP and a representative from the Cowlitz VLP were also present. Tom proposed partnering for CLEs and a dual bar membership option. The CCBA board discussed these ideas. A dual membership option would build a relationship with a rural bar association and expand revenue potential for our CLEs and social events. The board approved further discussion with the Cowlitz Bar Association to work on details.

Formal Swearing In (Darco) Bar results will be released April 7th. Darco will work to make arrangements and set a date for the swearing in ceremony.

Adjourned 12:53

HEADER (CHANGE ON MASTER B)

Clark County Superior Court

BENCH/BAR COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

March 14, 2023

Persons in attendance: Nicholas Alexander (nick@vancouverwillsandtrusts.com) Le Ann Larson (LeAnn.Larson@clark.wa.gov) Rachel brooks (rachel@guardianship-law.com) Dan Lloyd (Dan. Lloyd@cityofvancouver.us) Jessi Anderson (jessi@ccvlp.org) Leslie Lopez (Leslie.Lopez@clark. wa.gov), Carl Snodgrass (carl.snodgrass@nwjustice.org), Anna Klein (Anna.Klein@clark.wa.gov), Judge Fairgrieve (John.Fairgrieve@clark.wa.gov) and Judge Retsinas (nancy.retsinas@clark.wa.gov)

If you have matters that you would like to bring to the attention of the Bench/Bar, you are welcome to contact the above-mentioned members of the committee.

OLD BUSINESS:

No old business to report.

NEW BUSINESS:

NEW BUSINESS:

Judge Fairgrieve: About to implement big changes in criminal world, April 3 new docket structure, per consultants recommendations. Main change is first appearance; now in afternoons. We were told attorneys needed more time, so moved later in the day (not the morning). Criminal division with five judges, three will be assigned to try cases, one will be doing 1st appearances, the other is the motions judge. A few info sessions, first Monday the 20th at noon, room 679 at services building to talk about process and procedure. And again the 23rd at 6 pm in my courtroom. Explanations and questions will be answered. Overall, idea is to improve efficiency and hopefully addresses big problems. Will take a while (90 or 180 days) to see results. Supreme case gave us guidance as to what they want to see for conclusion of cases, and we were not hitting benchmarks. Even before COVID was not getting to resolution in a reasonable timeframe.

• District Mock Trial tournament in February. Two divisions (one five teams, one six teams). The following are going to State. Cedar Tree, Camas, Columbia White Salmon HS, and Cascadia Tech, plus Columbia River and Chief Sealth.

• Still looking for judges for the State tournament (Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 3/24 to 3/26) – if interested contact YMCA in Seattle or Judge Lewis.

Curtis Welch: The district Mock Trial tournament ran very smoothly. Judge Fairgrieve’s work and Commissioner Sasser’s work on the tournament is very much appreciated.

Jessi Anderson: Hired Sharon Cousineau– FT on staff for housing matters, to the point of eviction docs served (then to right-to-counsel takes over).

Leslie Lopez: Nothing today.

Judge Retsinas: Nothing today.

Carl Snodgrass: Nothing today.

Rachel Brooks: Nothing today.

Dan Lloyd: VPD body cameras are now operational. The City would appreciate feedback from the court, prosecutors, and defense bar as to functionality once footage has been used consistently in the courtroom in order to improve the process.

Le Ann Larson: New family law court calendar when into effect last week. Just takes time for adjustment, which is expected.

MEETING ADORNED 12:18 pm.

Respectfully Submitted, Nicholas Alexander