2023 May Hearsay

HearSay

Clark County’s Athlete Advocates

May 2023

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

JACOBS DON JACOBS

May Hearsay Contributors

Nathan Petersen

Petersen Rothermel Law Firm

Nathan Petersen is a partner at Petersen Rothermel Law Firm. His practice ficuses mostly on Family Law and Estate Planning.

Courtney Mendoza

Petersen Rothermel Law Firm

Courtney Mendoza’s practice focuses primarily on family law, including dissolutions, custody issues, child support, and adoptions.

Whitney Hawke

Wheeler Boyd, Attorneys at Law

Whitney Hawke is a partner at Wheeler Boyd. Her practice focuses primarily on family law.

It is almost summer! The weather is improving (at least at the time of writing this, June Gloom may be just around the corner…), and summer vacation plans are near. I decided to get a jumpstart on some traveling at the end of April and headed out on a multi-leg girls’ trip with one of my dear friends from college. She is currently living in New York City, so that was my first stop. We spent a wonderful few days together there. We saw the Camelot revival (book updated by Aaron Sorkin) on Broadway and ate some great food. We also spent a sunny afternoon at a spa on Governor’s Island where we were able to relax to the max with amazing city views.

The next day, we hopped on a plane to Nashville, Tennessee and drove straight from the airport to Chattanooga to visit another college friend. I had been to Chattanooga once before about 10 years ago, but only for a quick lunch stop while I was driving from Atlanta to Nashville, so it was fun to explore the city more. It is a very cute, quaint town, with a great food and beverage scene and some beautiful surroundings. The Tennessee River runs through the middle of the city with a great park right on its banks. We also went on a hike right outside the downtown area that had spectacular views of the city.

On our last day, we headed back to Nashville and spent a half-day there before I flew back to Portland. Apparently, Nashville is known as the “Athens of the South”, and they have a full replica of the Parthenon which we visited. The highlight of Nashville, however, was our lunch at the famous Bolton’s Hot Chicken and Fish. We both ordered the medium spice level on our chicken (we were strongly discouraged by the cashier from getting hot or extra hot), and let me tell you, it kicked our butts. We both had tears streaming down our faces as we attempted to finish our lunches (which neither of us could). It was delicious and painful all at the same time.

The trip was a great kickoff to travel season. Get ready for more travel-themed President’s messages from me as the summer progresses!

Clark County Superior Court Diversity Committee and CCBA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee Introduce Clark County’s Brand-New Judicial Mentorship Program

By Judge Sheldrick (she/her) and Courtney Mendoza (she/her)

The Clark County Superior Court Diversity Committee, supported by the CCBA’s DEI Committee, is excited to announce the creation of the very first Clark County Judicial Mentorship Program!

The program will be approximately three months long, with a tentative start date of September 21, 2023. It will include three formal training events; three smaller group meetings, with three to four attorneys and a judicial officer; and at least four opportunities to shadow a docket, including meeting with a judicial officer pre/ post docket. It is anticipated that ten judicial officers, from both District and Superior Court, will be participating in the program as mentors.

The mission of the program is to mentor and provide training opportunities for traditionally underrepresented attorneys interested in future judicial and/or leadership positions within our Clark County legal community by expanding access to information and

experiences that traditionally underrepresented attorneys may not otherwise have developed and/or had access to through normal networking channels.

Up to ten attorneys will be accepted into the first cohort for the program, with applications scheduled to open on June 1, 2023; the submission deadline will be June 29, 2023. Each applicant must have a minimum of five years of experience as a licensed attorney and be currently licensed to practice in Washington. Attorneys will be selected based on their interest in the program, demonstrated aptitude and legal ability, involvement/leadership in the legal community, and how they contribute to the diversity of our legal community.

The Selection Committee (consisting of members of the CCBA DEI Committee, Clark County District Court, and the Superior Court Diversity Committee) will provide recommendations on applicants and the Superior Court Diversity Committee will select final participants in July. Selected attorneys will be required to sign a Mentorship Agreement to confirm their commitment and understanding of the program and will be asked to complete a questionnaire to assist in matching them with an appropriate Judicial Mentor. Judicial Mentors and selected participants will be matched in early September, before the program begins.

Please note, while the program will provide essential skills training that would be very beneficial for participants interested in seeking a pro tem position, graduates of the program are not guaranteed pro tem positions in either District or Superior Court.

The Superior Court Diversity Committee anticipates having the Program application available on the CCBA website by June 1, 2023. Keep your eye out for more information about the Judicial Mentorship Program.

Clark County Bar Association

CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING

April 4, 2023

Minutes for the CCBA Board of Trustees Meeting April 4, 2023

Called to order 12:02 p.m. Phelan, Larson, Melnick, Wechselblatt, Aquadro, Sutanto, Jacobs and Executive Director Darco live from vacation in Bend, OR

March 7 2023 board meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Phelan/ Aquadro) Approved March 13, 2023

General Meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Wechselblatt/Aquadro) Approved

Treasurer’s Report (Melnick): Barrister’s Ball had a nearly $6k loss. Considered with budget projections, the CCBA is looking at an estimated $15k shortfall. Will be evaluating ways to decrease expenses and raise revenues.

Ongoing Action Items

Committee Reports:

Hearsay Committee: (Hawke): emailed her report, great articles coming

Social Committee:(Phelan) Bowling With The Judges is 6/15/23. Summer Soiree is 8/19/23. Mark your calendars and come out for some fun!

CLE Committee: (Aquadro) 4/12/23 Nuts and Bolts: Trusts and Estates; the first brown bag CLE (free for members) will be in May. There will be a mediation Nuts and Bolts CLE in May. A June CLE is being planned and will be a business related topic.

DEI Committee: (Aquadro)

Pride CLE: confirmed date 6/28/23. Four speakers.

Judicial Mentorship Program: Requests for CCBA DEI Committee name on materials, link to application on CCBA website, email blast with application, May and June publicity in Hearsay, CCBA apply for CLE credits, administer WSBA grant for program if needed. Discussion.

Previous Action Items

Judicial Survey: (Phelan) no updates

Membership Update (Darco) no updates

Current Action Items

Formal Swearing In (Darco) April 17th at 4:00 p.m. in District Court. Phelan will attend. Adjourned 12:37

HEADER (CHANGE ON MASTER B)

Clark County Superior Court

BENCH/BAR COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

April 11, 2022

Persons in attendance: Nicholas Alexander (nick@vancouverwillsandtrusts.com) Rachel Brooks (rachel@ guardianship-law.com) Jessi Anderson (jessi@ccvlp.org) Leslie Lopez (Leslie.Lopez@clark.wa.gov), Jeffrey Keddie (jeffreyk@nwjustice.org) Judge Fairgrieve (John.Fairgrieve@clark.wa.gov) and Judge Sheldrick (emily.sheldrick @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 abovementioned members of the committee.

OLD BUSINESS:

No old business to report.

NEW BUSINESS:

Judge Fairgrieve: In criminal world, court instituted a new schedule on the 3rd of this month– We reorganized judges, now have five on the criminal docket; One duty judge, a motions judge, and three trial judges available. A few hiccups with the new schedule, but was expect and was rectified. Personally, I had motions last week and went smooth after initial hiccups. Practitioners are adjusting as well, and no major negative feedback. One issue that was noted was due to the double homicide case that came in last week, and had a very large Zoom hearing. Learned lessons to try and put together process and procedure for high-profile criminal cases and the amount of people on the Zoom. Issues with chatter, and not muting their mics, etc. We will be putting together a workgroup in the future to evaluate and address; Otherwise moving well, no feedback about major problems, but still room for improvement.

Judge Sheldrick: Civil division is very busy, getting assigned criminal cases as well, as they have priority for trials. We are encouraging practitioners to use Motion week (every 3rd week) for longer motions. Helps the bench be better prepared for hearings – get the word out! Other step is ex parte process, hoping we can have something where the attorney can drop pleadings off instead of waiting in line. Be on the look-out on the court website for potential civil rules changes in May. From Unlawful Detainer side – 40 or 50 a week. Right to counsel now makes dockets longer (as most have counsel), and will likely not be any shorter in the future.

Rachel Brooks: Elder Law section has new President, Gabbie Richards!

Jeffery Keddie: CCBA DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) committee Street Law group to go to local school. They can reach out Courtney Mendoza (courtney@theprlawfirm.com) or Deb Weschelblatt (deb. wechselblatt@clark.wa.govto) to volunteer

MEETING ADORNED 12:16 pm.

Respectfully Submitted, Nicholas Alexander