2024 February Hearsay

“Been there, done that.”

“Still there, still doing it.”

JESSE JACOBS

Clark County, WA Bar Association President

OTLA Guardian

WSAJ Eagle

DON JACOBS

Trial Lawyer of the Year, Clark County (2015)

Past President, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association

JESSE JACOBS

DON JACOBS

The Clark County Bar Association is a professional organization that serves to support our local attorney community through providing education and networking opportunities designed to enhance and foster better relationships within the local legal community.

Andy Nygard, CFP® Financial Advisor

Named to the 2022 & 2023 Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors

(Source: Forbes Best-in-State Wealth Advisors in Washington in 2022-2023, awarded first quarter each year, research by SHOOK Research LLC. Data as of June of prior year. Compensation provided for using, not obtaining, the rating.) https://tinyurl.com/mr2mwnh9

February Hearsay Contributors

Courtney Mendoza

Petersen Rothermel Law Firm

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

Jean McCoy

Landerholm, P.S

Jean McCoy’s practice focus is real estate transactions and conflict resolution, landlord/tenant and creditors’ rights. In 2020, she was awarded the Professionalism Award, by the Washington State Bar Association’s Annual APEX Awards.

Nathan Petersen

Petersen Rothermel Law Firm

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

Judge Emily Sheldrick

Clark County Superior Court

The Honorable Emily Sheldrick began serving as a judicial officer for Clark County Superior Court in 2022.

An Old Timers Perspective on the CCBA General Meeting

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Local Rules Changes - Part Four

by Nathan Petersen and Judge Emily Sheldrick

In early March 2022, the Clark County Superior Court decided to undertake a significant project of reviewing our Local Rules. After receiving feedback from several different stakeholder groups within our legal community, Superior Court adopted some, but not all, of the proposed changes. These became effective on September 1, 2022. The Local Rules Committee hosted CLEs and other forums to answer questions about implementation of the Rules.

This is the final installment of an article that has highlighted the most significant changes and offered tips on navigating the new rules. This article has also shared advice to attorneys on various reminders and procedures to assist both the bench and practitioners on “best practices” when litigating in Civil and Family Law Divisions.

DISCLAIMER: This article will not address all the rules changes, so please do not rely on this article to give you a complete update on all new or revised rules. Also, this article will not address ex parte procedures. The Civil and Family Law Divisions continue to work on developing their post-pandemic ex parte process. Once these procedures have been finalized, Superior Court intends to provide comprehensive information to the bar on the ex parte process.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT WORKING PAPERS? - PART 4

CIVIL DIVISION: Working Papers Must be Delivered in “Hard Paper” Format to Superior Court at the Time of Filing:

Working copies continues to be a problematic area for the Civil Division in Superior Court. Because of the lag in time between when a pleading is filed and when a pleading “appears” in the Clerk’s Office electronic case filing system, judges are not always able to access a pleading when it has been filed with the Clerk. By providing “hard paper” working copies, attorneys ensure the judicial officer reviewing the matter has access to the necessary materials. Additionally, not all judges are willing accept “working copies” via their Judicial Assistant’s email without the approval of the judicial officer or their judicial assistant. Attorneys are responsible for ensuring they have the approval of an particular judicial officer’s department prior to submitted electronic working copies.

Given the volume of reading necessary to prepare for the motions’ dockets, the judges need the working parties at the time the motion is filed (or responsive briefing). Some motions have voluminous pleadings, including declarations with multiple exhibits. With respect to exhibits, a few reminders: Make sure to use a highlighter for deposition transcripts to bring attention to the portion necessary to support the argument. In addition, if you are

attaching photographs, provide color copies in the working papers. The black and white scanned versions of photographs are usually unusable.

REMINDERS FROM CIVIL DIVISION: FORM OF ORDERS AND CASE SCHEDULING:

LCR 7 (b)(2)(A) - Order without “Proposed” in the Pleading: Proposed orders being delivered to judicial officers for consideration and signature need to be presented – without the word “Proposed” on the order itself. The word “Proposed” should only be included on proposed orders being filed with the clerk, NOT for orders being presented to a judicial officer for entry.

LCR 40(c) – Case Scheduling Orders:

For most civil cases, the goal is to have the case resolved or ready for trial within twelve (12) months from filing. Although there are some cases where the time for disposition is expected to be longer, for example, medical negligence, wrongful death, or class action cases, twelve (12) months to disposition is the goal for most cases. This means that attorneys and the court need to be efficient and pragmatic in keeping cases moving through the litigation process. LCR 40(c) is designed to move cases to trial by requiring the entry of a case scheduling order. The process is started by the filing of a Notice of Assigning Case. Following this rule ensures that the case does not stall or require inefficient and time consuming court intervention.

When a party initiates a filing with the Clerk’s Office, LCR 40(c)(1) provides: “…the filing party or the filing party’s attorney shall simultaneously prepare and file a Notice Assigning Case to Judicial Department and Setting Scheduling Conference Date (referred to hereinafter as Case Assignment Notice) in a form prescribed and approved by the court.” This rule has been in place since 2017. Failure to follow this rule can causes delay due to the additional time required for court staff to prepare these forms.

In the Notice Assigning Case, LCR 40(c)(1) states: “The clerk shall place the Scheduling Conference Date on the assigned department’s civil motion docket for said date, which may not be changed without prior approval of the assigned department.” (Emphasis added). When parties file Amended Notices of Assignment without any authorization from the court, this can result in improperly postponed Scheduling Conference and delays in trial scheduling

Form of Scheduling Order may be modified based on the case. For complex cases, the parties may request the scheduling order include additional deadlines, such as disclosure of expert witnesses.

Requests for Continuances of Trial Date: LCR 40(b)(6) and 40(c)(7) regarding continuance requests is consistently overlooked. “No request for continuance will be considered without the written acknowledgement of the client on the pleadings and an affidavit giving the particulars necessitating a continuance in accordance with CR 40(d) and (e).” Every request for a continuance must include a client’s acknowledgement on the pleadings. Frequently, attorneys do not provide any acknowledgement from the client on the pleadings or try to satisfy the requirement by asserting the client agrees with the requested continuance. A continuance should not be granted in either circumstance.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Superior Court has implemented several changes during the last two years. In addition to revisions to local rules, the Court has made changes via General Order. Attorneys are encouraged to regularly review the Court’s website for updates and information. If attorneys have thoughts or ideas on improvements to court procedures, including suggestions on local forms and rules, they can reach out to the Bench Bar Committee and bring forward their ideas or suggestions.

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Clark County Bar Association

CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING

January 9, 2023

Minutes for the CCBA Board of Trustees Meeting January 9, 2024

Called to order 12:10 pm. Hawke, Wechselblatt, Larson, Petersen, Phelan, and Executive Director Darco

December 2023 board meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Wechselblatt/Phelan) Approved

Treasurer’s Report: No Ben, so no report. Financials are in the folder for board to review. Ongoing Action Items

Ongoing Action Items

Committee Reports:

Hearsay Committee (Hawke): Same status as always: Lots of great content is in the works.

Social Committee (Darco): The Holiday Movie Party at the Kiggins Theater came in under budget. Barrister’s Ball planning is underway. Award nominations email to go out ASAP. Next committee meeting will be 1/23/24. Mardi Gras is the theme for this year. Ticket prices discussed. Need 6k in sponsorships. Contact Darco if you are interested in sponsoring this year’s event, please.

CLE Committee (Darco): The March CLE is being sorted out. Working on finding an arbitrator to present in May.

DEI Committee (Wechselblatt): Next meeting is 1/22/24. They are debriefing the Judicial Mentorship Program. Street Law starts in March; Courtney and Deb are working on lesson plans. Planning will start soon for the Judicial Evaluation Committee (JEC).

Membership Committee (Petersen): They are getting a few additional members and then will schedule a meeting.

Previous Action Items

Attorney Fee Survey (Hawke): no updates

Current Action Items

Membership Update (Hawke): 2023/2024: 408 members to date. Non renewed at this time: 46 New members: 30. Total membership 2022/2023: 410. January 1 2023: 385 members.

Judicial Evaluation Committee (Wechselblatt): A subcommittee/workgroup from the DEI Committee will start to discuss formation of a standing Judicial Evaluation Committee that candidates/ applicants could seek ratings from. This would be in addition to the Bar Poll. There is time to organize this prior to our county adding an additional Superior Court judge in 2024.

Goal Setting and tracking (Hawke): tabled to next month

General Meeting March 18th (Hawke): noon to 1:00, in person at the West Park building, brown bag lunch. CLE to follow.

Minimum Wage Increase in 2024 (Darco): Motion to approve increase to $16.50/hour in specific employee’s pay. Hawke/Phelan Approved

Computer Issues (Darco): Heads up that a computer repair/replacement expense is coming.

Updated Board Pics and Bios (Darco): Final warning! Busby to get his turned in or Petersen will have free reign to draft one for him.

Upcoming Events

Mark your calendars for Barrister’s Ball 3/2/2024. Mardi Gras theme.

Adjourned 1:00

Clark County Superior Court

BENCH/BAR COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

January 9, 2024

-Persons in attendance: Nicholas Alexander (nick@vancouverwillsandtrusts.com) Jessi Anderson (jessi@ccvlp.org) Jeffrie Keddie (jeffriek@nwjustice.org) Gabrielle Richards (gabby@cascadialawyers.com) Rachel Brooks (rachel@guardianshiplaw.com) Curt Welch (cwelch@sussmanshank.com)

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.

I. OLD BUSINESS: None.

II. NEW BUSINESS:

Gabrielle Richards: Elder Law section is planning CLEs throughout the year. Myself and others have proposed changed to the Uniform Guardianship Act – redlines given to Judge Retsinas, and she has been amazing with feedback. We will continue to invite all who are interested to the CLEs and hope to continue to get good participation from the community.

Jessi Anderson: Will add to what Rachel said, we (CCVLP) are hoping to find two or three attorneys to do guardianship reporting clinics, time commitment is as little as one Friday a month, and takes somewhere between 1 – 2 hours to complete. Rachel Brooks and Alina Clark have been great and volunteer regularly, and can answer questions about what it is like. We have a few volunteer positions open if interested.

Jeffrey Keddie: Our eviction prevention program struggling with capacity. Court possibly creating a second docket, but does not help capacity issues our attorneys are currently experiencing (maybe a cap is possible in the future).

Curt Welch: February 21st and 22nd are the dates for the Clark County District Mock Trial high school tournament at the Clark County Courthouse. Commissioner Jill Sasser is who to contact for attorneys interested in being a rater. Judge Fairgrieve is also a coordinator for the tournament, and Judge Lewis authored the case again this year for the statewide program.

Rachel Brooks: Have enjoyed Judge Retsinas so much, having a dedicated Judge for the area of law has been so helpful. CCVLP is needing volunteers for guardianship plans and reports (as noted by Jessi). The Guardianship Section of the Bar has monthly meetings, which can be attended by anyone interested. If so, contact Rachel or Gabby.

MEETING ADORNED 12:15 pm.

Respectfully Submitted,

Nicholas Alexander