THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION
Who Are the 2025 Clark County Mock Trial Winners? pg 10
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.
All business, commercial & family law appeals.
Kurt Greg Greg Cheney: 14+ years experience. Dedicated. Meticulous. Strategic.
Kurt Rylander: 30+ years. All levels of appeal including before the Supreme Court of the United States of America. Contact us today.
www.RylanderLaw.com Rylander@RylanderLaw.com
March Hearsay Contributors
Amanda Hartman
McKean Smith LLC
Amanda joined the Beaty Hatch team in February 2025 as a family law attorney. She focuses her practice on dissolutions, modifications and prenuptial agreements.
Bryan Farrell
Clark County District Court
Bryan Farrell joined the Clark County District Court team as Administrator in 2022.
Jill Sasser
Clark County Superior Court
Commissioner Jill H. Sasser began serving as a judicial officer Clark County Superior Court in 2021.
Judge John Fairgrieve
Clark County Superior Court
J udge John Fairgrieve was appointed to the Superior Court bench by Governor Jay Inslee in April 2015.
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.
Where do you work?
Clark County Volunteer Lawye Program in the Survivor Suppo Program as a Staff Attorney
How long have you been workin Clark County?
Since March 2024. I previousl worked in Portland, OR and still there.
How are you liking it so far?
I’m New Here!
Meet: Laura Staley
Where are you from?
I’m from El Segundo, CA. It’s a small suburb right next to LAX. I grew up in Southern California and am grateful for all the warm and beach weather I experienced year-round. My high school allowed a lot of filming for tv shows, movies, and commercials when I was in high school. The movie “Superbad” filmed there when I was a student!
It’s been wonderful being welcomed into a new legal community. The court and local attorneys have been really great, and I’ve enjoyed getting to know everyone. The CCVLP office is such a supportive environment, and I’ve loved learning about all the help we provide the community. It’s impressive to see all the different areas we ’ re involved in and exciting that all of this is part of my job!
What is your favorite part of your job?
Helping someone feel supported and empowered through our office. I went to law school to help survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault and I’m finally using my degree to do it! I worked in private law previously and while I liked the work, having to bill for my services when most people could barely afford it ate away at me. It’s been amazing to provide legal services for free and just keep track of my time for reporting, not billing.
What
neighborhood do you live in?
I live in Northeast Portland in the North Tabor neighborhood. Our home is a few blocks away from where my husband grew up!
Do you have any pets?
We have three cats.
Gretchen (on the right) – the eldest and grumpiest kitty but warms up to people at her own pace. While she hasn’t been thrilled I’ve brought more cats home, she does enjoy running around with them. She’s about 9 years old and just wants to purr loudly beside me.
Olive – she’s about 4 years old and never grew bigger than a kitten. She’s the greeter of our household and always excited to meet and play with new people. Her legs are stubby and her face is scrunchy but that doesn’t stop her from making a big impression with her loud yowls!
Jeff – our newest addition that my husband picked out. He’s almost a year old, tuxedo cat, with a soul patch. His soul patch and lanky body makes him look like he’s a musician in a band so we went with an average name of a musician. He will flop onto almost anything and loves playing catch!
Drink of choice – beer, wine, coffee?
That’s a hard question but I get the most excited for a coffee drink. The southern Californian in me is always thrilled with an iced latte, even in the Portland winter.
Favorite vacation?
I love any vacation where there’s a beach. It’s so comforting to hear the waves and watch sunsets and sunrises across the ocean. A quick weekend trip to Cannon Beach or wine tasting in the Willamette Valley are the trips I often repeat with my husband. I’m looking forward to our honeymoon this year where we are road tripping down the West Coast, stopping at state parks, friend’s houses, and Vegas! Then we ’ re flying to spend a week in New Orleans!
Favorite restaurant in Portland/Vancouver?
Salty’s on the Columbia for a fun date night at Sunset. My husband actually proposed on the beach right next to it because we love it so much!
Tell us a fun fact about yourself!
I love to sing! I was in theater and choir in middle school and sang in my mom ’ s show choir and church choir. I’m not in a choir currently but I love karaoke night.
Thank you to Laura for sharing. Say hello next time you see her around!
TALL COP SAYS STOP!
DATE: October 23, 2024
TO: CCBA
FROM: Scott Weber, Clark County Clerk
RE: Exhibit Returns
The clerk’s office is in crisis, a space crisis. Our exhibit room is busting at the seams, and we no longer have space for current and future cases. COVID contributed greatly to our current situation, as you can imagine, as does the clerk’s continued staffing challenges.
Our project for the end of the year is to get things back in order by returning exhibits to their rightful owners or obtaining approval for destruction. We are notifying local attorneys by email of their cases for which we are providing storage for their exhibits. Unfortunately, we are not getting the responses we had hoped for.
APRIL 11TH, 8AM - 10AM
We are requesting your help. If you receive an email notification from us regarding exhibits, please respond. If you approve destruction, please respond to our email as soon as possible indicating that destruction is approved. If you have chosen to have exhibits returned, please respond to our email letting us know you will be stopping by the clerk’s office as soon as possible to pick up and sign for the exhibits.
We are hoping that once we have worked through this backlog, our new stipulation and exhibit handling process will keep this situation from recurring.
If you have any questions, please reach out to our office.
WhatYou don’tKnow
OFFICER JERMAINE GALLOWAY
The Tall Cop’
Officer Jermaine Galloway, known as the “Tall Cop”, is a nationally and internationally recognized presenter, five time national award winner, international aware winner and resource for those involved with prevention, education, treatment and enforcement. Officer Galloway began his law enforcement career in 1997 and has more than 24 years experience in alcohol and drug education, enforcement and prevention. As a full time trainer, the “Tall Cop” currently dedicates thousands of hours to community scans, research and substance abuse identification in various communities across the country. While in law enforcement, Officer Galloway was a member of the DUI task force, a CSI, community policing unit and a field-training officer. The Tall Cop calls the
Officer Galloway is well known for his (constantly) evolving drug trends trainings which he provides nationwide training to coalitions, law enforcement, educators, counselors, probation, treatment, judges, health professionals, specialty courts, school security and administrators, along with community members to name a few. Over the last five years, Officer Galloway has trained more than 700,000 class attendees and over 650,000 overall class attendees nationally and internationally. Many times once in a specific community, the “Tall Cop” conducts a community scans
– working his way through several of the local alcohol, drug and retail promotion locations. The Tall Cop has scanned thousands of retail locations over the last decade in almost every state in the US and several provinces in Canada.
The Tall Cop trains on various alcohol and drug trends including: vapes, drug clothing, stash compartments, underage drinking, synthetic drugs, marijuana concentrates / dabbing, marijuana extraction labs, electronic dance music (EDM) events/raves, inhalants, fake ID’s, party drugs, over-the-counter drugs, cough
medicines, drug potentiators, herbal drugs, designer drugs, physical signs and symptoms of drug use, the influence of drug legalization, marijuana edibles, drug paraphernalia, logos, and identifiers.
In addition to creating and starting two non-profit organizations, Officer Galloway was a past Vice President of an alcohol and drug free prevention coalition, former board member of a statewide impaired driving task force and a past board member of the National Liquor Law Enforcement Association (NLLEA).
Officer Galloway has had articles published in print and online in American Police Beat Magazine, Campus Safety Magazine and many regional area newspapers. In addition to other media stories and webinars the Tall Cop has been a keynote speaker at several International drug education conferences, and has been highlighted in national training videos, including spice, synthetic marijuana, etc.
NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL AWARDS & CERTIFICATIONS:
In 2009, Officer Galloway received the National Underage Drinking Law Enforcement Officer of the Year award from the OJJDP (Officer of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention) for his efforts and strategies in underage drinking education and enforcement.
In 2010, Officer Galloway received the national “Mickey Sadoff” Underage Drinking Prevention Award from MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) for his efforts in education and enforcement.
In 2015, Officer Galloway received the national and international award from AAMVA (American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators) for his efforts in Fake ID identification, education and enforcement.
In 2015, Officer Galloway helped to create a program, and Boise City Ordinance, called “The 10-10 Zone” which in turn, won a national award from the NLLEA (National Liquor Law Enforcement Association).
In 2015, Officer Galloway’s program, "You Can't Stop What You Don't KnowTM", was highlighted in the recently released book " Clearing the Haze" Helping Families Face Teen Addiction, by Dr. Christian Thurstone and Christine Tatum.
In 2017, Officer Galloway won the National Enrique Camarena Drug Awareness Award from the National Elks Drug Awareness program. This award is named after federal DEA Agent Camarena who lost his life while enforcing drug laws. The national “Red Ribbon” drug awareness week in October was created in honor of Agent Camarena.
In 2018, Officer Galloway received the Law Enforcement Partner Award form the New York State STOP-DWI Foundation for his statewide efforts to prevent and educate law enforcement on drug-impaired drivers.
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Criminal Division has selected Judge Lewis as Presiding for Criminal Division
Commissioner Swingen retiring, posted for Part-Time Commissioner position, closes on March 30, position will be 4 dockets, might not be only ITA and Child Support dockets
Local Rules changes are coming soon, should be posted by May 1 for comments (open 30 days)
Diversion grant funding two attorneys to put together pro se packets for landlords and tenants to understand process and include form pleadings, will include many common issues, available in a few months
New Block Schedule went into effect March 3, on Clark County Superior Court website
Still working on block schedule that will update based Commissioner Swingen’s position change, has not been decided yet what that position will cover
Strike/Setover page change – clerk’s office has determined that it will no longer maintain that page, can still use page but will only notify JA (preferred system for the court), will have to file amended citation and call clerk to strike hearing, discussed making the strike/ setover page content more clear about this change
Juvenile offender trials will be moving to Mondays
Mock trial got across the finish line despite the weather delays
Cascadia Tech (both teams) and Columbia River going to state from the District High School Mock Trial tournament held in February at the courthouse
Curtis Welch (cwelch@sussmanshank.com)
Article in The Columbian on the crowded UDA dockets was very informative: https://www. columbian.com/news/2025/feb/11/clark-county-again-has-highest-eviction-rate-per-capitain-washington-and-they-show-no-signs-of-slowing/
LeAnn Larson (LeAnn.Larson@clark.wa.gov)
No updates for family law
Barristers Ball was great, awardees:
Donald Simpson Award: Laurel Smith
Ken Weber Award: Judge Tsering Cornell
Dean Langsdorf Family Law Attorney of the Year: Chris Boyd
Lifetime Achievement Award: Mary Kay Gaffney
Rising Star: Amber Cognata
Trial Lawyer of the Year: John Terry Service to the CCBA: Chelsy Butchard
Rachel Brooks (rachel@guardianshiplawgroup.com)
Guardianship and Elder Law Section doing trainings:
Guardianship / Conservatorship 101, March 18, 2025, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fee: $25
Join us for an in-depth CLE covering everything you need to know about representing petitioners, respondents and fiduciaries in guardianships and conser vatorships. Learn best practices, procedures and practical how-tos from experienced practitioners.
Medicaid Deep-Dive With the Experts, March 19, 2025, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Fee: $100
Join consultant Ian Horlor (formerly with DSHS) as he explores the particulars of Medicaid long-term care benefits: the application process, creditable coverage, extraordinary fees and resolving eligibility issues.
Law library for guardianship pleadings in development, probably be available in a few months
Jeff Keddie (jeffreyk@nwjustice.org)
No updates from NJP or CCVLP
Respectfully submitted, Jeffrey Keddie
Clark County Bar Association
CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION BOARD MEETING
February 4, 2025
Minutes for the CCBA Board of Trustees Meeting February 4, 2025
1.Called to order 12:08 pm, Petersen, Melnick, Larson, Busby, Rapp, Mendoza, and Executive Director Darco
2. January 7, 2025 board meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Rapp/Mendoza) Approved
3. Treasurer’s Report Financials in board folder. Discussion about budget and need for growth.
4. Membership Engagement Committee Update (Petersen) discussion about outreach efforts
5. CCBA Big Picture .
Review Trustee Job Description and Mission Statements: tabled to March meeting
6. Upcoming Meetings/ Events
Barrister’s Ball 3/8/25: The theme is Vintage Hollywood.
General Meeting 3/25/25, noon to 1pm at West Park, CLE to follow
