2025 November Hearsay

HearSay THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

November 2025

December 2019

Welcome, Commissioner Lopez!

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.

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AN APPEALING SOLUTION All business, commercial & family law appeals.

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November Hearsay Contributors Josh Sherman Jane Clark Legal

Josh Sherman dedicates his practice to representing plaintiff in medical malpractice cases.

Jane Clark Jane Clark Legal

Jane Clark has focused her practice on handling medical malpractice cases for more t ha n 30 yea rs.

She is licensed to practice law in Washington and Oregon.

Lisa Darco Clark County Bar Association

For 14 years, Lisa Darco has served as Executive Director of the Clark County Bar Association, guiding the organization with strategic leadership and a commitment to the legal community.

2025-2026 CCBA Board page 12

Local Attorney Brings Traditional British Panto To Portland page 16

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Congratulations Chelsey Butchard page 18

This season always reminds us how lucky we are to have such a committed, thoughtful, and downright wonderful CCBA membership. Thank you for everything you bring to our community — your time, your talent, and the way you consistently lift one another up. We truly have so much to be thankful for this year.

It’s also a season of giving, and we’re excited to share the ways we can make a meaningful difference together. We’re partnering with the Boys & Girls Club through their Trees for Teens gift drive, helping ensure local teens feel seen and supported during the holidays. We’re also teaming up with Dandelion Teahouse to support their Dandelion Community Pantry, providing essential items for neighbors who need a little extra care this winter.

More information on how you can participate is coming soon, but for now, thank you — for your generosity, your spirit, and everything you do to make this community shine.

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Whether you’re funding a dream or fueling a mission — whatever your awesome is, Washington Trust Bank can help you get there.

watrust.com/AWESOME

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The Reading Bar

The Reading Bar – First Book Discussion

The Reading Bar’s next meeting—and f irst off icial book discussion—will be held Monday, December 8, 2025, at 5:45 p.m. at White Oak Books (1700 Main St, Ste D, Vancouver).

Arrive when you can — we’ll start with some casual socializing before diving into the discussion. Going forward, meetings will take place every other month on the second Monday.

Our f irst selection, chosen in partnership with White Oak Books, is Coded Justice

by Stacey Abrams (available in print, eBook, and audiobook). You can support White Oak by purchasing there or look for a used copy locally. Peter at White Oak assures us it stands alone in the series and raises interesting ethics issues around AI and the medical industry.

We look forward to seeing everyone on December 8 to discuss our f irst read!

�� Christmas Teaser: Secret Santa Book Exchange

We’re adding some holiday fun with an optional Secret Santa Book Exchange!

If you’d like to join in, pick a book you love to share with another Reading Bar member. Keep it simple — used or paperback is perfectly f ine. At the December 8 meeting, we’ll have a sign-up sheet, a short form to share your favorite snacks and delivery preferences, and we’ll draw names to see who you’ll be gifting to.

If you can’t attend, email Jean or Amanda to be added to the list.

Thanks to Lisa, books and small goodies (around $5–$10) can be dropped off at the CCBA off ice (904 Esther St, Vancouver) on December 9, 10, or 11. Once all gifts are in, we’ll deliver them to their new owners. If you can’t drop off, contact Jean or Amanda — the deadline is December 15.

Let’s spread some bookish cheer and share a few favorites as we head into the holidays!

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Clark County Bar Association CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING

October 14, 2025

Minutes for the CCBA Board of Trustees Meeting October 15, 2024 Called to order 12:07 pm, Official Start of the Wechselblatt Administration; Wechselblatt, Petersen, Melnick, Larson, Busby, Rapp, Mendoza, Hawke and Executive Director Darco September 3, 2024 board meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Hawke/Melnick) Approved September 16, 2004 Annual Meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Melnick/Mendoza) Approved Treasurer’s Report (Melnick): Financials prepared for board to review.

Bylaws, Mission Statement, Trustee job description (Wechselblatt) Handouts of bylaws, mission statement, and trustee job description provided. Goal to onboard new board members and refresh the continuing board members. Discussion. ACTION: Committee formed (Petersen, Hawke, Larson) to evaluate mission statement and trustee job description for updating.

Committee Assignments for 2024-2025 (Wechselblatt): Hearsay: Hawke, Rapp, Mendoza, Petersen; Social: Hawke; CLE: Busby; DEI: Rapp, Mendoza; Membership: Petersen, Sutanto; Golf: Busby, Hawke; YLS: Mendoza. Discussion. Points raised about whether Secretary and Treasurer should have committee assignments and ratio of board members on a committee relative to total committee members.

Membership Committee and Drive (Wechselblatt): 2024/2025 members:349, Non Renewed: 116, New Members: 25, Staff: 37. Compare to October 1,2023: 307 members versus October 1, 2024: 338 members. 2023/2024: 439 members. We need to get 450 members for this fiscal year to meet our budget projections. Discussion of strategies for membership drive. ACTION: Each board member to call 3 new attorneys and non renewed members. If you have not renewed for this year, then do it please. If you know someone who hasn’t renewed or has not been a member, please ask them to join.

Lawyer Fee Survey: tabled to next meeting Lawyer Referral Service: tabled to next meeting Ratify Board Email Vote Approving Budget Proposal for Presentation at Annual Meeting: Motion to ratify board approval via email of the proposed 2024/2025 budget(Petersen/Hawke) Approved Bank Account Signator Change: Motion to remove Whitney Hawke as a bank account check signer and add Nathan Petersen as a signer (Busby/Melnick) Approved Upcoming Meetings/ Events Pumpkin Patch 10/17/24 Barrister’s Ball 3/8/25 Adjourned

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Clark County Superior Court

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BENCH/BAR COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES October 14, 2025

Persons in attendance: Judge Fairgrieve (John.Fairgrieve@clark.wa.gov), Jessi Anderson (jessi@ccvlp. org), Alex Reaganson (alexander.reaganson@nwjustice.org), Curt Welch (cwelch@sussmanshank. com), Amanda Willden (Amanda.Willden@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. The next meeting will be Tuesday, December 9th at 12:00. Please email Jessi Anderson (jessi@ccvlp.org) for the Zoom link if you would like to attend.

Meeting commenced: 12:04 pm

Meeting adjourned:12:24 pm

Updates: Judge Fairgrieve: (Family Law Division Updates) Judge Fairgrieve Is now in the family law annex with Judge Sheldrick and Judge Retsinas. Judge Gonzales has moved to civil now. That transition is complete. There has been some guidance regarding the next move. It looks like District Court will be moving out of the building and into their new building in early 2026, and then those spaces that they occupied will need to be remodeled to accept the family law group moving in. So it is looking like July 2026 when Superior Court family law will be moving into the current main courthouse.

Alex Reaganson: (Northwest Justice Project) •

From the civil side, the UDA bar met to discuss procedures last month to loop in Judge Gonzales.

That group is continuing to discuss issues such as pro se materials, and when to set matters for trial. There is follow up conversation happening on those issues on November 12th.

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LFOs: still running into issues with the clerk’s office and the collections department. Trying to set up a meeting with the clerk’s office, collections, and Judge Snider. Pro se individuals are being instructed that they need to file financial documentation with the collections department-the concern is that this is sensitive information which should be filed under seal.

Curt Welch: •

Mock Trial has started. Practices started last week. This is the first in many years that Judge Lewis hasn’t authored. A Judge from Pierce County has authored this year’s case. It’s a big lift to create a packet like this. This year’s case centers around an auto accident related to texting where the driver is charged with vehicular manslaughter. Competition dates are February 18th-19th, 2026.

Jessi Anderson (Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program): •

Battle of the Lawyer Bands, November 13th at Georgie’s Bar & Grill-note the new location.

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CCVLP seeing several people return to us saying their GR34 fee waiver was rejected and they were told they have to have a financial declaration. These are the QLSP fee waivers that an attorney has signed declaring the individual to have been screened by a QLSP and that they qualify for a fee waiver.

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Ms. Willden is going to check in with the counter staff to make sure they are aware about these QLSP fee waivers.

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Additionally, there is a separate hiccup where CCVLP staff emailing over case initiating documents along with the fee waiver motion and order which should prompt the automatic order are being told that the fee needs to be paid first.

- Ms. Willden requests clarification on whether there are 2 different processes CCVLP is using.

- Jessi clarifies that yes, individuals who are able to access the courthouse, are typically provided

the QLSP GR34 motion and proposed order to take with them along with their documents when they go to the courthouse to file. For individuals with barriers to accessing the courthouse, CCVLP uses the e-file process that has been set up where we email the case initiating documents along with a GR 34 motion and proposed order, and then we are supposed

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Law Office of Steven L. Busick

(360) 696-0228 1915 Washington Street Vancouver, WA 98660

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to receive back the case number and an automatic order on fee waiver, which then we e-file into the newly created case.

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- Ms. Wilden confirms that there was essentially a whole new e-filing and recording group and this issue should now be resolved.

In general CCVLP has seen extensive demand for legal services, particularly related to family law, including matters with elements of domestic violence and sexual assault over the past years.

There used to be a bit of a cyclical nature to the demand for pro bono legal services, and we’ve seen that diminish and become a constantly increasing demand. As we analyze current and rising demand against considerations like insecurity in foreseeable funding to support additional staffing and the sustainability of existing program staffing, we may see CCVLP modify services or service models to adjust as needed.

- Mr. Reaganson echos those comments on behalf of NJP. NJP has a 90 day buffer in fund reserves to compensate when issues like federal shutdowns or funding losses occur.

Respectfully submitted, Jessi Anderson