2022 November Hearsay

HearSay

THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

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JESSE JACOBS

DON JACOBS

Trial Lawyer of the Year, Clark County (2015)

Past President, Oregon Trial Lawyers Association

JESSE

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November Hearsay Contributors

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

Townsend Law PLLC

Amanda Keller is an associate attorney at Townsend Law, practicing primarily in criminal defense and estate law.

Whitney Hawke‘s practice focuses primarily on Family Law. Whitney earned the Clark County Bar Association’s Trial Attorney of the Year award in 2020.

Price Law

Greg Price is a solo practitioner in Vancouver and has litigated personal injury and wrongful death claims in Oregon and Washington for over 33 years.

Ben Melnick Schauermann Thayer

Ben Melnick’s practice focuses on personal injury, auto, motorcycle, and biking accidents, premises liability, products liability, wrongful death, and insurance disputes.

Courtney Mendoza

Petersen Law Firm

Whitney Hawke Wheeler Boyd Attorneys at Law

Greg Price

Greg

CCBA Celebrates Halloween

Animal Law in a Different Way

Hi! I’m new Here: Hailey Broeker

On October 30, my daughter, Margot, turned 1. My husband also turned 40 that same day, but as he says, he “doesn’t have a birthday anymore.” It was a surprisingly emotional day for me. The last 12 months have been a roller coaster, as I have learned how to be a mom and how to navigate balancing parenthood and work. It is fair to say that the learning curve on the both has been steep. My maternity leave was, unfortunately, not traditional or as long as I wanted it to be. Due to some bad timing, I transitioned jobs and took on new responsibilities right in the middle of what should have been my parental leave. I ended last year working at Phelan Law Office with my dad, but he retired (or, realistically, semi-retired) on December 31st, and I began my new job with Andrews, Terry, Jeffers LLP on January 1st. To complicate things further, I was set to begin a new contract with the County to be the defense attorney for Mental Health Court on January 1st as well. For those of you counting, my new job and contract started only 2 months

after Margot was born—definitely not enough leave for a new mom. Luckily, I was able to work out with both my new employer and my dad (who generously offered to continue to cover my existing criminal caseload) to extend my leave somewhat by having my only job responsibility be the Mental Health Court contract until mid-February. However, that still required me working one full day a week (plus a few hours here and there), while sleepdeprived with a two-month old. As you can imagine, it was not ideal.

Initially, my husband stayed home with Margot on Wednesdays, when I had to do Mental Health Court. When I started working my normal criminal caseload again in February, we began looking for part-time in-home care. The decision to go with a part-time nanny instead of daycare was made for a few reasons: first, Margot wouldn’t take a bottle, so I needed to have her close by on my working days to feed her. Second, because my parental leave was much shorter than I hoped, I wanted to maximize any extra time with Margot I could get. I was hopeful I could consolidate my work hours into a few days per week. We were able to get a temporary nanny who was available for a few months, but finding a permanent one proved to be nearly impossible. Additionally, I quickly learned that child care 3 days per week was not going to cut it for me to effectively do my job. As I started to get back into the swing of work life, I started to feel like I wasn’t able to be a good enough mom OR attorney (spoiler alert: that feeling never goes away). My “non-work” days were never really non-work days, as I ended up sending emails and making phone calls while Margot was sleeping, or having family members come and watch her for an hour or two so I could go to court. I also found myself wanting to spend time at home with Margot during my work days, because she was there and it was easy.

Eventually, John and I decided that full-time daycare would probably be a better childcare option for our family. In July, we were able to get a part-time spot at a daycare that came highly recommended by our very own CCBA VP, Whitney (shout out to Margot’s daycare BFF, Booker). This eventually transitioned last month to a full time spot, and I finally feel like I have been able to strike a better mom/work balance. I am able to more evenly distribute my workload across different days of the week and have the flexibility to pick Margot up early or keep her home for the day here and there so that I can spend quality, meaningful time with her. It is still difficult to work fulltime and be a mom (hello daycare germs and constant sick days), but we are finally in a place where it doesn’t always feel like I am just barely keeping my head above water. To all the other working parents out there, I see you. And if you have any tips for a new(ish) working mom, I will take them all!

Say Hello to CCBA’s New Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee!

By Courtney Mendoza (she/her)

At the end of 2021 and into the beginning of 2022, a number of folks within the CCBA expressed an interest in establishing a committee to further diversity, equity, and inclusion within the CCBA and our Clark County legal community; thus, CCBA’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee was formed!

It took a few meetings to establish a committee name, mission statement, and overall goals; but with great collaborative efforts between over a dozen local Judges and attorneys, the following mission statement and goals were solidified:

The purpose of this committee is to increase diversity of the CCBA members and explore ways to address equity and inclusion within our legal community. We recognize diversity in all its forms is necessary to ensure the integrity of the legal profession and to effectively champion justice.

The committee’s work is focused on achieving the following:

· Providing educational and community-oriented trainings and events that focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession;

· Promoting recruitment and retention of attorneys from diverse backgrounds;

· Seeking out partnerships to better enhance equity and access to justice within the community;

· Supporting the CCBA to operate in ways that align with the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion; and

· Working with the judiciary to achieve enhanced equity and accessibility in the administration of justice.

This last October was a busy month for the DEI Committee. Earlier in the month, the committee hosted a Coffee with Colleagues event with a fantastic turnout of folks! A couple of weeks later, the committee then hosted an in-depth unconscious bias training, put on by the renowned David Hoffman, the John H. Watson, Jr. Lecturer on Law at Harvard Law School and founding member of Boston Law Collaborative, LLC.

Finishing up 2022 and moving into 2023, there are a number of exciting projects already in the works! One project currently underway is establishing a local “Street Law” Program, built off of the global, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization Street Law, Inc. Several objectives include breaking down barriers between our community and the court system; educating students about the law and their rights; and getting kids thinking about different legal careers.

Another project the committee has been working on is putting together a robust list of attorneys and Judges who would be interested in presenting/speaking at our local schools. This project is flexible and the details are still being worked out (presentation topics, styles, durations, etc.). The goal is to get enough volunteers to help this project hit the ground running and continue growing; let the committee know if you’re available and wanting to volunteer!

With much more on the horizon, the DEI Committee is happy to accept new folks looking to join the committee or otherwise contribute to this great work! Feel free to reach out to the DEI Committee Chair, Deb Wechselblatt, or to CCBA’s Executive Director, Lisa Darco.

Deb Wechselblatt, DEI Committee Chair, Deb.Wechselblatt@clark.wa.gov Lisa Darco, CCBA’s Executive Director, ccbamanager@ccbawashington.org

McKinley Irvin Welcomes Judge Scott Collier

After 23 years on the bench, Judge Collier has joined McKinley Irvin as a family law mediator and arbitrator. His practical approach and ability to fairly assess conflicts from all sides will help families reach effective and mutually beneficial solutions that protect what they value most.

honorable scott collier (ret.) of counsel

Clark County District Court

1200 Franklin Street ● PO BOX 9806 ● Vancouver, WA 98666 8806 ● (360) 397 2424 ● Fax: (360) 397 6044

Bryan Farrell, Court Administrator

Anya Crossland, Deputy Court Administrator

11/01/2022

Memorandum

To: Clark County District Court Community Partners

From: Presiding Judge Kelli Osler, Assistant Presiding Judge Kristen Parcher

RE: New Presiding and Assistant Presiding Judge

Every two years, our District Court Bench nominates and votes for a Presiding Judge and an Assistant Presiding Judge. At our judge’s meeting on September 13th, the District Court Bench voted in Judge Kristen Parcher as our next Presiding Judge and Judge James Smith as our next Assistant Presiding Judge. Their two year term starts on January 1st, 2023.

Judge Osler has done an excellent job of serving as our Presiding Judge over the last nine years. Judge Osler’s leadership has supported significant cultural and operational changes in every division of the District Court. Judge Osler showed excellent leadership skills during the COVID 19 pandemic by working hard to ensure we followed legal guidelines while at the same time ensuring the safety of staff. Thank you, Judge Osler.

Clark County District Court 1200 Franklin Street ● PO BOX 9806 ● Vancouver, WA 98666 8806 ● (360) 397 2424 ● Fax: (360) 397 6044

Bryan Farrell, Court Administrator Anya Crossland, Deputy Court Administrator

udge Parcher has been with District Court for eleven years and brings her knowledge of every aspect of District Court. Judge Parcher instrumentally assisted Judge Osler through the COVID 19 pandemic and supported significant cultural and operational changes. Judge Parcher has been a big part of bringing external partners to the table, allowing us to work through challenging legal and operational issues.

Judge Smith joined the District Court Bench in the summer of 2021. Before being a District Court Judge, he served as a Deputy Prosecuting Attorney with the Clark County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Judge Smith served as the team leader for the Arthur D. Curtis Children’s Justice Center. He was previously assigned to the major crimes unit, and before joining the Clark County Prosecutors Office, he served as the Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor for Cowlitz County. Judge Smith has already taken the initiative on projects relating to our policies on handling bail, court rules, court innovation, and participating in statewide organizations.

We look forward to the next two years with Judge Parcher and Judge Smith leading our organization.

https://www.clark.wa.gov/district court Email: district.court@clark.wa.gov

Respectfully,

Bryan Farrell Deputy Court Administrator Clark County District Court

Support Legal Aid & Claim the Rainier Cup for Clark County Attorneys

By: Greg Price and Ben Melnick

We serve on the board of the Campaign for Equal Justice, which is the fundraising program of the Legal Foundation of Washington, our state’s largest private funder of civil legal aid. The annual Campaign for Equal Justice works with people and companies across Washington state to raise critical funds to help low-income people solve civil legal crises.

Every year, the Legal Foundation of Washington funds more than 40 legal aid programs including Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, TeamChild, Legal Counsel for Youth & Children, Unemployment Law Project, and 16 pro bono programs connected to county bars across Washington.

In Clark County, the Legal Foundation provides significant funding to the Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program, which facilitates access to justice for lowincome individuals and marginalized communities through advocacy and civil legal services. CCVLP provides essential civil legal aid that keeps people in our community housed, safe and healthy.

Civil legal aid can make all the difference for a family in crisis. For example, renters with legal representation win their housing cases up to 95% of the time, compared with just a third of self-represented renters. A 2020 study by University of Washington showed that only 8% of eviction defendants in Washington had access to representation, and that Black tenants face dramatically higher rates of eviction.

Support for the Campaign for Equal Justice from Washington’s legal community is critical to help close the justice gap and advance equity and civil justice – particularly for communities of color disproportionately impacted by civil legal issues and most harmed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Thousands of Washington families need the representation and relief only civil legal aid can provide and your donation will make a big impact in our county.

Let’s Bring the Rainier Cup home!

As Clark County lawyers, let us set the example for the rest of the state’s attorneys by having the highest percentage of attorneys donating to the Campaign for Equal Justice. By doing so, we would take home the much-coveted Rainier Cup. The Rainier Cup is based solely upon participation numbers. Last year, Whatcom County lawyers won with a 26% participation rate, while in Clark County donations were made by 17% of our practicing attorneys. Please join us in giving to the Campaign for Equal Justice today. We promise that if our collective participation garners the much sought-over Rainier Cup, we will host the celebration party where we can all partake from the cup, a time-honored tradition of victors of coveted cups!

Your support will allow Washington’s network of legal aid programs respond to an unprecedented wave of needs. But as civil legal challenges continue to grow, we need to step up with more of us contributing. Please be generous and donate what you can before December 31. Please support the Campaign for Equal Justice today.

Hear Ye, Hear Ye -- Inns of Court is Underway

By Whitney Hawke

Do you like beer? What about beer and pizza? What about beer, pizza, AND CLE CREDITS!? I can’t think of a more tantalizing trifecta. If you like the three-C’s (carbs, carbs, and CLEs), you would love The George and Donald Simpson American Inns of Court. Meetings are typically the third Wednesday of each month at Heathen Brewing in downtown Vancouver. A robust collection of judges and local attorneys come together to socialize and view a CLE presentation organized by members. Members are divided into small groups, with each group presenting during a different month. CLE presentations start at 5:30 p.m., but all the cool kids show up at 5:00 p.m. to mingle before the CLE begins. The theme for this year is “Back to Basics,” which will focus on Washington’s Oath of Attorney. Each small group will break down the meaning and significance of a particular portion of the oath we all swore in order to be admitted to practice. This year’s schedule and group leaders are:

November 16th – Judge Snider, Judge Veljacic, and Commissioner George’s Group

January 18th – Judge Osler and Judge Bartlett’s Group

February 22nd – Judge Sleight, Commissioner Sasser, and Commissioner Hayes’ Group

March 15th – Judge Parcher and Judge Melnick’s Group

April 19th – Judge Lewis, Judge Retsinas, and Commissioner Priest’s Group

If you are interested in joining, please reach out to Judge Smith (James.B.Smith@clark.wa.gov) to be added to the email list. Cost is $275, and payments may submitted to Treasurer Leslie Lopez (Leslie. Lopez@clark.wa.gov) via a check made out to “The George and Donald Simpson American Inn of Court.” It’s FUN!

OATH OF ATTORNEY

State: County: _____________________ Court: ______________________ I, _________________________________________________________________ do solemnly declare:

1. I am fully subject to the laws of the State of Washington and the laws of the United States and will abide by the same.

2. I will support the constitution of the State of Washington and the constitution of the United States.

3. I will abide by the Rules of Professional Conduct approved by the Supreme Court of the State of Washington.

4. I will maintain the respect due to the courts of justice and judicial officers.

5. I will not counsel, or maintain any suit, or proceeding, which shall appear to me to be unjust or any defense except as I believe to be honestly debatable under the law, unless it is in defense of a person charged with a public offense. I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me only those means consistent with truth and honor. I will never seek to mislead the judge or jury by any artifice or false statement.

6. I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client, and will accept no compensation in connection with the business of my client unless this compensation is from or with the knowledge and approval of the client or with the approval of the court.

7. I will abstain from all offensive personalities, and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged.

8. I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myse lf, the cause of the defenseless or oppressed, or delay unjustly the cause of any person.

Clark County Bar Association

Board Meeting October 4, 2022

Minutes for the CCBA Board of Trustees Meeting October 4, 2022; in person and hybrid

Called to order 12:07 p.m. Phelan, Hawke, Melnick, Larson, Aquadro, Jacobs, Wechselblatt, Sutanto, and Executive Director Darco

September 2022 board meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Wechselblatt/Melnick) Approved September 2022 general meeting minutes: Motion to Approve (Melnick/ Wechselblatt) Approved Treasurer’s Report (Melnick): Reviewed financials. Looking rosy. Dues are down, but CLE revenue is up. Ongoing Action Items

Committee Reports:

Hearsay Committee: (Hawke): The October issue is coming out soon. Social Committee:(Phelan) A committee meeting will be set soon.

CLE Committee: (Aquadro) Finalizing the trial skills series; working on December ethics CLE

DEI Committee:(Aquadro) 30 attendees signed up for the David Hoffman CLE at this point; will publicize state wide. Wechselblatt) Coffee cart social this Thursday. Wechselblatt and Judge Banfield met with Vancouver School District admin last week to discuss Street Law program.

Membership Committee (Darco) A big welcome to our newest Trustee, Owen Sutanto. Owen is going to take on the task of developing this new committee. Meeting 10/13/22 at noon.

Previous Action Items:

Court Eval: No updates. Phelan and Hawke met with Judge Vanderwood and Superior Court Admin, Cheryl Stone. Will try to have quarterly meetings. The Court is collecting information via surveys to aid decisions regarding implementation of consultant recommendations. Reminded Court about judicial donation program and staff CCBA memberships.

CCBA Judicial Evaluation (Jacobs) Subcommittee meeting will be 11/14/22 at noon Current Action Items

Bank Account Signatory Change : Motion to remove Past President Jacobs and add Vice President Hawke as an account signatory (Melnick/Aquadro) Approved

Membership Update: (Darco) 2022/2023: 303 members, Nonrenewed: 138, New Members: 20, 2021/2022: 409 members, October 1st last year: 267 membership

Next Meeting: November 1st. President Phelan gone in search of hot weather. VP Hawke takes over.

Adjourned 12:45