CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

Transcription

1 ccbawashington.org MAY 2012 OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION CCBA Welcomes Judge Gonzales page 14 page 5

2 THIS MONTH S ISSUE President s Message...3 The CCBA Welcomes Judge Gonzales CLE and Nuts & Bolts Calendar...8 CCBA Monthly Board Meeting Minutes...10 CLE - Adoption...11 Superior Court Meeting Minutes...13 Family Law Section Meeting...14 Double Hearsay...15 Kids Love Lawyers! Students Learn About Civics...17 INHERITING THE WINDBAGS: Monkeying Around with Justice...20 Guantanamo & Kenya Enthrall American Inns of Court Members...22 Hearsay Profile: Douglas Foley...23 Clark County Volunteer Lawyers Program...24 Law Library News...25 News You Can Use...25 Attorney Bookkeeping Tips...25 SW Washington Lawyer Referral Service...26 Events Calendar...26 HEARSAY is published 12 times per year and is design edited by: JEFF GOUGH, Creative Director GOUGH CREATIVE GROUP GCG director@goughcreative.com An annual "green" subscription is included with annual membership dues. Members may purchase a hardcopy subscription for $ Letters, news items, upcoming events and announcements are welcome. Articles by members are accepted. Submissions should be presented in Microsoft Word and may be edited for length, clarity and style. Submissions by members are published at the editor s discretion and space available. Views expressed in articles represent the authors opinions, not necessarily the CCBA s. The publication does not purport to offer legal advice. RICHARD G. SPIER MEDIATOR CCBA OFFICE HOURS: Monday through Friday, 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Highly experienced full-time neutral since 1992 Business & commercial; personal injury; employment; real estate & construction Listed for Mediation in The Best Lawyers in America Member, Oregon and Washington Bars Fax rspier@spier-mediate.com N.E. 28th Avenue Portland, Oregon No charge for travel time or travel expense in Oregon and Washington

3 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE JOHN FAIRGRIEVE CCBA President Dear fellow bar association members: There are two matters I would like to discuss this month. The first concerns current initiatives the Clark County Bar Association is pursuing. The second concerns the potential impact that certain recommended cuts to the Washington State Bar Association budget would have on local attorneys who are involved in, or may be interested in becoming involved in, WSBA activities in the future. On March 26 of this year our association had its second and last general membership meeting of the year. After a number of reports summarizing our financial status and activities, we engaged in a guided discussion about the priorities of the association. In general, we discussed the continuing legal education program, the proposed mentorship program, a proposal that we become more involved in civics education, our current dues structure, and ways to increase participation by our members in our activities. At its meeting in April and again in early May the CCBA Board of Trustees discussed the information gathered from our members at the meeting in March, particularly as it related to creating a mentorship program and increasing our involvement in civics education. Concerning the former, after discussing the components of successful mentorship programs and the Oregon State Bar Association s mandatory New Lawyer Mentoring Program the board has decided to host a meeting which will occur in June to discuss what sort of mentorship program the members of our association want and would be willing to actively support. The time, date and location of this meeting will be published shortly. Turning to civics education, Jill Sasser, one of our trustees and one of the organizers of the mock trial competitions for the past two years, has informed the board that she believes that the program could be expanded to high schools that do not currently field teams. Once Jill determines what the level of interest is she will report back to the board and we will begin to recruit attorneys to coach the new teams. If you are interested in doing so please contact me or Lisa Darco, the association s office manager, at ccbamanager@ccbawashington.org. Finally, as you are probably aware, the WSBA member referendum to reduce license fees to $325 recently passed. The WSBA Board of Governors met on April to address a number of matters, including a series of budget recommendations by the WSBA s Budget and Audit Committee to close what it estimates is a $3.6 million budget gap. One of the recommendations is to eliminate funding for positions on WSBA standing committees, boards and task forces. The effect of this recommendation will be that volunteer board and committee members will no longer be reimbursed for travel expenses including airfare, mileage, lodging, and meals. Details of the Budget and Audit Committee s recommendations can be found at Governors/Meeting-Materials. The Budget and audit Committee s recommendations can be found on pages For many reasons the WSBA suffers from a Seattle-centric orientation and it is important for attorneys from other regions of the state to serve in leadership positions within the state bar. It is already a hardship for many local attorneys to serve on WSBA committees, boards and task forces due to the time it takes to travel to meeting sites. Withdrawing reimbursements for travel expenses will have the net effect of further discouraging attorneys from outside the Seattle area from participating in leadership positions in the WSBA. I urge you to take a few minutes to inform yourself about the cuts being proposed to the WSBA budget, and to make your feelings known to our WSBA representatives. Our governor, Brian Kelly, can be reached at bkelly@localaccess.com. The WSBA president, Steve Crossland, can be reached at steve@crosslandlaw.net. Visit us online at: ccbawashington.org HEARSAY - MAY

4 WILLIAM F. NELSON Baumgartner, Nelson & Price, PLLC Celebrating forty years of evaluating, settling, and trying claims of professional negligence and serious personal injury in Southwest Washington. Many thanks to the more than sixty lawyers, judges and court personnel for the referrals that have made this celebration possible. And special thanks to my partners of fifteen years - Bill Baumgartner and Greg Price. Available for consultation or referral on professional negligence and serious personal injury claims. Martindale-Hubbell bell recognizes William F. Nelson as an AV rated attorney, the highest such rating available to any individual lawyer. 112 W.11th Street, Suite 150 Vancouver, WA Phone:(360) wnelson@bnplaw.com mthompson@bnplaw.com 4 CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

5 The CCBA Welcomes Judge Gonzales DON JACOBS Hearsay Special Correspondent Gregory Michael Gonzales is now Your Honor. Judge Gonzales became the newest member of the Clark County Superior Court bench replacing retiring Judge Edwin Poyfair. Appointed by Governor Christine Gregoire to fill the seat, Judge Gonzales will take over the opening in Department 4. Judge Gonzales was sworn in May 1st by Judge John Nichols and by all accounts, leaped into the duties like a kid entering Disneyland. The word "enthusiastic" was the most used by others describing his first days. The official investiture ceremony was late Friday afternoon on May 4th in Judge Barbara Johnson's courtroom. The place was packed to the rafters with family, well wishers and members of the bar. In an unusual twist, Judge Gonzales used the occasion to announce he'd just become engaged to Molly Trafelet, his now fiancé. Local historians have been consulted, and this is believed to be a first in Clark County. No other judge in memory has used the investiture ceremony to also announce their engagement. There was even a little suspense involved. The Judge happily informed the crowd he'd asked Molly to marry him, but didn't tell us her response. So Judge, she said yes, right? Although, one could assume the response was positive since Molly handled the role of helping his honor into his first Clark County Superior Court standard issue black robe. After Judge Johnson did the official swearing in, the standing room only crowd heard from Mike Roe describing his years with the Judge in private practice. Then Judge Bennett said a few words about the job followed by the newest judge thanking all assembled. He mentioned he was truly humbled by all the support he received and the overwhelming favorable response in the bar poll. When he sat down with the rest of the gowned members of the bench in attendance, it immediately looked like he belonged there. So Judge Gonzales is joining a pretty elite club. Although the Judge did preside over the Battle Ground Municipal Court for the last seven years, a big learning curve awaits. That's primarily because it looks like he'll be filling Judge Poyfair's family court slot with Judge Rulli over in the annex. He'll even slide right into Judge Poyfair's old office. Judge Gonzales admits he wouldn't know a family law case if it bit him. Fortunately, he also inherits Gizella Darfler, Judge Poyfair's very capable JA. The local historians were consulted one more time and it is believed Judge Gonzales is the first person of color to occupy the Superior Court Bench in Clark County. It wasn't that long ago that Clark County saw its first female on the bench. So history was made twice in Judge Johnson's courtroom that day. Funny, but I've never thought of Judge Gonzales as a person of color. He was just Greg Gonzales. A funny, effervesent and passionate guy who really cared about his clients and the practice of law, with the reputation of being a very fine lawyer. I guess that is where we are all trying to get to in this society. I asked the Judge about this historic first in our interview. Although the significance of it wasn't lost on him, he too says he just always thought of himself as Greg Gonzales, and hoped others did as well. Nevertheless, this is a nice plus with his appointment. The county gets a really good candidate to dispel justice and a significant and increasing percentage of our population sees someone who looks like them on the bench. Judge Gonzales graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School in His undergrad years were at UC Riverside. Of note is his baseball career at the school. The Judge was the starting second baseman in his senior year when the school won the Division II National Championship. Skills he put to some use over his thirty years in the community acting as a volunteer coach for kid's sports. He came to Clark County when Bill Baumgartner offered him a job in the summer of 81 with the then firm of Weber, Baumgartner & Gunn. He's stayed with the firm ever since, doing civil litigation. Of course Judge Gonzales does have to run for election in November. So far, no one has announced any plans to challenge him for the seat. Given how well he fared in the bar poll, any challenger would have an uphill battle. At 56, it's seems unlikely Judge Gonzales will ever return to his career as a lawyer. Which is something he tells me he'll miss. When asked what he'll miss most about private practice, he talked about being able to help clients. The first lawyer in his family, Judge Gonzales told me his biggest achievement in life was when he became a lawyer. Well Judge, you just eclipsed that. Welcome to the bench your honor. Many of us hope you'll be there for a long time. HEARSAY - MAY

6 The CCBA will be hosting a Title 11 Guardian ad Litem training on June 15 and 16 at the Water Resource Education Center. Please contact Lisa Darco in the CCBA office for more information. 6 CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

7 HEARSAY - MAY

8 2012 CLE and Nuts & Bolts Calendar Call to register For firms with new associates, this series is a great way to support your local bar association and provide new associates with an introduction to the community and a broad set of useful legal skills and information. Conference Room available to rent The CCBA s office conference room is available for meetings and depositions at reasonable rates. Call Lisa at: Creative For 30 years we ve helped bring peace of mind to over 20,000 clients during one of life s toughest times. OREGON S.W. WASHINGTON GevurtzMenashe.com Divorce Children Support 8 CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

9 Trial Skills CLE: Practical Day SUZAN CLARK Hearsay Special Correspondent On May 5, 2012 the Clark County Bar Association sponsored a day long trial skills CLE at the Clark County Courthouse. In the preceding months, the CCBA sponsored a number of Nuts & Bolts CLE s providing instruction on the various phases of a trial including jury selection, direct and cross examination of witnesses, opening statements and closing arguments. The trial skills seminar served as an opportunity for participants to practice and hone the trial skills they had learned in the classroom. Participants met at the Clark County Courthouse at 7:45 a.m. on a Saturday morning to present the various parts of a trial in small groups with a judge and a trial mentor. Judge Nichols, Judge Lewis and Judge Melnick graciously volunteered their time to preside over the various phases of the trial. Don Jacobs and myself served as mentors providing critiques and suggestions to the participants. Don and I also played witnesses in the direct examination and cross examination parts of the trial. Don won rave reviews for his performance as a defense expert witness in a auto collision case and I tormented the attorneys with my performance as a heroin addicted defendant in a criminal fact pattern. Representing Injured Workers on Their Washington Claims Busick Hamrick, PLLC All participants served as jurors during the jury selection session and the remainder of the day smaller groups of attorneys worked with a judge and a mentor in an actual courtroom to individually present the material. Where possible, attorney participants were given the option of presenting material from an actual case they were working on. I had the pleasure of working with all three judges during the day and all of the attorney participants. From the perspective of 26 years as a litigator, I learned many things from my participation in the CLE. Many thanks to our CLE Committee Chair, Jane Clark who planned and participated in the event on Saturday and gave birth to a baby girl on Monday! Thanks to Don Jacobs lending his litigation expertise to the CLE. Thanks to our bar staff for their administrative support early on a Saturday morning. A special thanks to Judge Lewis, Judge Nichols and Judge Melnick for volunteering to serve as judges to provide a realistic trial experience for our participants. The feedback from members of the bench to participants made this a terrific learning experience for everyone involved. CHUCK CORRIGAN Steven L. Busick Frances R. Hamrick Douglas M. Palmer (360) Washington Street Vancouver, WA HEARSAY - MAY

10 CCBA Monthly Board Meeting Minutes April 11, 2012 DAVID GREGERSON CCBA Secretary Board members in attendance: J. Clark, K. Rylander, D. Gregerson, A. Dunn, J. Fairgrieve, (presiding). J. Sasser arrives 12:28 PM. Staff in attendance: L. Darco 1. Fairgrieve called the meeting to order at 12:10 PM. 2. Approval of minutes from March 7, Correction: Jane Clark was not in attendance. On motion duly made, seconded, and passed, minutes are APPROVED 3. Nellor is not present, therefore no verbal treasurer s report. Written financials were provided. Nellor made a detailed report at the general membership meeting last month showing positive direction since last year s crisis. 4. Old business: a. Kaiser balance transfer: reported that bank documents have been signed and monies transferred. b. March general meeting recap: Fairgrieve reported that were in attendance, board discussed efforts to boost turnout at next meeting in the fall. Board will consider a member survey to get feedback on direction of policy. c. Mentorship program: Fairgrieve reports that he has some individuals willing to serve on a mentorship committee to assemble an outline for a proposed program. d. Civic/Legal education and outreach: Issue was raised a general membership meeting. There seems to be general support for the idea, but details and concrete plans still need discussion and direction. Discussion held (brainstorm) about ways to reach out into schools, community, etc. e. Office support and compensation: Committee will convene to set date and time to address the issue. 5. New Business a. Lease renewal: Discussion held. On motion duly made, seconded, and PASSED, David Gregerson is given general authority to negotiate lease terms, subject to board approval at a later meeting. b. Press Releases in Hearsay: Discussion held about whether and how to allow press releases in Hearsay. It was noted that many press releases are more properly described as advertisement. Rylander will draft a proposed policy for board approval. c. Veterans Court use of ListServ: Darco reports that requests have been made to use the listserv for announcements. Consensus is that these are better done through Hearsay Magazine. d. Membership fee scale options: Fairgrieve reports on dues for comparable sister organizations to compare value against what CCBA charges. Discussion held. No consensus at this time for change in existing policy. On motion duly motion, seconded, and made, the board approved a change in policy to bifurcate dues through the year, with September to be a grace month for membership benefits until dues are renewed. e. Use of Mila s accountant for training Lisa: Darco seeks approval to have information accountant consultation, at no cost, but nevertheless with nondisclosure provisions. f. VLP fundraising announcement on ListServ: Gregerson requests an blast for the May 11, 2012 CCVLP box lunch fundraiser event. Discussion held. Dunn suggests that CCBA consider a monthly aggregate blast for this type of announcement. Board will form a committee or come up with a proposal. In the interim, in the interest of consistency, Gregerson s VLP request is denied. 6. There being no more business before the board, on motion duly made, seconded, and passed, the board meeting was ADJOURNED. Advertise with us!!! Reach 500 Attorneys and Legal Professionals throughout Clark County! Call Lisa Darco for pricing & space availability at CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

11 The Clark County Bar Association is pleased to announce its Twentieth Nuts and Bolts Lecture: Adoption by Attorney Marie Tilden Wednesday, June 13th, 3:00 5:00 PM at the Red Lion at the Quay The cost is $50 for CCBA members, $70 for non-member attorneys, and $25 for nonattorneys. This will get you 2 CLE credits and the speakers prepared materials to download. There is an extra fee if you want to pick up the materials at the door. Ü Refreshments and Refined Company Û To register: Call the CCBA, (360) , OR cle@ccbawashington.org, OR FAX this flyer back to the CCBA at (360) with your: NAME PHONE # BAR NUMBER Marie N. Tilden. One of the major areas of Marie s practice is adoption and surrogacy law, including independent, domestic placements; agency adoptions; international placements and documentation for entry into the US; contested terminations; and related issues. She has branched out into representing egg donors and intended parents in Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART s practice) a rapidly expanding area of law. Her practice includes representation of US expat citizens living and adopting abroad; addressing the citizenship and visa issues between their resident country, country of adoption and the US. She also consults with agencies and adoptive families regarding issues arising from the Hague Convention on Intercountry Adoption. Marie received her B.S. degree from the University of Oregon, 1979 and J.D. from the University of Texas, School of Law, with Honors, Marie was the founder of Cascade International Children s Services, an international adoption agency in Portland and served as its director for several years. She established foreign adoption programs in Bulgaria, China, Vietnam, India, Colombia and Guatemala. An out line of Marie s talk appears on the following page HEARSAY - MAY

12 THE NUTS AND BOLTS OF ADOPTION LAW By Marie Tilden, Attorney at Law BASICS: Who can adopt: Married? Single? Same-sex couples? Men? Women? Who is too young to adopt, and who is too mature? Who can be adopted? How long does adoption take? How much does an adoption cost? BEYOND THE VERY BASICS: Normal steps in a domestic, independent placement. Normal steps in an international placement. What about adopting through DSHS, how does one adopt a child already in the subject of a dependency action? Other: step-parent, adult adoptions, re-adoptions, older child adoptions, what should you know? NOW TO THE EXPERT LEVEL: Minor birthparents, anything different? Birthparent under a disability; obtaining valid consent(s) to terminate rights? Birthparent objects to terminating his/her parental rights, what are the legal standards for a winning case? Visa classifications for foreign adoptions, obtaining US citizenship, dealing with USCIS, dealing with foreign entities, oh my! NOW, TO APPLY ALL THIS KNOWLEDGE, A POTENTIAL CLIENT CALLS AND 1. wants to adopt their young niece from Country X because her family is too poor to raise her and wants you to do the adoption. What do you need to know? What can you do? 2. says that the father of their child does not want to pay child support anymore and is willing to give up his parental rights. Potential client is excited because now she won t have to deal with him anymore and considers the loss of child support a small price to pay. What do you say? What can you do? 3. says that they have just returned home with their new child from country X and want to re-adopt but they notice that they received an IR-4 visa when their friends paperwork says they have an IR-3 visa. They wonder if it matters and what it means. What should they do in the US? Does their new child have US citizenship like their agency said he/she would? 4. says that their grandchild/niece/nephew, etc. is in foster care and they want to adopt the child to keep it in the family. How do they proceed? Does it matter if the parental rights of the biological parents have been terminated yet? 5. says that they have been matched with a birth mother due to deliver in 3 months. She says she needs money from them to pay her living expenses and they are very willing to help her out. After all, they ve been waiting for a long time for a chance to adopt, and if it just takes some money to make it happen, that s fine with them. Is there anything wrong with them paying her expenses? 12 CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

13 CLARK COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT BENCH/BAR MEETING MINUTES MARCH 13, 2012 JOHN FAIRGRIEVE CCBA President The meeting began shortly after noon. Persons present were Judge Robert Lewis, Judge John Nichols, Ann Christian, Jolene Sell, Suzan Clark, Kurt Rylander, Todd George, and John Fairgrieve. OLD BUSINESS: 1. Competency evaluations being conducted on criminal defendants by Western State Hospital (WSH): Ann Christian told the committee that the out of custody defendant list is up to date. 2. Orders for 90 day commitments to WSH for competency restoration: Suzan Clark told the committee that she did not believe that the current order being used by the court to commit a defendant to WSH for competency restoration, which authorizes WSH personnel to administer psychotropic medications to a defendant over his or her objections, complies with due process requirements. See generally Sell v. United States, 539 U.S. 166, , 123 S. Ct. 2174, 156 L. Ed. 2d 197 (2003). John Fairgrieve suggested that he and Suzan meet after the end of the committee meeting to discuss the matter and possible revision of the order. 3. Criminal readiness docket issues: Judge Lewis reported that the readiness docket for the week of April 16 currently had 90 matters on it and that the judges planned on conducting a split docket if judicial resources are available. Judge Lewis also mentioned that in May three consecutive readiness dockets currently have 66, 67, and 80 matters on them respectively. 4. Judge Poyfair s judicial position: It was reported to the committee that Governor Gregoire planned on interviewing the two finalists for the position on Wednesday, April 11 (The Columbian reported on April 17 that Governor Gregoire has appointed Greg Gonzales to fill out the balance of Judge Poyfair s current term). 5. Felony caseload in superior court: Ann Christian reported that indigent defense contracts for felony cases are running at about 100 per month this year and that she is seeing an increase in the number of class A felonies and sex offenses. 6. Judge Nichols to leave family court: Judge Nichols told the committee that he would be leaving family court to return to civil / criminal caseload at the end of the year. 7. Drug court status: Judge Nichols reported that Superior Court Drug Court continues to be popular, with 143 participants as of last week. NEW BUSINESS 1. Redaction of material from criminal discovery: John Fairgrieve told the committee that a recent review of federal and Washington State statutes revealed that the prosecuting attorney s office is prohibited from releasing three specific types of information in the discovery it provides to defense counsel in criminal cases: social security numbers, department of licensing numbers, and financial account numbers. He stated that in the future this material would be redacted from criminal discovery. He further stated that he would provide the committee with citations to the relevant statutes (the citations are 42 USC 405(c)(2)(C)(viii)(I), 18 USC 2721, and RCW (5)). 2. Policy for the use of electronic devices in Judge Lewis courtroom: Judge Lewis told the committee that he has drafted a policy for the use of electronic devices in his courtroom which he will publish later this week. 3. New meetings to discuss matters related to the administration of criminal justice in Clark County: Ann Christian told the committee that recently representatives of the superior court bench, the prosecutor s office, the criminal defense bar and she HEARSAY - MAY

14 met for the first of what promises to be a series of meetings to discuss issues and problems related to the administration of criminal justice in the county and to see if solutions to the problems could be developed. Ann reported that the first meeting was successful. 4. Bail schedule in felony cases: Judge Lewis brought up the issue and mentioned that there was not much support from the superior court judges for adopting a new bail schedule if the purpose for doing so was to allow a suspect arrested over a weekend to be able to post bail prior to appearing before a judge. He also mentioned that the matter is still under discussion. Ann Christian told the committee that legislation passed by the legislature in its recent session with an effective date this summer will require an individualized determination of bail by a judicial officer prior to the release of any suspect charged with a class A or B offense. Suzan Clark mentioned that she was concerned that bail amounts in general were being set too high, commenting that $100,000 seems to be the new $10, Local high school mock trial teams at the state tournament: Judge Lewis reported that all four local high school mock trial teams that proceeded to the state tournament finished with two wins and two losses. He stated that the Ridgefield High team finished highest among the local teams, placing 8th or 9th in the state, and that a Ridgefield witness was named best witness in the tournament. 6. Next Bench Bar committee meeting: The committee will meet next on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at noon in Judge Nichols jury room. Respectfully submitted, John Fairgrieve Family Law Section Meeting CHRIS BOYD Family Law Section President The Family Law Section held our monthly meeting on May 9, Stan Horak presented on bankruptcy, short sales, foreclosures and hold harmless issues and how they relate to Family Law. We had nearly fifty (50) attendees. Stan was very informative and I ve added Call Stan on my standard file checklist. Stan was kind enough to offer an open door policy for any attorneys with questions on this constantly changing topic. I have a feeling many FLS members will take him up on that invitation. Our next meeting, which will be our last before summer break, will be on Wednesday, June 13th. We need officers for our next year s FLS, so those interested should throw their hats in the ring. As outgoing president, I have made sure to set the bar at an exceptionally achievable level for the new president. In all seriousness, it is a truly positive experience and we have a wonderful group of Family Law attorneys and judicial officers. Our meetings are in the reserved lounge section of Tommy O s, 801 Washington Street, Vancouver. Typically, these are on the second Wednesday of the month. The cost of the meeting will be $13.00 for lunch plus $5.00 for one CLE credit for CCBA FLS members. If you are not a member of the CCBA and FLS the cost is $13.00 for lunch and $10.00 for the CLE credit. Please RSVP by the Friday just prior to our Wednesday meeting by sending your payment to our section s Treasurer, Meredith McKell Graff, 3214 NE 42nd Street, Suite B, Vancouver, WA Our officers are: President, Chris Boyd; Treasurer, Meredith McKell Graff; Secretary, Stephanie Ellis. If you would like to attend a CCBA FLS meeting and do not currently receive the updates, please me at cboyd@vancouverlaw.net. Remember to visit the blog for updates and announcements: Very Truly Yours, Chris Boyd Advertise in next month s HEARSAY Call Lisa Darco at for rates and availability. 14 CLARK COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION