June 2018 – NWSidebar

Confirming When Representation Begins Matters

A recent decision by Division III of the Washington Court of Appeals illustrates the importance of confirming whether or not you have taken on a client at an initial meeting. Fechner v. Volyn, ___ Wn. App. ___, 418 P.3d 120, 2018 WL 2307703 (May 22, 2018), was painted against the backdrop of a medical malpractice […]

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When Opposing Counsel Goes Dark—Can You Communicate Directly With the Adverse Party?

I have taken multiple calls at the WSBA Ethics Line from attorneys who feel stymied because opposing counsel isn’t responding and hasn’t terminated their attorney-client relationship. In one instance, the caller said the opposing party wanted to work directly with him, but the caller could not get confirmation from opposing counsel that contact was permitted.

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Familial DNA Searching: Troubling Civil Liberties Challenges

The technique of familial DNA searching has been in the news lately for having resulted in the arrest of a suspected serial killer in California, as well as an arrest in a recent Washington homicide case, but the use of such techniques raises significant civil liberties concerns. In both cases, police uploaded crime scene data […]

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7 Tips for Studying for the Bar Exam

It’s June, which means that bar exam prep time has officially begun for tens of thousands of law school graduates. This year, the Washington State Bar Exam will be held on July 24–25. Examinees will cram into the Tacoma Convention Center for six hours each day while they summarize all the law and facts they’ve […]

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5 Legal Takeaways from Mass Atrocities

On June 20–22, the WSBA World Peace Through Law Section is sponsoring a CLE through the Seattle University School of Law: “Mass Atrocities and Human Rights: Legal Responses and Continued Challenges.” In 2009, despite some internal warnings, the Obama administration began easing sanctions on the Myanmar government. Almost a decade later, with thousands of Rohingya […]

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Appeals Court Considers Prosecutor’s Subpoena for Letter Held by Former Defense Counsel

Ethics guru Mark Fucile analyzes a Court of Appeals decision to overturn a lower court’s ruling for contempt against a defendant’s former counsel. Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals recently addressed a subpoena duces tecum to former counsel in State v. Rogers, ___ Wn. App. ___, 414 P.3d 1143, 2018 WL 1602957 (2018). […]

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The Little Biases in All of Us

The bad news is that everyone has implicit biases and most don’t know it. Then what’s the good news? The bad news is that everyone has implicit biases — beliefs that are so ingrained that we don’t even know they’re there. And those implicit biases often find a way out of our mouths or through […]