Cynicism is easy. Look around the world today and it’s easy to find things to be cynical about, things to mistrust—a world seemingly in disarray, occupied mostly with fighting and selfishness as confidence in U.S. courts falls to a record low point. But in the new issue of Washington State Bar News, you will read stories about people that will leave you feeling anything but cynical.
In this issue, as we do every September, our cover story features people and stories celebrated in the WSBA’s annual Acknowledging Professional Excellence (APEX) Awards. The APEX Awards were created to highlight exceptionalism in the legal profession—to showcase the kindness and bravery that WSBA members bring to their work, their clients, and their communities. This year we have such stories as the legacy of perseverance and dedication exemplified by the late-Supreme Court Justice Susan Owens, the impacts pro bono work can have on a community, the tireless work of one lawyer to champion diversity and equal justice, and the 50-year career of a judge who helped bridge divides between courts and communities. There are many, many more examples of stellar work highlighted in the new issue of Bar News.
Also in this issue we highlight the ongoing work of one group, which is the latest to be featured in our Pro Bono Organization of the Month column, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP). In this Q&A with Pro Bono Coordinating Attorney Jordan Wasserman you can learn about the history of NWIRP, read client stories, learn about the NWIRP mission and how it’s carried out, and much more.
We’ve also got an analysis of changes coming to the Washington Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, a column on the ethics of correcting inaccurate legal citations, news about the new partnership that makes all WSBA deskbooks available for free online, thoughts from two disability rights lawyers on representing people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and much more.
