Cover of Bar News

Examining the Bar Exam in the New Issue of Bar News

Few academic milestones have achieved the same level of deserved notoriety as the bar exam. If graduating law school is a difficult achievement, passing the bar exam is a veritable stress caldron—one that distinguishes a licensed lawyer from a well-educated (and debt-riddled) law school grad.
“When it comes to assessing lawyer competence, we saw again and again and again in our research conclusive evidence that the existing bar exam is far from a foolproof or even reliable measure of competence; and, to the detriment of both candidates and the profession, it replicates and perpetuates bias,” Seattle University School of Law Dean Anthony E. Varona says in the latest issue of Washington State Bar News.

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Cover of Bar News

Change is Afoot in the New Issue of Bar News

October changes are abundant. Foliage transforming. Air crisping. Lattes pumpkin-spicing.
At the WSBA, the autumnal transition also signifies the annual changing of the guard on the Board of Governors. With the start of the new fiscal year in October, those governors who finished their terms welcome their replacements, and new Board officers assume their roles in the seats of president, president-elect, outgoing president, and treasurer.
It’s all highlighted in Washington State Bar News—this year, there is even a change to note in that regard.

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Cover of June 2023 Bar News

The 2023 Legislative Session, Involuntary Treatment Act, and More in the New Bar News

The 2023 Washington legislative session was a veritable who’s who list of divisive political issues. Affordable housing, assault weapons, drug possession, the death penalty—all were on the docket this year in Olympia. Indeed, over the 105-day session, followed by a brief special session, the WSBA Legislative Affairs Team tracked roughly 500 bills.
In addition to a brief glimpse at the hundreds of bills the Legislative Affairs Team tracked for WSBA sections, Walvekar also provides an overview of the WSBA’s Bar-request legislation, a look at the special session to address statewide drug possession law, and some of the expected issues to watch when the Legislature reconvenes in January 2024.
The June issue of Bar News also explores a bevy of Washington laws, policies, and organizations of relevance to the state’s legal profession.

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Cover of Bar News April-May 2023

Help Wanted: Bar News Celebrates the Volunteers Who Power the Bar

Every year, we at the state Bar put our heads together to think up new ways to spread the word about volunteering. Particularly in recent years, we have experienced both sides of what WSBA Executive Director Terra Nevitt calls the “volunteerism tug-of-war.”
“Volunteers are the backbone of our work, and they, by and large, express satisfaction from their ability to shape and guide the profession through their work with the WSBA,” Nevitt writes in the new issue of Washington State Bar News, noting that a AmeriCorps/U.S. Census survey reveals how formal volunteerism with organizations dropped 7 percentage points from 2019 to 2021. “Simultaneously, engaging new volunteers and filling our many volunteer roles has become a heavier lift in recent years.”

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March 2023 issue of Bar News on a desktop.

Municipal Mayhem and More inside the March Issue of Bar News

It’s March, and for many it’s the month that only means one thing: a competition to rank the best courthouses in the state of Washington. Also, there’s some sort of sporting event.
Unlike other March-themed competitions, the WSBA’s Municipal Mayhem doesn’t take place on the court, but is a battle literally about the court(s). This battle of bureaucracy, this clash of courthouses, indeed this joust for justice will be left to WSBA members to determine, once and for all (and probably for the first time), which county hosts the courtiest courthouse. Of course, those aren’t the actual criteria upon which we will name the winner. You can find out all about the competition, how to fill out a bracket, and ways you can help your favorite courthouse shine by reading the cover story of the latest issue of Washington State Bar News.

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Cover of February 2023 Bar News depicting a glass piggy bank

ESGs and ABCs in the February Bar News

A little over one year ago, the Harvard Business Review said that “virtually all of the world’s largest companies now issue a sustainability report and set goals; more than 2,000 companies have set a science-based carbon target; and about one-third of Europe’s largest public companies have pledged to reach net zero by 2050.” In other words, ESG is now the standard. But, of course, what the hell is ESG? Seattle-based attorney and sustainability consultant Nicole DeNamur explains in the newest issue of Washington State Bar News that ESG—which stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance—describes data and reporting that is steadily gaining in market demand and federal regulatory oversight.

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BarNews-DEC-JAN2023

The Clash at Midfield and More in Latest Issue of Bar News

In the case of Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, the U.S. Supreme Court was presented with a First Amendment controversy after a high school football coach began praying on the sidelines. When asked to decide whether such actions were protected speech or an unsanctioned blending of religious activities and public institutions, a 6-3 majority found that the coach’s First Amendment rights had been suppressed and reversed the lower court’s decision.

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Cover of BarNews November 2022

WSBA Goes Rural in the New Bar News

In the latest issue of Washington State Bar News, we try to shed more light on the state of the legal profession in rural Washington. The November issue features a variety of profiles on rural practitioners, focusing on three law practices in Dayton, South Bend, and Colville. And you can learn more about the history of the STAR Committee and hear from past Committee Chair Hunter Abell, along with a primer from attorney Allison R. Foreman on 10 statutes to know and understand when going into rural practice.

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Dan Clark on cover of Oct 2022 Bar News

New Year, New Faces in the New Bar News

The WSBA’s year works a little differently than others. While much of the world is still whiling away the final months of 2022, the WSBA is already kicking off its 2023 fiscal year. As always, we ring in the new fiscal year with celebration and welcoming of new faces. In the latest issue of Washington State Bar News, you’ll get a look at the many accomplishments the legal community has already made as well as the plans in store for the future.

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Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Bar News Focuses on Family Law

According to the BBC, divorce applications and break-ups skyrocketed around the world due to the COVID-19 pandemic. One leading U.K. law firm noted a 122 percent increase in inquiries for divorce, while in the U.S. a legal form template provider reported that divorce agreements increased 34 percent in the first half of 2020.

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Cove of June 2022 Bar News

Status, History of Bar Structure Examined in Latest Bar News

This August, the WSBA Board of Governors is scheduled to wrap up its eight-month discussion about the very foundation of Washington’s mandatory, integrated bar and whether it should remain the same or undergo a structural change. The Board’s study process, ETHOS (Examining the Historical Organization and Structure of the Bar), is reaching the end of its mission from the Washington Supreme Court to answer three key questions about the Bar’s structure and the potential impact of federal litigation.

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Digital brain graphic on cover of BarNews April-May 2022

AI Inventors and More in New Issue of Bar News

What does AI (artificial intelligence) think about the prospect of AI? Well, according to an AI text generator, which responded to bits of text from Washington State Bar News Editor Kirsten Abel, our technological future is, at best, ominous:

“In 2015, worldwide spending on AI was $2.2 billion, a staggering sum, but now it’s on the way to $50 billion, predicts IDC (International Data Corporation). Indeed, it’s as if we have already entered an era of omnipresent artificial intelligence. One cannot hope to escape it.”

From a legal standpoint, however, AI will have a hard time getting past patent office red tape on its way to omnipresence. According to Leron Vandsburger’s assessment in the new issue of Bar News, AI systems have reached beyond their rudimentary beginnings “to a creative domain that—if practiced by a human—would be worthy of interpretation, analysis, examination, or critique.” The problem, however, is that copyright laws in many places don’t recognize non-human inventors.

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BarNews March 2022

Volunteering and Professional Growth in the New Issue of Bar News

The fact is that the WSBA could not exist without its thousands of volunteers; at least, not exist in the same way. Without volunteers, an organization like the WSBA could be functional, but shallow; good enough, but never great for its members and the public. As described in the latest edition of Washington State Bar News, WSBA volunteers and their perspectives are needed “to inform the work of the WSBA and affect the direction of the profession.” WSBA Volunteer Engagement Advisor Paris Eriksen explains in the article “24 Ways to Give Back” that “volunteers speak up, criticize, critique, rethink, retool, and ask questions.” Also in this issue, you’ll find the continuation of our “Inside Scoop” column, which crowdsources valuable information for lawyers, whether they’re new to practice, venturing into new areas of law, or simply curious to learn from others’ experiences. In this month’s column, various contributors share their professional tips and tricks when it comes to “Motivation, Mentorship, and Managing Your Time.”

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Lady Justice

What You Need to Know About the Latest WSBA Bar Structure Review

The basic question remains the same: Does the structure of an integrated bar association like that in Washington, and 31 other states like it, infringe on its members’ constitutional rights? To provide further clarity in answering that question, for the second time in three years, the structure of the Washington State Bar Association is undergoing a Washington Supreme Court-requested diagnosis.

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