Documentary crew

5 Must-See Documentaries for Lawyers

For a lawyer, examining people’s lives and solving mysteries are part of the job. And there are many documentaries that highlight these aspects of the profession. Here are my five must-see documentaries to check out today.

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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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Grim Reaper pointing finger at a camera

7 Creepy Crawly Court Cases Worthy of Halloween

There is rarely levity in the court record, much less something that one would associate with the so-called “spooky season.” Understandably, a deep dive into historic court files rarely turns up anything that could fit under the more lighthearted side of Halloween. Because when a matter ends up in court, there’s rarely anything lighthearted about it. Even a search for keywords like “haunted,” “zombie,” or “ghoulish”—though they have that Halloweeney vibe on their own—most often brings up tales of actual horror.

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Deputy testifies in court

The History and Mechanics of Qualified Immunity and Police Accountability

Among the many issues at the center of debates over police-involved killings, particularly killings of people of color, few are as impactful as qualified immunity. But for as often as qualified immunity is pulled into wider debates, the concept itself is idiosyncratic and opaque, perhaps even among legal professionals. It is not a law but a precedent, not an act of government but a judicially created doctrine. King County Superior Court Judge David Whedbee is one of the organizers behind a planned full-day event aimed at examining qualified immunity. On May 7, Whedbee and Washington Supreme Court Justice Mary I. Yu will cohost “Qualified Immunity 360,” sponsored by the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission and featuring panelist presentations and discussion “to educate practitioners, judges, law students, and the public on the mechanics, history, and public policy behind the doctrine.”

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Screen shot from WSBA's first website

Blast from the Past: When the WSBA First Went Online 25 Years Ago

In 1996, “Macarena” was topping the charts, Japanese consumers became the first to purchase a new video format called DVDs, Independence Day blew up both U.S. landmarks and box offices, and the WSBA officially entered cyberspace. Recently, a member of the WSBA Communications Department was searching through old issues of Washington State Bar News and happened upon the following article which details the WSBA’s first website that went live 25 years ago this year.

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Thief steals a purse while witness does nothing.

Are Bystanders Complicit? The Holocaust as Foundation for Crimes of Omission

If you are a bystander and witness a crime, should it be a legal obligation for you to intervene? Or is moral responsibility enough? I have come to view the bystander, who fails to act, as complicit in harm that befalls the victim. This has compelled me to create a workable legal requirement whereby duty can be imposed on the bystander. Relying on the oft-repeated phrase that “people will do the right thing” is appealing and compelling, but the moral obligation model is, for me, tenuous and soft.

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Island County Courthouse

Ghost of Courts Past: The Story behind Washington’s Oldest Courthouse

In the July/August issue of NWLawyer (now Bar News), Andrew Bergh pointed out in his excellent article, “Washington’s Historic Courthouses—Through the Lens: Attorney-Photographer Explores the State,” that the beautiful 1887 courthouse in Columbia County is the oldest working courthouse in the state. While Bergh gave a fascinating glimpse of Washington’s legal history, there is actually much more to the story of Washington’s true oldest courthouse.

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Closeup of Vote by Mail envelope

A Brief Legal History of Washington’s Vote-By-Mail System

For weeks, the national discourse has been embroiled in battles over the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and the upcoming general election. Amidst an ongoing health calamity, people in the U.S. and around the world question how America will pull off a national election not so much from the ballot box but from the mailbox. A Brief Legal History of Washington’s Vote-By-Mail System.

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Ruth Bader Ginsburg

I Dissent: The Legacy of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Perhaps the most impactful of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s famous dissents came in a case about gender pay inequity in the workplace: Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., 550 U.S. 618 (2007). Plaintiff Lilly Ledbetter began working as a supervisor at the Goodyear Tire plant in Gadsen, Alabama, in 1979. She worked there for 19 years and for most of that time was the only woman manager.

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The first amendment on display in front of Independence Hall in Philadelphia.

‘Make No Law’ Undergirds the Rule of Law

On May 1 — Law Day 2019 — we honor a constitutional provision that says “make no law,” as we commemorate the rule of law in the United States. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; […]

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