Knowing when to withdraw is often a difficult exercise. A recent decision by Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals in Seattle, however, underscored the risks of waiting too long. In Atlas Debt Holdings, LLC v. Seafood Express, LLC, 2024 WL 3650246 (Wn. App. Aug. 5, 2024) (unpublished), a law firm was careful not […]
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Your former client wants a copy of their file, but they haven’t paid you your fee. Do you have to give it to them? You’ve already given your client a copy of their file, but now they want it again. Do you have to give it to them one more time? Can you charge for […]
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Estate planning has evolved from a document-centric, standardized practice to a comprehensive, personalized approach. Clients now expect holistic, tailored solutions, open communication, and technology integration. Technology aids in customization, client education, and document automation. Washington attorneys can benefit from tools like Agile Estate Planning to enhance efficiency and client satisfaction.
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Legal professionals must prioritize disaster planning to ensure business continuity and client service amidst challenges. Key elements include risk assessment, impact analysis, emergency response, data backup, communication strategy, continuity planning, staff training, and designating a custodian. Additionally, they have professional obligations to act diligently, protect confidentiality, and maintain document records for at least seven years.
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On Oct. 30, McCoy Russell LLP announced that one of its tools had not just scored higher than other similar technologies on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Bar Exam, it actually outperformed the average human.
Given the easily stoked concerns of artificial intelligence (AI) eliminating jobs, wiping out industries, and portending the technological destruction of all humanity, it’s as important in this case to talk about what the firm’s Ironcrow AI LLM Sandbox does not do as much as what it can do.
“We’re always looking for tools, what can we use to make our work better,” said firm partner and cofounder John Russell. “… We started playing around and figured out the tools are good at wide-ranging tasks, but not very good at specialized patent work.”
Career is a vital part of our lives, and our day-to-day actions at work have resounding consequences on our personal and professional relationships, as well as on our mental and physical health. The prospect of shifting to a new path, even if it’s a lateral shift, can be both overwhelming and, at times, discouraging to navigate the complex decision-making process.
What I mean by “lateral shift” is a job transition involving a change in responsibilities or position, but maintaining a relatively similar level of seniority, compensation, or status. Typically, lateral moves do not entail a significant promotion or increase in pay. Contrary to a vertical move, which involves upward career progression, a lateral move focuses on acquiring new skills, broadening one’s experience, or seeking a better fit for one’s interests and strengths without necessarily climbing the corporate ladder.
Hollywood is replete with stereotypes: Scientists are nerds, hackers spend their free time at raves, white men can’t jump. In the legal industry, we have a similar stereotype that established lawyers can’t jump … into a new area of law.
A tax lawyer, as the theory goes, must remain a tax lawyer for 35-plus years. A divorce lawyer, same thing. The idea being that after 10 years or so, we are stuck to our familiar, well-trodden practice areas. Something about our profession seems to create this sense that we’ll ruin everything we’ve worked so hard to build if we try something new. So the tax lawyer may indeed wish to switch to admiralty law, but doesn’t. It could be that their kids are in an expensive private school or the high monthly law school loan obligation that holds them back from making a needed change. The list of reasons why things can’t change is long, and it’s full of reasons beyond money.
Once you know something well, who wants to throw away all that knowledge? Plus, there’s the fear of losing referral sources. What of the established client base? Lawyers can spin up plenty of reasons to support the idea that, indeed, lawyers can’t jump.
One of the final scenes of Frank Capra’s classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” occurs when George Bailey, having been shown how truly full and blessed his life has been, is toasted by his younger brother: “A toast to my big brother George: the richest man in town.” The twist of the beloved movie is that, even in his darkest moments, George Bailey really had a wonderful life—he just didn’t realize it.
George Bailey is, of course, a fictional character. Today, however, I wish to honor a flesh-and-blood man—a man whom I was fortunate to count as a dear and treasured friend. As many attorneys in Spokane are aware, Ryan McNeice, one of the founding partners of McNeice Wheeler, PLLC, died on April 20 from cancer. Like George Bailey, Ryan had a loving wife and family, the respect and admiration of all who knew him, and a community that was positively impacted by him in more ways than can possibly be counted.
On the cusp of my 40s, I began toying with the idea of a midlife rejuvenation. I wasn’t shopping around for a full-on crisis or reinvention, just something to add to my repertoire of interests. I was daughter, auntie, girlfriend, and lawyer; but while I had plenty of roles, I had a striking scarcity of hobbies. It was time to take inventory of how I spent my free time and perhaps add a little spice to my days.
I needed something physical to appreciate my health while I had it, before the inevitable mobility limitations of aging showed up to the party. I tried rollerblading, mountain biking, and—for a split second—archery. None stuck.
During a trip to REI to look for inspiration, I wandered into the previously ignored section of ropes and mysteriously elfish footwear. I eavesdropped on a salesperson explain the benefits of something called a locking carabiner. She was enthusiastic and met with the same from her shoppers.
Rock climbing. I had an old boyfriend who occasionally did it. I had seen the award-winning documentary Free Solo. I knew climbing was a thing. Maybe I could make it my thing.
Over the last five years, many lawyers began the transition to remote work—then the pandemic added even more coal to the fire. Accelerated adoption of remote and hybrid work, however, did not mean there haven’t been questions about how to do so properly. The Committee on Professional Ethics recently released a new and improved advisory opinion which answers many questions about practicing in a remote or hybrid law office. “Ethical Practices of the Virtual or Hybrid Law Office” updates an opinion first published in 2016 and adds many topics relevant to today’s practice.
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Recently, the WSBA Member Wellness Program grew a little larger with the addition of Clinical & Outreach Lead Adely Ruiz, MSW, LSWAIC. Ruiz comes to the WSBA via the Sound – Belltown community mental health facility, where she worked with a vulnerable low-income population. She provided cognitive behavioral therapy that included mental health diagnosis and treatment, guiding clients with harm-reduction techniques, treating substance use disorders, and providing direction on accessing medication management services.
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Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals in Seattle recently discussed the professional judgment rule in Dang v. Floyd, Pflueger & Ringer, PS, Wn. App.2d, 2022 WL 9732289 (Oct. 17, 2022). Under that rule, a lawyer is generally not liable for legal malpractice if the lawyer was simply exercising reasonable professional judgment. The plaintiff doctor in Dang argued that his defense counsel in a regulatory hearing before the Washington Medical Quality Assurance Commission made decisions on witnesses and exhibits that led to an unfavorable outcome. The defendant law firm in the subsequent legal malpractice case moved for summary judgment relying on the professional judgment rule. The trial court granted the motion. The Court of Appeals affirmed.
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Afew minutes after entering the offices of McGrane & Schuerman, PLLC, it occurs to me that Alison McGrane has barely sat down. Even on her first day back at work after a San Diego vacation with her husband, daughter, and son, she was scurrying from one end of the office to another, walking and talking, standing and talking, standing and reading, standing and signing.
Picture the high-velocity energy of a character in an Aaron Sorkin show.
Except that when you compare this image to that of a rural attorney stereotype, things don’t square up. McGrane has been on the receiving end of these stereotypes. Lawyers from big cities are sometimes prone to treating their rural counterparts as less capable in the law, simpler, less complex—in other words, stupid. That type of assumption is, of course, stupid in itself, and despite the extreme ruralness of the place McGrane calls home, she and the rest of the team at McGrane & Schuerman are anything but stupid.
In 2019, a group of WSBA volunteers and staff began what was then called the Rural Practice Project (RRP) to analyze the state of legal services available in rural Washington, as well as other jurisdictions in the country, better understand the problems, and identify potential paths forward that the WSBA could take to address access to justice gaps in Washington’s rural communities. In 2021, upon the RPP group’s recommendation and with a unanimous vote and approved budget from the WSBA Board of Governors, the Small Town and Rural Practice (STAR) Committee was formed to build upon the work of the RPP as a long-term, multi-faceted endeavor of the WSBA.
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How do you know if going independent and starting a law firm business is the right choice for you? In this article, I’ll give you some of the tools you need to determine whether it’s time to ditch a traditional office role and strike out on your own.
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There are many reasons why an inventor might undergo a legal name change, whether as part of a marriage or divorce, as part of a gender transition, or out of a desire for a name that better reflects the inventor’s sense of self. Even though name changes are handed through state-level legal procedures, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has specific rules about using legal names that can result in costly delays or even an abandoned or invalidated patent if not followed. With the patent application process often taking several years, consistency of inventor naming and compliance with state-level rules about legal names is important to avoid issues down the road.
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