NWSidebar

When AI Goes Bad: The Inherent Legal Risks of ‘Intelligent’ Systems

You provide the neural net with a learning set: a large collection of items related to the pattern you want the neural network to recognize for which you tell the program the correct answer.

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Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: How to Terminate an Employee the Right Way

Let’s face it, no organization is immune from having to make the tough decision to terminate an employee. Of course no one likes to do it, but that still leaves the real question of how and when you should do it?

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Prescription Restriction: How Washington is Addressing Opioid Addiction

There is no shortage of alarming statistics when it comes to opioids. More people died from opioid overdoses in 2017, two per day, in Washington than in traffic fatalities.

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The Case That Struck Down the Death Penalty

Allen Gregory was going to be put to death for aggravated murder—yet more than 20 years after the crime, Gregory’s appeal to the Washington Supreme Court resulted in an unprecedented court-ordered analysis of death penalty cases and, ultimately, the end of capital punishment in the state. The new issue of NWLawyer takes a long look […]

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Appeals Court Weighs in on Successor Personal Representative Malpractice Claims

Division I of the Washington Court of Appeals recently addressed whether a successor personal representative had standing to bring a legal malpractice claim against a law firm that had worked solely with an earlier personal representative. The answer: “No.” In reaching its conclusion, the Court of Appeals in Benjamin v. Singleton, ___ Wn. App. 2d […]

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Acupuncture for Lawyers: How an Old Method Has New Potential

I used to joke that practicing law was the worst thing I’d ever done for my health, both mental and physical. Turns out, it wasn’t really a joke and I am not alone. For myself, I have found tremendous benefit from acupuncture, the centuries-old method of treating mental and physical ailments with fine needles applied […]

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Highlights & Accomplishments in the Legislative Session

The 105-day 2019 regular session, the biennial “long session” in the Washington state Legislature, has come to an end. From the beginning in Jan. 14 through adjournment on April 28, legislators passed a myriad of policy measures, as well as a new 2019-2021 state operating budget (including plans for increased higher-education spending and a rebuild […]

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‘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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Why I Want to Be a Lawyer—A Fat, White-Passing Womxn of Color and the Law

My decision to go into law began in the dark. That’s the first thing I remember: darkness. I was eight years old and about to see something no eight year old should. I remember realizing I wasn’t alone when I saw the circular glow of flashlights sliding across the walls of our two-bedroom apartment just […]

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My Journey from Real Estate Law to Real Estate Sales

In the fall of 2014, as the economy recovered from the recession and the need for distressed property attorneys diminished, I faced a career conundrum: either master a new area of law or pursue a new professional path. As you can tell from the title of this article, I pursued a new path that diverted […]

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Update from Olympia: WSBA’s Request Legislation and More Headed to the Governor

The final weeks of the Washington state legislative session are marked by long nights on the chamber floors as legislators vote on bills from the opposite house before the April 17 cutoff and push to pass legislation by April 28, the last day of the scheduled regular session. WSBA’s request legislation—Senate Bill (SB) 5003—was a […]

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Stress in Life and the Law

Stress is ever present in modern-day society. Individuals worry about money, time, families, relationships, careers. Some stress is beneficial and positive: the stress of a new baby, the stress of a promotion, the stress of personal growth. But more and more, stress is passing a tipping point from short-term, motivating, and positive, to long-term, chronic, […]

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Pretrial Reform in Washington Jails—An Interview With Judge Mary Logan

In 2016, there were nearly as many people in Washington county jails awaiting trial as the population of Lincoln County. The vast majority of people in jails throughout the state have not been convicted of a crime: 77 percent of them, according to findings outlined in the recently released Pretrial Reform Task Force Final Recommendations […]

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Court of Appeals Discusses Elected Prosecutor Conflicts

Division III of the Washington State Court of Appeals recently, in a split decision, drew from a 1988 death penalty case to refine the determination for when a prosecutor’s client conflict might extend to the office as a whole. State v. Nickels, ___ Wn. App. 2d___, 434 P.3d 535, 2019 WL 479494 (Feb. 7, 2019) […]

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5 Ways to Advance Your Legal Career with WSBA’s Practice Primer Series

In 2018, John Kennedy and Sharon Wilcoxen met when they each attended the 2018 WSBA Practice Primer Series on Business Law. One year after that serendipitous meeting, they are now in the process of opening their own estate planning and business law firm: Kennedy Wilcoxen PLLC. At the time, Kennedy was working at a law […]

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When Lawyers Decide to Make the Electorate Their Next Boss

The transition from practicing law to crafting legislation is almost as entwined with the legal profession as the yellow legal pad. Many lawyers eventually find themselves drawn to public office, but why? What drove them to take the leap? How does legal training color their approach to public policy? Most importantly, what are they going […]