Clallam County Bar

Clallam County lawyers & legal news

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Brian Parker appointed as new Family Law Court Commissioner

Brian Parker has will serve as the next Clallam County Superior Court Commissioner beginning in January 2025.  

Brian graduated from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2003, and then received an LL.M. in International Law from Australian National University School of Law in 2005. 

Brian was admitted to practice law in Washington State in December, 2008. At the time he accepted the Commissioner position he worked for the Port Gardner Law Group, based in Everett. 

Brian has worked for a variety of law firms specializing in family law, guardianships, criminal defense, probate, protection orders, as well as miscellaneous civil matters. 

For almost two years he has served as a part time Superior Court Commissioner Pro Tempore in Snohomish County.  In this role he has handled motions on the domestic, civil, ex parte, guardianship, probate, child support, and protection order calendars.  He is also experienced in non-litigation solutions such as mediation and collaborative family law efforts.

ClallamCountyBar.com welcomes Brian to Clallam County!

WashingtonAffordableLawyers.com now available

ClallamCountyBar.com is pleased to announce that Jordan Kostelyk has published a list of low bono (low cost) lawyers at Washington Affordable Lawyers, https://washingtonaffordablelawyers.com/. The site offers a list of lawyers who provide low bono, or reduced fee, legal services. Most lawyers on the list are not located in Clallam County, but many of them will consider taking cases in Clallam County.

Out of county lawyers can practice here because the Clallam County Superior Court allows electronic filing (except for the original petition), purchase of court pleadings online, and pre-trial court appearances by Zoom or phone.

Here is a link to an article about a Brief History of Low Bono in Washington.

For lawyers who wish to be listed at https://washingtonaffordablelawyers.com/, the listing is free. Contact Jordan Kostelyk at jordankostelykatlaw @ gmail.com (remove the spaces in that email address).

Clallam County Superior Court Commissioner applications being taken

Superior Court Family Law Commissioner Elizabeth Stanley will become a Superior Court Judge in January, 2025. The Clallam Superior Court is now taking applications to replace Commissioner Stanley. Applications must be submitted by September 9, 2024. More details are in the Court’s letter below.

2024-08-08 – Clallam County Superior Court – Court Commissioner PositionDownload

Peace Discipline – one minute videos

Peace Discipline is a parenting website offering a rich source of free and state-of-the-art parenting tools, tips, video how-to’s, and the results of their 5-year research study. Peace Discipline is owned by Karen Quail. She offers parenting classes, some are general and some are specific, such as for parents of children with ADHD or ASD. You can watch their videos on their YouTube channel, or sign up for their email newsletter and get their very cool 1-minute videos delivered right to you every week.

Karen Quail is also available for private parent-coaching.

Click here to go the Peace Discipline sign email sign-up page: https://www.peacediscipline.com/#footer

CLE Bonanza 2023

The annual Clallam County CLE is November 3, 2023. It is hosted by the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers. The registration fee is $225 and includes a box lunch.

Contact Shauna or Mary at the CJCPBL for registration and location information, at [email protected], or 360-504-2422.

Topics and speakers

  • Keynote: A Discussion with Washington’s Solicitor General. Local AAG counsel Kristin Glenn and Ariel Speser will moderate a discussion with Washington’s AGO Noah Purcell.
  • Ethics of client communication. Jeanne Marie Clavere, Senior Professional Responsibility Counsel, WSBA.
  • Cultural Humility, Race Equity and Trauma-informed Practices in Pro Bono Work. Ada Shen-Jaffe, JustLead Washington, Leadership Academy and Race Equity Program, Office of Public Defense.
  • To Criminalize or Not to Criminalize: Washington’s Ongoing Experiment with System Response to Drug Possession. Grace O’Conner, Managing attorney, Blake Defense Program, Office of Public Defense.
  • A view from the Supreme Court. Justice Susan Owens

All proceeds directly fund civil legal aid services for low-income and vulnerable clients in Clallam and Jefferson Counties.

This event is in-person only. No online attendance options are available.

CLE: Supporting financial security of client funds

The Clallam County Bar Association will be co-hosting a Zoom CLE training for the legal community on protecting client funds. The program is titled “A few simple things you can do today to avoid a security incident.” Currently, multiple financial industries are experiencing high volumes of fraud. Recently, a lawyer practicing in Clallam County had their email account hacked and their client was robbed a great deal of money by following apparent instructions from the lawyer. This training will help our community shore up local at tacks.

The CLE is on September 29, 2023, from noon-1:00 p.m.

Presenter: Michael J. Cherry

Michael has been working with computers, starting at one of the largest data centers in Canada, and building some of the first and largest computer networks. He worked at Microsoft for 10 years, including working on the network components that became part of Windows NT, and eventually, became part of the Windows client OS. He was admitted to the bar in 2014 and operated his own firm advising startups and other firms on privacy and cybersecurity law. Currently, he is the chair of the Washington Supreme Court’s Practice of Law Board, and he tries to volunteer once a week with the KCBA Housing Justice Project.

The Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers office is co-hosting the session. Contact them or CCBA president James Rodriguez for login information.

Elizabeth Stanley appointed as new Family Law Court Commissioner

Elizabeth Stanley has been appointed as the new full-time Family Court Commissioner in Clallam County Superior Court.  Her first day on the bench will be February 27, 2023. 

The Clallam County Family Court Commissioner handles all family law matters except trials, which includes motions for temporary orders addressing parenting plans, child and spousal support, temporary property division, restraining orders, and settlement conferences. The Commissioner position also handles child-welfare cases (dependency matters), truancy At-Risk Youth hearings, and therapeutic courts which serve families.  

Elizabeth was appointed by the Clallam County Superior Court judges, Brent Basden, Lauren Erickson, and Simon Barnhart, in a closed process. Applicants to the position were not disclosed to the public, nor were the Judge’s decision making processes. After selecting Elizabeth, the judges issued a press release describing her qualifications.

Elizabeth graduated cum laude with her law degree from American University in Washington, DC.  She obtained her bachelor’s degree, also cum laude, from Barnard College of Columbia University in New York.  She obtained her first law license in 2008 and was admitted to the Arizona Bar Association in 2010 (according to Arizona State Bar Association records). She was also admitted to the New York Bar Association. She was admitted to the Washington State Bar Association in 2016, and was also admitted to practice law in the Quileute Tribal Court. 

Her most recent work has been as the the chief civil deputy in the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, where she handled non-family law matters such as employment and land use law.  Prior to that, she was the prosecutor and attorney for the Quileute Tribal Court. She worked as an Assistant Attorney General with the State of Arizona, where she did dependency work representing the State. In New York she worked as an Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department.

Brandon Mack appointed Judge of Jefferson County Superior Court

Clallam County Commissioner Brandon Mack has been appointed by State Governor Jay Inslee as the Superior Court Judge of Jefferson County. He replaces former judge Keith Harper. Commissioner Mack’s last day as a Clallam County Commissioner is scheduled to be January 13, 2023.

As of December 28, 2022, there is no person designated to replace Commissioner Mack. The Clallam County Superior Court will begin the process of advertising for and selecting a replacement. Until a replacement is selected and trained, one of the three Clallam County Superior Court judges will handle family law, protection orders, juvenile, truancy, dependency, Youth At Risk , and settlement conference matters on the calendars/schedules they are normally held.

Judge Harper took the bench as Superior Court Judge on January 14, 2013, and is retiring at the end of January, 2023.

Brandon Mack obtained his bachelor’s degree at the University of Vermont, and his law degree at Seattle University School of Law. Prior to his appointment as the Clallam County Family Court Commissioner in 2019, he worked since 2009 as a deputy Attorney General for the State of Washington.

Prior Jefferson County Judges

Craddock D. Verser, 2004-2013
Thomas J. Majhan, 2000-2004
William E. Howard, 1982-2000
Gerald B. Chamberlin, 1981-1982
Tyler C. Moffett, 1974-1980

Clallam Resilience Project: NOHN, the Olympic Peninsula’s community health center: a vision for resilience

Why are community health clinics a model for resilience? 

Is it the ability for “upstream” engagement? 

Or addressing the social determinants of health? 

Come learn about North Olympic Health Network (NOHN) from Carlos Osorio, Community Outreach and Navigation Department Manager.  He will speak to how NOHN serves our community by connecting residents with resources, like the mobile clinic, that help them get and stay healthy. 

Meeting details

January 3, 2023, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.

Hosted by Carlos Osorio, North Olympic Health Network

Join Zoom Meeting

  • Meeting ID: 899 2819 4489  Passcode: HOPE  
  • Dial in by phone: +1 253 215 8782     Phone Passcode: 706561

Hosted by the the Clallam Resilience Project, a United Way of Clallam County project.

For more information, contact Sydney Crowe, program manager for the Clallam Resilience Project, [email protected].

District Court I defense lawyer list

The Clallam County District Court I (Port Angeles) provides a list of lawyers who practice criminal misdemeanor work in the county. To be on the list, simply send your contact information to the District Court Administrator, Lisa Hardy.

Lisa is at 223 E. 4th Street, Port Angeles WA 98362. Her email address is [email protected].

There is no fee for being on the list.