Clallam County Bar

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Dear Members:

1. Mary Brewer is available as an Adoption Guardian at Litem. If you would like her contact information, please let me know or contact the court administrator.

2. Our local Northwest Justice Project office has a staff attorney position open. I am confident Steve Robins would be happy to answer any questions you may have about the position or provide contact information for interested applicants.

3. Commissioner Basden asked that the following information be forwarded:

I have looked carefully at the statues regarding pre and post placement reports in adoptions. For clarification, when a pre placement report is required, proof of the necessary background checks (i.e. fingerprint check with the FBI) will need to be filed with the Court.
Second, even in situations where a step parent is adopting the child, a post placement report needs to be filed. These should be fairly strait-forward, particularly when the parent and step parent have been married for quite a while. However, I think that the statute requires the report regardless of the length of the relationship.
If anyone has general questions, please contact me for clarification.
Commissioner Brent Basden
4. Rick Peterson was the trial attorney who made the correct and timely objection resulting in the Court of Appeals II reversing and dismissing in State v Toth, 9/29/09. (appellate counsel Backlund & Mistry)
5. We will hold elections for both the 2010 bar president and 2011 president elect at the Christmas Party. Mark your calendars now to save the date! December 18, 2009, at the Bushwacker. There will not be a noon bar lunch on that date.
Lastly – sign up for Clallam Legal as soon as possible – you don’t want to miss this great line-up. If you know anyone who hasn’t received notice or a flyer, let me know so we can be sure everyone has the opportunity to take advantage of this great, local, cheap program with 6 CLE credits approved, 2 of which are ethics!
Carol Mortensen, Outgoing President 2009

CLALLAM LEGAL II

~ Sponsored by the Clallam Jefferson Counties Pro Bono Lawyers ~
Produced by Cliff Tassie, Carol Mortensen, and Selinda BarkhuisCopies of the registration flyer can be obtained by request from Carol Mortensen, Cliff Tassie or Selinda Barkhuis.

CLALLAM LEGAL II
“Even better than Season One”
Date: Friday, November 6, 2009
Refreshments plus: Door prizes including DVD set of Boston Legal Season Two
Location: Port Angeles City Hall Chambers
321 East Fifth Street, Port Angeles, WA 98362

“It’s an Open and Shut Case”
Topics and Speaker Schedule
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. Buffet Breakfast and Refreshments, Registration and Distribution of Course Materials, Introductions by Cliff Tassie
9:00 a.m. – 9:55 a.m. How to sue the Government, Stephen Bulzomi, Messina Bulzomi Christensen, Tacoma, WA
10:00 a.m. – 10:55 a.m. How to read an Insurance Policy, Gary Williams, Quilcene, WA
11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Hot Topics in Family Law, Catherine Wright Smith, Edwards Sieh Smith & Goodfriend PS, Seattle, WA
12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break and No Host Bar Lunch at SoHo Asian Bistro 134 West Front Street; parking lot on left before restaurant
***Lunch cost is $16.00 per person payable to restaurant***
1:30 p.m. – 2:25 p.m. Ethics and Practice challenges for the Small Town Lawyer, Jeff Tolman, Tolman & Kirk, Poulsbo, WA
2:30 p.m. – 3:25 p.m. Traps in the Current Rules of Professional Conduct, Leland Ripley, Duvall, WA
3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Back to the Basics, A potpourri, Judge Ken Williams, Clallam County Superior Court

CLE credit approval is pending for 6 CLE credits
(4 general credits and 2 ethics credits).
Pre-registration cost is $150.00**. ($175.00** at the door) All proceeds go to Clallam Jefferson Counties Pro Bono Lawyers.
Portions of Boston Legal Season Two will be shown throughout the seminar.

Send or fax your completed registration form and mail your check to:
Carol Mortensen or Cliff Tassie
111 East 3rd Street 804 South Oak Street
Port Angeles, WA 98362 Port Angeles, WA 98362
Phone (360) 452-1112 Phone (360) 457-1139
fax (360) 452-1168 fax (360) 452-1168
Prepayment: $150.00** Day of Seminar: $175.00**
Make checks payable to Clallam Jefferson Counties Pro Bono Lawyers. All proceeds go to support Clallam Jefferson Counties Pro Bono Lawyers.
**The cost for each credit is $20.00. The balance is used to support the program.

Bar Lunch 9/18/09: CLE Commissioner Basden on Settlement Conferences

Dear Bar Members:
Please confirm as soon as possible your expected attendance at the Friday, September 18, 2009, bar lunch at Soho.  Commissioner Basden will be speaking about new Settlement Conference rules and forms, and updating on new Family Law statutes.

LUNCH: $13.00 payable to Soho Asian Bistro
CLE: $20.00 payable to Pro Bono

Thanks, Carol Mortensen

Welcome Robert Rosenberg

Clallamcountybar.com would like welcome Robert M. Rosenberg. Robert graduated from Claremont McKenna College in 1977 with a BA in Asian Studies and from the University of Houston College of Law in 1980. Since graduating from law school, he has practiced out of Houston, Texas.

Over the years, he has concentrated his litigation practice to commercial law, including commercial bankruptcy cases, civil rights, Title VII, ERISA, appellate, and both capital and non-capital habeas defense work. In addition to recently being admitted to the Washington State Bar, he is licensed to practice in Texas, in both the state and federal courts, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court. While in Houston, he served on the board of the local chapter of the ACLU, the Texas Human Right Foundation, and was a volunteer attorney for both organizations as well as many non-profit arts organizations. He also served on the State Bar of Texas grievance committee for six years.

Robert recently relocated to Port Angeles with his partner of 10 years, John Diller, a designer at Westport Marine.  He can be reached at 832-816-2955.

Condolences to Harry Jackson

Harry Jackson’s long time friend and wife, Maria Luisa Jackson, passed away on Tuesday, June 30th, 2009. Mr. Jackson’s devotion to his wife was a model for all. Funeral services have not been set.

Changes to local rules

On June 29, 2009, the Clallam County Superior Court implemented changes to LCR 77(k), and LCR 94(f) (with Exhibit A), and Administrative rule 0.3, and added Administrative Rule 0.5, 0.6, 0.7

Of particular note for family law practictioners, LCR 94(f) makes substantial changes to the settlement conference procedures, and imposes heavy financial santcions for failing to comply with the rule. For example,  settlement conference briefs are now mandatory using the required form, and if filed late incur mandatory sanctions of $250-$500. Failing to appear at a settlement conference, without court permission, yields a mandatory sanction of $250.

Administrative rule 0.7 requires all pleadings to be in at least 12 point type.

Local rules may be found at www.courts.wa.gov

New Ways for Families CLE

Training for the New Ways for Families program is confirmed and the information is below.

TRAINING:
Cost: $20
CLE credit: 1.5
Date: Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Time 8-9:30
Location: Peninsula Community Mental Health Center, 118 E. 8th Street,
Port Angeles
Trainer: Bill Eddy (program designer)

New Ways is a counseling/life skills-training program for parents involved in custody issues (divorce, paternity and dependency) and is designed to reduce parental conflict and in particular the exposure of that conflict to the children. It is based on several research studies, including the new longitudinal study from La Trobe University which provides strong research findings that facilitating the parents to “hear” their children makes a decided and enduring difference in the reduction of conflict, reduction of litigation, improvement in the stability of families, and satisfaction of parents with parenting arrangements.

Bill Eddy, the New Ways developer, will be in Victoria, and has graciously offered to come to Port Angeles the following day to do the training in person. At this time, we have about 15 counselors from Clallam and Jefferson committed to take the training (including PCMHC), and most of the family law bar as well. The program will have the most impact if counselors, judges and attorneys understand the program, so I do recommend all family law attorneys take the training. Three (cheap) CLE credits are provided, and a solid grounding in this tool will help you help your clients maximize whatever their goals may be.

The Clallam and Jefferson judges have expressed interest in the program, although they are keen for feedback from the attorneys and are truly interested in cooperative efforts with the bar. I encourage everyone to communicate with the judges if you have any thoughts or opinions about the program, pro or con.

You can find more info at:

Homepage

Please feel free to call me if you have any questions or would like to know more about the program.

Regards,
Mark Baumann
360-452-8688
http://markbaumann.com/new-ways-for-families™

Christopher J. Riffle to take oath of attorney.

Christopher J. Riffle, a new associate with Platt Irwin Law Firm, will take the oath of attorney administered by Judge S. Brooke Taylor on May 18, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. at the Clallam County Superior Court.

All attorneys and staff are invited to attend. Reception following at Platt Irwin Law Firm, 403 S. Peabody, Port Angeles from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Mediation training

Laura O’Neill from Peninsula Dispute Resolution Center advised today that there is another traning coming up in April. The cost of the 40 hour training is $495.00 per attendee and a total of 36 CLE credits will be awarded to any who attend.

The program is scheduled for April 16, 17, 18, 23, 24 and 25. The program will be in Sequim. You can check the website at PDRC.org to view the flyer for additional details such as hours, location and registration information.

Ms. O’Neill also indicated that she is working on a program targeted at attorneys which will have an evening schedule over a number of weeks. If you are interested in a program in the evening, you may want to express your interest directly to her.

CLE: Attachment and the Foster Child

Attachement and the Foster Child

Randi Hankins, noted speaker on the dominant approach to childhood attachment theory, will be presenting on March 25, 2009, at the Port Angeles, WA, DCFS office at 201 W. 1st Street, from 9-4. There is no cost for this seminar.

Topics include:
– Trauma and its impact
– How trauma and attachment problems impact behavior
– Running away, power struggles, defiant behavior
– Real tools for caregives
– Strategies to improve behavior and attachment
– Parenting skills

To register, email Bill Todd

“Although not without its critics, attachment theory has been described as the dominant approach to understanding early social development and to have given rise to a great surge of empirical research into the formation of children’s close relationships.[17] As it is presently formulated and used for research purposes, Bowlby’s attachment theory stresses the following important tenets: 1) children between 6 and about 30 months are very likely to form emotional attachments to familiar caregivers, especially if the adults are sensitive and responsive to child communications. 2) The emotional attachments of young children are shown behaviorally in their preferences for particular familiar people, their tendency to seek proximity to those people, especially in times of distress, and their ability to use the familiar adults as a secure base from which to explore the environment. 3) The formation of emotional attachments contributes to the foundation of later emotional and personality development, and the type of behavior toward familiar adults shown by toddlers has some continuity with the social behaviors they will show later in life. 4) Events that interfere with attachment, such as abrupt separation of the toddler from familiar people or the significant inability of carers to be sensitive, responsive or consistent in their interactions, have short-term and possible long-term negative impacts on the child’s emotional and cognitive life.”
From Wikipedia.com,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Bowlby#The_.22Attachment_and_Loss.22_trilogy