Clallam County Bar

Clallam County lawyers & legal news

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Donica Ramsey joins Ralston Law

Donica Ramsey will be joining Ralston Law after being sworn in as a new lawyer on September 22, 2022. She graduated from the University of Seattle School of Law in the spring of 2022 and passed the bar examination the same year.

Donica’s area of practice will be estate planning, probate, business law, real estate, and family law.

She is originally from Texas and moved to Washington in 2018 to begin her threes of law school in Seattle.

Ralston Law, PLLC, is located at 403 S Peabody St, Port Angeles, WA 98362 (in the old Platt Irwin building). Their phone number is (360) 226-2633.

Order to shorten time procedure

The Clallam County Superior Court has issued guidelines for the procedure to shorten the notice time required for motions.

The following is the process for obtaining an order shortening the time for proper notice on either a civil or a criminal matter.

  1. If the parties agree to an order shortening time, that order signed by both parties can be presented to the Court Administrator and the order will be reviewed in chambers.
  2. If the parties do not agree, the following process is required:
    a. The party seeking the order should notify the other party of an intent to appear on the ex parte calendar (civil or criminal) to ask for an order shortening time.
    b. On the ex parte calendar, the following documents are needed:
    i. The substantive motion which will ultimately be at issue, including any declarations which support that motion.
    ii. A motion to shorten the notice requirements to hear the substantive motion, and a declaration explaining the request. The declaration must describe what efforts were made to notify the other party of the intent to appear on the ex parte calendar seeking the order shortening time.
    iii. An order shortening time with a blank line for the court to set a time when the hearing on the substantive motion will occur. This order should also have additional space for the court to write in any other provisions which are
    necessary.

The procedural notice was sent by the Superior Court via Clerk Kaysey Clayton on September 21, 2022 to the Clallam County Bar lawyer’s listserv.

Free legal advice: Veteran’s Stand Down October 6, 2022

Clallam Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers will be participating in the upcoming Stand Down on Thursday, October 6th.  The event will be held at the Clallam County fairgrounds from 9-3. The range of legal advice depends on lawyers present and can range from landlord/tenant to family to wills and sometimes criminal record expungement. There is no need to RSVP.

Lawyers who wish to provide services at the event should contact the pro bono office (https://cjcpbl.org/).

Judges domestic violence manual available online

The Washington Court’s 2016 official Domestic Violence Manual for Judges is available online at https://www.courts.wa.gov/index.cfm?fa=home.contentDisplay&location=manuals/domViol/index.

It is available as a searchable series of web pages and as one PDF file for downloading.

The DV manual is a bit disorganized since it is written by a series of authors, but overall it is a fairly comprehensive review of domestic violence. It has not been updated to include information about Washington’s new domestic violence law in RCW 7.105, which was adopted in July 2022.

It does talk about coercive control, but not as defined in RCW 7.105. Washington’s new law allows for people to obtain a protection order based on coercive control which does not involve physical violence. However, the concept of coercive control has been around for many years and the 2016 Judge’s DV Manual references the concept.

Free legal advice Saturday October 15 2022

On Saturday, October 15, 2022, the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers will provide a free legal aid clinic from 10-noon, by phone or zoom.

It helps the pro bono office if clients register in advance, but it is not necessary. Contact information is below.

Legal topics which can be discussed in these pro bono sessions may include:

  • Divorce, custody, child support and other family law matters
  • Landlord-tenant issues
  • Domestic violence and sexual assault
  • Creditor issues and bankruptcy
  • Estate planning
  • Employment
  • Foreclosure

Registering in advance is required by calling 360-504-2422, or emailing [email protected].

Additional free legal clinics will be offered every other month throughout 2022. The last free session is on December 3rd.

Boundaries with teenagers: Peace Discipline training

Peace Discipline is offering a one day training on holding boundaries with teenagers. Topics will include alcohol and other substances, managing screen time, dating, and more. Questions from participants are encouraged. Registration information is below.

Peace Discipline is one of the best parenting models and based on state of the art parenting and relationship science. The Peace Discipline toolkit of discipline techniques is available free, as is the research their program is based on.

The boundaries with teenagers class is offered online on Thursday, August 4, 2022, from 10:00 a.m. to noon (Port Angeles time). The class is free if you make a donation to Funda Lali.

Karen Quail and Peace Discipline

Peace Discipline was developed by Karen Quail who lives in South Africa. The class time is 7-9pm in South Africa, which is 10am-noon in Port Angeles. It will be a great opportunity to meet parents on another continent who are struggling with the exact same issues you are.

Funda Lali is a South African non-profit organization supporting under-resourced schools in rural areas.

Karen Quails mission in life is to help reduce violence by starting with parents and their children. Her parenting techniques brilliantly help parents guide their children with love and kindness to help their children optimize their neural development.

Registration information

To register, go to the Funda Lali web page, https://fundalali.org.za/ and make a donation.

Your donation will be in Rand, which is the name of the South African currency. Karen is asking for a 100 Rand donation, which is about $6 in U.S. money. The normal price for the class is 300 Rand which is just under $20 U.S. On the first screen where you are asked to make a donation, put in the amount of Rand. On the next page you’ll see the amount with “R” in front of it. You will get other confirmations that the donation was in Rand.

Then forward your receipt to Karen Quail at [email protected], and ask to be registered.

Then, enjoy! Karen is a delightful speaker who offers lots of practical advice and good examples. See you there!

15 year anniversary for ClallamCountyBar.com

July 21, 2022 is the 15th anniversary of ClallamCountyBar.com! The first post was on July 21, 2007. Since then hundreds of posts have covered a variety of legal related topics, ranging from notices about change of addresses, new law practices and end of practices, job postings, notable cases such as the murder trial for Dennis Marvin Bauer, judicial elections, and information for both professionals and the public.

ClallamCountyBar.com (CCB.com for short) provides blogs, useful links, lawyer lists, local providers of law related services, and access to legal information.

CCB.com has covered COVID updates, provides Zoom links for courtrooms, and changes to how the Clallam County court system is improving the ways people can access justice and the legal system, such as the new e-filing system and ability to file court documents by dropping in the drop box in front of the courthouse. The site offers the only local and comprehensive list of local lawyers, in both a list of all lawyers in private practice and lists by area of practice.

CCB.com provides notices and access to justice related topics such as pro bono, domestic violence, parenting, food security, and offers a list of local people providing law-related services. There are multiple blogs on the site for local news, family law information, CLE events, pro bono events, and a DV blog.

CCB.com also serves a local portal for law related information and links such as to where people can find court dockets, weekly court calendars, and court forms.

CCB.com is favored in Google searches because it is a reliable resource which has been around a long time.

Please contact the editor if you are a lawyer or service provider and are not listed or have notices you would like posted. CCB.com highlights photographs of local places and events, please let us know if you wish to donate your photograph.

Free legal advice August 20 2022

On Saturday, August 20, 2022, the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers will provide a free legal aid clinic from 10-noon, by phone or zoom.

It helps the pro bono office if clients register in advance, but it is not necessary. Contact information is below.

Legal topics which can be discussed in these pro bono sessions may include:

  • Divorce, custody, child support and other family law matters
  • Landlord-tenant issues
  • Domestic violence and sexual assault
  • Creditor issues and bankruptcy
  • Estate planning
  • Employment
  • Foreclosure

Registering in advance is required by calling 360-504-2422, or emailing [email protected].

Additional free legal clinics will be offered every other month throughout 2022, on October 15, and December 3rd.

COVID rate is “incredibly high” -May 2022

The rate of COVID-19 infections in Clallam County is very high, much higher than any time in 2020. Professionals and business owners should be setting an example by having all employees wear masks.

Professionals and business owners who chose to not wear masks in public are putting their own interests ahead of the health needs of others and of our medical community and society.

The state case rate was 185 at the end of April, 2022. According to our County Health Officer Allison Berry, the case rate in Clallam County is higher, incredibly higher, at least 403. We pay her to warn us, she has. She “strongly recommends masking in indoor spaces.”

Long COVID is common, in up to 30-60% of infected people.

Long term COVID damage to overall health includes increased blood clots, and damage to the heart, brain, and lungs.

COVID can cause long term mental health problems.

COVID in children is common, as is long term damage.

The government has lost heart to mandate masks, actively engage in community education, or provide economic support for sick people.

You have the freedom to wear a mask and the freedom to shop where it’s safe.

It’s up to us to protect ourselves and our community.

(The graphics above are from the Washington State COVID-19 dashboard)

Eviction law training for lawyers and public

Navigating Eviction in 2022, a training and panel hosted by the Clallam-Jefferson County Pro Bono Lawyers. The session will provide a summary of the recent changes in eviction laws and resources in Washington State. It will be held on Friday, May 27th, from noon to 1:30. Speakers and panelists include Ted Howard, Hanna Harrison, Judge Simon Barnhart, Renee Riopelle, and Cherish Cronmiller. They will explore both landlord and tenant perspectives.

The session will provide a summary of recent changes in eviction laws, and identify available Washington resources. It will also include a discussion about the ERPP program which facilitates communication between landlords and tenants.

This event is open to the public with CLE credit for participating attorneys, for anyone with questions about the rights of landlords and tenants. Attendance is free, and donations are encouraged for Clallam County Bar Association members which can be made at cjcpbl.org.

Please call or email CJCPBL for registration at [email protected], [email protected], or 360-504-2422.