A federal judge in Seattle is fed up with "hyperbole and bluster" in a lawsuit alleging that State Farm failed to pay full policy benefits to homeowners after a house fire.
The Washington Supreme Court has authorized a pilot project that will allow nonlawyer entities to provide legal and law-related services in Washington.
King County in Washington can’t prevent the federal government from using a Seattle-area airport for chartered deportation flights, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals at San Francisco ruled last week.
A successful land use and zoning attorney living in a $1.4 million condo with his wife in Seattle was sentenced last week to two years of probation for making a false statement when he sought to renew his passport.
It’s no secret that lawyers have a high rate of problem drinking. According to data from the ABA, “as many as one in five lawyers is a problem drinker—twice the national rate.” These drinkers are able to keep their jobs because they’re considered to be either gray area drinkers or functional alcoholics. The former display early signs of an alcohol use disorder, while the latter appear to be somewhat in control of their drinking.
Much has been made of the gigantic access-to-justice gap in this country. One possible way to help bridge the gap is to expand the pool of people eligible to practice law. Of course, that raises age-old concerns about unauthorized practice of law.
Nevada will move forward on its proposal for a unique three-stage assessment for bar licensure that does not include using the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen bar exam—but might include the test being developed by Kaplan Exam Services for the State Bar of California.
Nonlawyer-owned entities would be allowed to deliver legal services in Washington under a pilot program proposed by the Washington State Bar Association and a board created by the Washington Supreme Court.
Many states are facing a crisis in public defense because of low pay, excessive caseloads, frequent burnout and a “great resignation” of qualified attorneys that began during the pandemic and shows no signs of ebbing.
Updated: A former public defender who represents a detainee at Guantanamo Bay is the winner of the 2024 ABA Journal/Ross Writing Contest for Legal Short Fiction.
A Washington lawyer has agreed to give up his law license, rather than fight allegations stemming from his guilty plea to misdemeanor assaults on a Delta Air Lines flight and after a work-sponsored event.
Many states are trying to figure out how to help people like 44-year-old lawyer Rob Dart, who is living on the streets of Los Angeles after rejecting his medication for psychosis.
While 24 states have legalized recreational marijuana use, it remains a criminal activity under the federal Controlled Substances Act, and bankruptcy courts generally have been a rather hostile forum for debtors employed in the marijuana industry.
An increasing number of law schools around the country are offering cannabis law courses, but some professors think that even more are needed. “We’re still playing catch-up.”
