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Month: March 2017

New WestlawNext Content at KCLL!

Subject Matter Forms

More than 600,000 up-to-date national and state-specific forms and other drafting resources, including text forms, official PDF forms (eforms), along with checklists and clauses.

Examples:

  • Motion for Extension of Time to Answer Interrogatories;
  • Prenuptial Property Agreements;
  • Form Drafting Guide – Checklist – Information to be obtained and matters to be considered when drafting a Will;
  • 9th Circuit Civil Appeals Toolkit including forms (Notice of Appeal, Appellant’s Brief, etc.)

Trial Court Documents, such as Pleadings, Motions and Memoranda:

Access civil and criminal court filings from state and federal jurisdictions.

Westlaw’s Full Treatise Collection! (sampling below)

Commercial Law:
  • Lawrence’s Anderson on the Uniform Commercial Code
  • Consumer Credit and the Law by Richard M. Alderman and Dee Pridgen
  • Consumer Protection and the Law by Dee Pridgen
  • Williston on Contracts 4th by Samuel Williston
Corporations:
  • Partnership Law and Practice by J. William Callison
  • Restatement of the Law – Charitable Nonprofit Organizations
  • Fletcher Cyclopedia of the Law of Private Corporations by William Meade Fletcher
Criminal Law:
  • Wharton’s Criminal Law & Criminal Evidence
  • Search and Seizure: A Treatise on the Fourth Amendment by Wayne LeFave
Estate Planning:
  • The Law of Trusts and Trustees: a Treatise covering the Law Relating to Trusts and Allied Subjects affecting Trust Creation and Administration: with Forms by Amy Morris Hess and George Gleason Bogert and George Taylor Bogert
Government Contracts:
  • Government Contract Guidebook by Steven W. Feldman
Land Use Law (Real Property):
  • American Law of Zoning by Patricia E. Salkin
  • Rathkopf’s The Law of Zoning and Planning by Edward H. Zieglar, Jr
Tax Law:
  • The Law of Federal Income Taxation by Jacob Mertens

 

Anyone can use WestlawNext for up to two hours a day at one of our library branch locations. Learn more about our legal research databases here.

Washington Supreme Court Chief Justice sends letter to Department of Homeland Security regarding immigration enforcement activities in Washington Courts

In response to a recent uptick in immigration enforcement activities around Washington courthouses, Washington State Supreme Court Chief Justice Mary Fairhurst sent a letter to Secretary John Kelly of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security expressing concerns and possible solutions. Full text of the letter can be found by clicking here.

Citing reports from lawyers and judges about this increased presence, Fairhurst said, “These developments are deeply troubling because they impede the fundamental mission of our courts, which is to ensure due process and access to justice for everyone, regardless of immigration status.

Highlighting that the fear of apprehension, even for those with lawful immigration status, may deter individuals from accessing courthouses, Fairhurst said, “Our ability to function relies on individuals who voluntarily appear to participate and cooperate in the process of justice.”

“When people are afraid to appear for court hearings, out of fear of apprehension, their ability to access justice is compromised,” she said, adding, “their absence curtails the capacity of our judges, clerks and court personnel to function effectively…and risk making our communities less safe.” Lawyers report that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) activities are occurring at courthouses in Clark, Clallam, Cowlitz, King, Skagit and Mason counties.

In addition to welcoming a meeting to discuss the issue further, Fairhurst encourages the Department to designate courthouses as “sensitive locations” – a term used by the Department of Homeland Security in Policy 10029.2 to guide and limit such activities in locations such as schools and universities, places of worship, community centers and hospitals.

While a “sensitive location” designation does not preclude enforcement actions on these sites, the policy states that these venues will generally be avoided to enhance the public understanding and trust to ensure people seeking to participate in activities or utilize services are free to do so without fear or hesitation.

Designating courts as sensitive locations will, “assist us in maintaining the trust that is required for the court to be a safe and neutral public forum. It will assure our residents that they can and should appear for court hearings without fear of apprehension for civil immigration violations,” wrote Fairhurst.

 

Read the original version of this article here.

Washington Courts Media Contacts:

Wendy K. Ferrell
Judicial Communications Manager
360.705.5331
e-mail Wendy.Ferrell@courts.wa.gov		 Lorrie Thompson
Communications Officer
360.705.5347
Lorrie.Thompson@courts.wa.gov

Trump Budget Eliminates Legal Services Corporation Funding

President Donald Trump’s proposed 2018 budget eliminates funding for the Legal Services Corporation (LSC). In his first budget proposal released Thursday, Trump is cutting discretionary spending to pay for an increase in defense spending and the wall on the Mexican border, the Washington Post reports.

The LSC is among 19 agencies in line for total elimination of funding. Others agencies to be cut include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the National Endowment for the Arts, according to the Post and USA Today.

The American Bar Association is “outraged” that the Trump administration is calling to eliminate funding for the LSC and is calling upon members of Congress to restore it, ABA President Linda Klein said in a statement Thursday. Klein noted that LSC offices are in every congressional district and help 1.9 million people annually.

“Some of the worthy services the LSC provides include securing housing for veterans, protecting seniors from scams, delivering legal services to rural areas, protecting victims of domestic abuse and helping disaster survivors,” Klein wrote. “More than 30 cost-benefit studies all show that legal aid delivers far more in benefits than it costs,” Klein wrote. “If veterans become homeless, or disaster victims cannot rebuild, their costs to society are significantly more.”

Also supporting the LSC are the heads of more than 150 U.S. law firms, who told Trump in a letter that eliminating funding would hamper their ability to provide pro bono representation because they partner with legal aid groups receiving LSC funding.

“Eliminating the Legal Services Corp. will not only imperil the ability of civil legal aid organizations to serve Americans in need, it will also vastly diminish the private bar’s capacity to help these individuals,” the letter stated. “The pro bono activity facilitated by LSC funding is exactly the kind of public-private partnership the government should encourage, not eliminate.”

The LSC requested $502 million for fiscal year 2017 and received $385 million in appropriations for fiscal year 2016.

LSC President Jim Sandman remained optimistic about the outlook for the LSC in an interview with Bloomberg Big Law Business. He said he expected Congress to ignore Trump’s proposal and to grant the full $502 million funding request.

“We represent a fundamental American value—equal justice,” Sandman told Bloomberg. “That’s a value as old as the republic itself. Congress understands that.”

In an attempt to save the LSC, the American Bar Association is launching a grassroots campaign to engage constituents around the country to fight to save the LSC. Here is how it works:

  • Go to www.DefendLegalAid.org to register as Legal Aid Defenders and show your support for legal aid organizations.
  • Create a short message for our Members of Congress and submit your contact information to create a Legal Aid Defender card. The cards can be personalized by submitting a photo.
  • The ABA will print and hand-deliver every card to members of Congress (three cards for each participant – a House Member and two Senators).
  • The cards will be delivered by state delegations during ABA Day in Washington (April 25th – April 27th).

The King County Law Library is a proud provider of free legal aid services, as well as a partner with several pro bono legal aid organizations in King County. Eliminating funding for the LSC will have a direct impact on our ability to continue offering legal aid services. Please consider defending the funding of LSC. For more information about how you can help legal aid in addition to becoming a Legal Aid Defender, please go to www.HelpLegalAid.org.

 

Read the original version of this article here.