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Upcoming Class: Civil Lawsuits Without Tears – The Basics of Representing Yourself in Court

Representing yourself in court is a complicated process and can be overwhelming. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of the civil lawsuit process with a focus on court rules, court procedures, forms, scheduling, and deadlines. Attendees will be granted access to a password protected website with additional information and resources, including the most commonly used civil litigation forms.

This class does not cover immigration proceedings or criminal proceedings such as DUI or felony and misdemeanor offenses.

The workshop will be 90 minutes and will run from 6-7:30pm.

*Registration is Required!* Register online here or call KCLS at 253.859.3330.

When: Tuesday, July 17th, 2018

Where:

Kent Regional Library
212 2nd Avenue North
Kent, WA 98032
Phone: (206) 253.859.3330

Get Directions

Suitable for: Adults

Language: English

Find more information on the King County Library System web site.

Upcoming Class: Civil Law Suits without Tears – The Basics of Representing Yourself in Court

Representing yourself in court is a complicated process and can be overwhelming. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of the civil lawsuit process with a focus on court rules, court procedures, forms, scheduling, and deadlines. Attendees will be granted access to a password protected website with additional information and resources, including the most commonly used civil litigation forms.

Common civil lawsuit types include landlord tenant, family law, wills and probate, garnishment of wages, personal injury, and property disputes, just to name a few. This class does not cover immigration proceedings or criminal proceedings such as DUI or felony and misdemeanor offenses.

The workshop will be 90 minutes and will run from 6-7:30pm.

When: Wednesday, April 18th, 2018 (6:00PM – 7:30PM)

Where: SPL (Seattle Public Library) Central Library, Level 4 Room 2

1000 4th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98104
Level 4, Room 2
Phone: (206) 386-4636

Get Directions

Suitable for: Adults

Language: English

Download a class flyer here.

Find more information on the Seattle Public Library Website.

New Class: Civil Litigation without Tears – The Basics of Representing Yourself in Court

Representing yourself in court is a complicated process and can be overwhelming. In this workshop you will learn the basics of the civil litigation process with a focus on court rules, court procedures, forms, scheduling, and deadlines. Attendees will receive blank copies of some of the most commonly used civil litigation forms and will be granted access to a password protected website with additional information and resources. (Note: This class does not cover criminal litigation.)

The workshop will be 90 minutes and will run from 7-8:30pm.

When: Thursday, March 15, 2018 (7:00PM – 8:30PM)

Where: Kent Branch of the King County Library System

212 2nd Avenue North
Kent, WA 98032
Phone: (253) 859-3330

Get Directions

**Registration is Required.** Register online at the KCLS website.

Suitable for: Adults

Language: English

DACA Legal Clinics and Resources

On Sept. 5, 2017, the Trump Administration announced that it would be ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program as of March 5, 2018.

Update – January 16, 2018: USCIS has posted instructions on how it will begin accepting DACA renewal applications in response to a federal judge’s decision. This only applies to individuals who already have had DACA granted in the past and not to people who would like to pursue initial applications. Here is a link to their announcement. In addition, the Mission Asset Fund has announced that they are accepting applications for scholarships to pay for the renewal application fee at this link.

What is DACA? What are Dreamers?

Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) has been a program established by President Obama in 2012 that granted a temporary protection from deportation known as “deferred action” to undocumented immigrants who came to the U.S. before the age of 16, resided in the U.S. since June 2007, and met other requirements. The 787,580 people protected under this program have been referred to as “Dreamers.”

For more general information on DACA and Dreamers in the news today, check out this article from the Guardian.

What does this mean for folks living in Washington?

The National Immigration Law Center (NILC) has put together the following community advisory for community members interested in renewing their DACA applications.

City of Seattle DACA Resources – Several helpful resources from the City of Seattle

DACA Information – Spanish – Courtesy of Seattle.gov

DACA Information – Traditional Chinese – Courtesy of Seattle.gov

DACA Information – Vietnamese – Courtesy of Seattle.gov

DACA Information – Korean – Courtesy of Seattle.gov

About DACA and Employment – from National Immigrant Law Center

State Financial Aid for Undocumented Immigrant Youth – from Ready Set Grad

What Does Obama’s Directive on “Direct Action” Mean for Me? In Urdu, Korean, Chinese, Bengali – from Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund

Information from Federal Agencies

Updated Information from USCIS – from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services

Information Regarding Social Security Numbers and DACA – from U.S. Social Security Administration

Department of Education Resource Guide for Undocumented Students – from the US Department of Education

The Northwest Immigrant Rights Project and the City of Seattle also have DACA webpages with current information, resources and listings of free legal clinics.

Contact Your Representatives

Stay in the Loop

For the most up-to-date information on the status of DACA, be sure to visit the Seattle Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs DACA resource page.

Statement on Net Neutrality

American Association of Law Libraries Statement on Net Neutrality (AALL) Re: Law Libraries & Access to Justice

The American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) denounces today’s decision by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to repeal U.S. net neutrality rules.

Today’s action undermines a fundamental principle of our democracy, and that is equal access by the public to government information. This action allows Internet Service Providers (IPSs) to block users, slow access, and charge more for certain content. In short, ISPs are now able to determine what information the public can access, what it cannot, and at what cost.

Without net neutrality, law libraries, whose crucial mission relies on the ability to provide users with equitable access to up-to-date online legal information, may not be able to pay the fees for preferred access. These users are not just attorneys but researchers, self-represented litigants, students and small business owners. Without net neutrality, ISPs will have the ability to stifle innovation and suppress free expression.

Net neutrality provides all Internet users with equal access to lawful content on the web, regardless of an ISP’s opinion of the material. AALL strongly urges Congress to act to reverse today’s ill-considered decision by the FCC.

–Greg Lambert
President of AALL,
Chief Knowledge Services Officer, Jackson Walker

Take Action for Libraries – What You Can Do:

Send an email 

On December 14, a majority of FCC commissioners voted to gut net neutrality protections that limit the power of Internet Service Proviers (ISPs) to block, throttle, degrade or preference some online content and services over others. This 3-2 vote to roll back strong, enforceable net neutrality protections was made in the face of widespread protests, millions of public comments and overwhelming opposition from across the political spectrum.

The FCC vote, though, is not the final word on this vital issue. The Congressional Review Act (CRA) gives Congress the ability and authority to nullify the FCC’s actions. Congress can and should vote to restore net neutrality and protect the free and open internet.

What you can do: Call and email your members of Congress today and ask them to use a Resolution of Disapproval under the CRA to repeal the recent FCC action and restore the 2015 Open Internet Order protections.

 Send an email 

Inslee, Ferguson and legislators prepared to push back against damaging federal actions

On the eve of an expected vote by the Federal Communications Commission to roll back crucial net neutrality rules, Gov. Jay Inslee joined Attorney General Bob Ferguson, legislators, and business leaders to announce state plans to preserve an open internet and protect Washington consumers from internet companies that are not transparent about costs or services.

Read more about Governor Inslee and Attorney General Feguson’s actions here.

Living with Conviction: Sentenced to Debt for Life in Washington State

Join Deborah Espinosa, documentary photographer and attorney, as she celebrates the conclusion of her collection, Living with Conviction: Sentenced to Debt for Life in Washington State at the Kent branch of the King County Library System on Friday, December 15th from 4pm – 6pm.

 

Living with Conviction: Sentenced to Debt for Life in Washington State will feature individuals sharing their personal stories of struggling to survive and thrive under court-imposed fines, fees, costs, and victim restitution, aka “Legal Financial Obligations” or “LFOs,” which accrue interest at a rate of 12%. Living with Conviction is the creation of documentary photographer and attorney, Deborah Espinosa. She believes that the purpose of law is to serve our communities and to level the playing field, and thereby create a more just society. The only way to know if a law is serving us is to listen to those most impacted. This project does just that. 

Deborah’s photographs will be on display in the Kent library from December 2nd to December 14th.

The Kent library is located at 212 2nd Avenue North, Kent, WA 98032. Questions about this program and Deborah Espinosa’s collection should be directed to Carla McLean, Librarian for Adult Services .

Putting Your Browser to Work: Extensions That Make You More Productive

Browser extensions are effective tools for enhancing productivity and improving web browsing. Whether you need help staying away from distracting websites, saving articles for later, or remembering passwords, there is an extension or add-on out there that can help.

This article was originally published by Kris Turner on October 4, 2017 in Inside Track, the bi-weekly newsletter of the state bar of Wisconsin. Vol. 9, No. 19, October 2017.

Working in an office today, especially a law office, means that you will spend a lot of time staring at a computer monitor – conducting research, answering emails, and doing day-to-day work.

Browser extensions are a great way to make the technological aspect of your job easier. Extensions are add-ons that live within your browser of choice. They focus on performing particular tasks or improving user experience in a particular way.

The extensions below are mostly free and are meant to make you a more productive, better researcher. The majority are available for either Chrome or Firefox, but there are several that are available for other browsers as well. These browser extensions can help solve a workflow or productivity problem at little or no cost.

Find extensions by searching in the Google Store, the Chrome Web Store, the Firefox add-on menu, or similar locations in Opera, Explorer, Edge, or Safari. You can add these extensions by finding them in the store or menu and following the instructions on each page.

Legal Research Extensions

App

RECAP the Law

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

RECAP (PACER spelled backward) is a handy extension that encourages you to “free the law.” When you search PACER, any document or docket you view will be added to RECAP’s free database for others to use, essentially allowing you to provide a public service as you work. In addition, if you are about to view a document that is already in RECAP’s archive, you will be notified of the document’s availability before you view it on PACER.

AppBestlaw

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

For those who use Westlaw and Lexis, Bestlaw adds features to make legal research faster and easier. These features include bluebook citation copying, document sharing, content highlights, and much more. For those who rely on these giant databases, this is an excellent addition to your repertoire.

AppUnpaywall

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

We’ve all found that perfect article for research and … it’s behind an impenetrable paywall. What to do next? Unpaywall makes that next step easy by searching for free (and legal) versions of articles you need. Unpaywall crawls the web while you search, and lets you know if it finds a free version of that sought-after article. It’s a time-saving research tool.

AppGoogle Scholar Button

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

Google Scholar is becoming an increasingly reliable location for checking for scholarly journal articles (as well as case law). This extension takes that usefulness and enhances it by helping you find any article that you may be looking for with one extra click. If you are on a paywalled page, Google Scholar will search its archive to see if it can be easily and freely located.

AppJureeka!

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

Jureeka is a nice legal research tool to have running quietly in the background. A very simple tool from Cornell’s LII (Legal Information Institute), Jureeka adds links to case citations on many pages. If you find yourself on an informative page that lists cases, Jureeka adds hotlinks to each case that will send you to a freely available full-text opinion if it is available. Another time-saver when performing legal research.

Passwords, Adblocking, and Trackers

AppGhostery

Availability: Chrome, Edge, Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari

Price: Free

Ghostery is a great extension if you want to have fewer sites tracking you, blasting you with ads, or just generally slowing down your online experience. When Ghostery is running, it will tell you who is tracking you and for what purpose (analytics or social media, among other reasons). You can choose to block certain trackers on all websites, or just particular ones. This will lead to more privacy and faster internet speeds.

AppAdblock Plus

Availability: Chrome, Firefox, Opera

Price: Free

Adblock Plus removes advertisements from many websites. Pop-ups, ads before videos, ads that pop up under the web page, and background ads all are removed from your web experience. This will make your browser work faster, and generally lead to a less stressful time online. Adblock Plus leads to not only a more productive day, but also an overall better time online.

AppDisconnect

Availability: Chrome, Firefox, Opera, Safari

Price: Free (for basic, premium options available)

Disconnect not only blocks ads, but also eliminates trackers, enhances bandwidth, and generally makes your work online faster and safer. Disconnect combines the elements of many of the other browsers listed here by blocking trackers (like Ghostery), blocking ads and videos (like Adblock Plus), and creating a secure VPN connection. It’s a nice one-stop shop for safer online browsing.

AppTimewarp

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

Timewarp is a great way to increase your productivity. It has three ways to keep you away from time-wasting sites. It adds a timer to designated websites to show you just how much time you are spending on that page. You can have it redirect your browser away from a time-wasting website. And you can add a quote that shows up when you visit the pre-designated site as a warning about wasting time. If you need it, it’s a cool way to self-police your browsing habits.

AppStrict Workflow

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

Need a more merciless and unyielding extension to keep you away from distracting sites? Strict Workflow, when activated, imposes a time limit in which you must be productive, and then a brief break to check other sites. You choose which pages should be blocked, and Strict Workflow will do the rest.

AppLastPass

Availability: Chrome, Edge, Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari

Price: Free (with premium options)

LastPass is a solution if you have trouble remembering various website logins, while still using unique passwords to ensure better security. You only need to remember one password (for LastPass), and LastPass will store your information securely and allow you to log in without having to remember difficult passwords. LastPass can also store your payment information, other secure data, and be synced across platforms and phones so you can be more secure in an increasingly unsecure internet.

AppRescueTime

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

RescueTime is another extension that tracks how much time you are spending on distracting websites. RescueTime determines which of your tabs is active and tracks how often and for how long you are there. It can also tell when you walk away from your computer and stop tracking when you aren’t there. Your logs can then tell you just where your day goes. It is a handy way to review your day and your typical work habits.

New Tab Productivity Extensions

AppMomentum

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

When you open a new tab, Momentum replaces the plain white page with a beautiful image and a quote. You can also edit the page to add your goals for the day, list your most popular links, and keep track of your local weather. Momentum very simply provides you with an overview of your day when you open a new tab.

AppOneTab

Availability: Chrome and Firefox

Price: Free

I am very guilty of this – I will often have 10 or more tabs open while performing research, and will lose my way when trying to remember where I was. OneTab takes away this hassle by converting your tabs into one tab that lists everything you had open. It is just as easy to view (if not easier) and will save you time as you try to retrace your research.

AppSpeed Dial FVD

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

Another great way to enhance your new tab page is to make it a “speed dial.” There are several extensions that can do this, but Speed Dial FVD does so with a unique 3D menu that syncs with your bookmarks and your most frequently visited pages. Save yourself one step while opening new tabs with a speed dial for your favorite sites.

Reading and Writing Extensions

AppPocket

Availability: Chrome, Edge, Explorer, Firefox, Safari

Price: Free (with premium options)

One way to make your time more productive is to save for later any interesting articles you want to read. Pocket allows you to do just that and makes them available later on for online or offline reading. On top of that, Pocket will also suggest similar articles or trending articles of the day, aggregating results based on what you are saving. It’s a great tool for when you need to get work done, but really don’t want to forget about an article you want to read.

AppMercury Reader

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

Mercury Reader is an effective tool for those of us that get easily distracted when reading an article online. Mercury Reader strips away all the distractions, leaving only the actual content that you want to read. Safari and Firefox both have reader modes, and Chrome has one that is currently being worked on. Mercury Reader allows you to get your simple reader view right now.

AppGrammarly

Availability: Chrome, Edge, Explorer, Firefox, Safari

Price: Free (with premium options)

If you are like me, you are often nervous about a grammatical or spelling error in an important email. Grammarly is there to put your fears to bed. As you write (on any web page), Grammarly tracks your spelling and grammar and makes suggestions to ensure that you are not embarrassed. You can turn Grammarly off at any time in case you do not want it tracking you. Grammarly goes above and beyond the normal spellchecker and has saved me from making numerous errors.

Miscellaneous Productivity Extensions

AppGoogle Translate

Availability: Chrome and Firefox (unofficial version)

Price: Free

While Google Translate is a pretty well-known feature of Google, the browser extension makes its tools even easier to use. If you find yourself on a page in a foreign language, you can simply click the translate icon to quickly get a translation of the whole page. You can also highlight a particular phrase for a quick translation. While the translation is likely not 100-percent perfect, it will certainly give you an idea of what the page is about.

AppHovercards

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

Hovercards is a combination security and productivity extension. If you receive an email with a link that you don’t trust, Hovercards allows you to “peek behind the curtain” and see where that link will take you. Hovercards will also play a video in its popup screen, saving you the time of actually visiting the site for the video to play.

AppNoisli

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

If you are at all like me, you sometimes need to drown out distractions while you are working. Noisli does just that for you, providing white noise that is aimed to both increase productivity and relax you. You can modify the white noise yourself or simply select random and let the white noise roll.

AppAwesome screenshot

Availability: Chrome

Price: Free

Taking a screenshot within your browser is an excellent tool for you to use to show a computer problem to your information technology department, to share your ideas easily, and to quickly share inspiration. However, many of these tools only take a picture of what is on the screen. Awesome screenshot allows you to take a shot of the entire website, saving you and the recipient time and aggravation.

Extensions: Effective Tools

Extensions can be extremely effective tools that can greatly enhance your productivity (and also improve your personal web browsing). Whether you need help staying away from distracting websites, saving articles for later, or remembering passwords, there is an extension out there that can help.

City of Seattle, King County Announce Immigration & Refugee Legal Defense Fund Awardees

This article was originally published in The Seattle Medium on August 30, 2017. You can read the original version here.

Seattle Mayor Ed Murray and King County Executive Dow Constantine recently announced the community organizations that have been selected to use $1.5 million in funding, granted as part of the Legal Defense Fund, to provide legal aid to vulnerable immigrants and refugees.

Earlier this year, both the City and County passed legislation authorizing these funds for legal defense and community navigation services, as President Donald Trump threatened immigrant and refugee communities through both his inflammatory rhetoric and unconstitutional executive orders.

Funding was provided to organizations for the following services:

  • Direct Legal Representation – awarded to organizations that have an attorney on staff who is able to provide direct legal representation for low-income immigrants and refugees living in King County or working in Seattle who are in detention, facing removal, or in danger of losing their immigration status.
  • Community Navigation Services – awarded to organizations that can provide guidance and referrals for low-income immigrants and refugees living in King County or working in Seattle who are in detention, facing removal, or in danger of losing their immigration status.

“We are sending a clear, united message to the rest of the country – and to the world – that King County remains an inclusive community where all are welcome to build a better future,” said Executive Constantine. “The funding we announce today will help our partner organizations defend the human rights of more immigrants and refugees who contribute to the prosperity and vibrancy of our region.”

In November 2016, Murray responded to the federal administration’s anti-immigrant actions by passing his Welcoming City Executive Order, which reinforced the City’s already existing policy that employees do not ask about citizenship status and serve all residents regardless of immigration status. The order also mandated funding for peer support groups and counseling for immigrant and refugee middle and high school youth, legal assistance for immigrant families with children in Seattle Public Schools, and a comprehensive public awareness effort around reporting discriminatory harassment.

In March of this year, Councilmembers M. Lorena González and Tim Burgess joined with Mayor Murray in announcing their intent to pass legislation creating the fund. Seattle joins Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, and Chicago as cities that have created programs to fund legal defense and other immigrant legal services. Unlike in criminal trials, individuals do not have a right to legal representation in immigration proceedings. However, studies have shown that people who were represented in U.S. immigration court were up to ten times more likely to obtain relief.

Over the course of two weeks, a panel comprised of members from the immigrant and refugee legal defense community, King County staff, and City of Seattle staff reviewed both written applications and oral presentations. Out of ten applications, five received awards. The award recipients for direct legal representation are Kids in Need of Defense, the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, and Colectiva Legal del Pueblo; and for community navigation services are the Filipino Community of Seattle, South Park Information and Referral Center, and the West African Community Council.

“I signed legislation in April establishing a $1 million-dollar immigrant Legal Defense Fund because immigrants are being targeted by a presidential administration that has embraced White Nationalism,” said Murray. “Today, with additional money from our partners at King County, we are awarding those defense fund dollars to community organizations like the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, Kids in Need of Defense, and West African Community Council, because they advocate for immigrants every day in what’s now a larger fight to preserve core American principles of Democracy.”

The City now begins negotiating the contracts detailing each of the grantees’ scope of work. The grantee organizations are expected to start offering services under the Legal Defense Fund after September 30.

How to Research a Legal Problem: A Guide for Non-Lawyers

This guide is intended to help a person with a legal problem find legal rules that can resolve or prevent conflict. Published by the American Association of Law Libraries LISP-SIS, this guide gives step by step instructions on how to tackle a legal problem. Written for non-lawyers, it includes how to start your research, where to go for resources and assistance, as well as what types of resources are available.

New Law Helps Property Owners Remove Squatters

On May 10, 2017, Governor Inslee signed a new law, which will allow property owners in certain circumstances to have squatters removed from their property by law enforcement immediately, rather than having to navigate the lengthy eviction process.

SB 5388, which passed with unanimous, bipartisan support in both the House and Senate, took effect July 23, 2017.

Specifically, the law allows property owners to file a declaration that a trespasser – not a tenant – is on their property. This allows law enforcement to remove the person immediately, unless that person can prove they were a legal tenant within the past 12 months.

A property owner, or their agent, may initiate a law enforcement investigation and request the removal of an unauthorized person or persons. They must declare:

  • They are the owner of the premises
  • The individuals entered and remain illegally on the property
  • That the individual(s) were not a tenant at the property in the past 12 months
  • The individual(s) were not authorized to enter or remain on the property
  • That they have demanded that the unauthorized individual(s) vacate the property, but the individual(s) failed to do so

You can download a free copy of the Request to Remove Trespasser form here.

Any false declarations made by an owner or their agent under this law may bring a cause of action against them for false swearing or for making a false or misleading statement to a public servant, both of which are gross misdemeanors, and the declarant may be held liable for actual damages, costs, and reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Law enforcement must provide the individual(s) with a reasonable opportunity to secure and present any credible evidence, which the officer must consider, showing that the person or persons are tenants, legal occupants, or the guests or invitees of tenants or legal occupants.

If it is determined by law enforcement that the individual(s) are on the property illegally, they may then proceed with removing them from the premises, with or without an arrest being made, and order them to remain off the premises or be subject to arrest for criminal trespass.