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New Domestic Cause of Action Granting Relatives the Right to Seek Visits with a Child

Washington State SB 5598 (companion bill HB 2117) 2017-18 amends RCW 26.10.160 and adds a new chapter to Title 26. The new law allows for grandparents and other relatives by blood or marriage (including step-family members) the ability to seek an order regarding visits with a child who is not their biological child. This law goes into effect on June 7, 2018.

The following is King County related information about this new cause of action:

  • A new set of statewide pattern forms will be made available from the Washington State Office of the Administrator for the Courts, including:
    • Petition for Visits,
    • Response to Petition,
    • Motion for Advanced Lawyer Fees & Costs,
    • Order After Review of Petition, and
    • Final Order and Findings on Petition.
  • When those new statewide pattern forms are complete, you may find them here: https://www.courts.wa.gov/forms/?fa=forms.static&staticID=14#FamLawForms
  • Cases may be initiated upon the filing of a Petition for Visits. This is a new cause of action.
  • The domestic filing fee of $260 applies.
  • Cases will receive a case schedule and will be assigned to the Chief Unified Family Court (UFC) Judge, Judge Rietschel.
  • The Chief UFC Judge will conduct an in camera review hearing to determine whether the case will go forward. If the case moves forward, the Chief UFC Judge will assign it to a UFC Department judge for trial. Both the in camera review hearing and trial date are set via the case schedule issued at the time of filing.

Dealing With Medical Debt: Advice from NCLC

This article, Dealing with Medical Debt: Consumer Advice from NCLC, is the first in a series of articles from NCLC (National Consumer Law Center) that provide advice for families in financial difficulty. The Consumer Debt Advice series, targeted directly to the consumer, includes information about legal rights and best strategies for dealing with debt.

The first article in the series focuses on medical debt, including debt owed to hospitals, doctors, dentists, and other providers. Far more detail with legal citations on consumer rights dealing with medical debt is found in National Consumer Law Center, Collection Actions Chapter 9, updated at www.nclc.org/library.

The article addresses the following:

You can read the full article on the NCLC Digital Library website by clicking on any of the links in this post or by following this address: https://library.nclc.org/dealing-medical-debt-consumer-advice-nclc.

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.

Court Rules Published for Comment

The Washington State Supreme Court and the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) have published proposed changes to the following rules and are seeking comments:

 

 

RPC 1.6 — Confidentiality of Information

RPC 7.3 — Solicitation of Clients

RPC 8.4 — Misconduct

APR 8 — Nonmember Lawyer Licenses to Practice Law

IRLJ 3.3 — Procedure at Contested Hearing

RALJ 9.2 — Entry of Decision and Enforcement of Judgment

You may review these proposed rule changes here.  Comments are due by April 30, 2018.  Unless otherwise noted, all comments should be submitted to the Clerk of the Supreme Court by either U.S. mail or Internet e-mail.

You may review all proposed rule changes here.

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.

Announcing New Subscriber Benefits

Big changes are afoot in the law library’s subscriber program, making it one of the best deals around.

Beginning on November 15th subscribers receive the following new subscriber-only benefits:

 

“Let Us Do Your Research!”

With this new service you can hand off your research question to our skilled reference staff and we will provide a research memorandum with references to applicable law and resources.

Research services are billed at a rate of $100 per hour, in 15 minute increments.

More information can be found HERE.

 

One Hour of Additional Westlaw Time

You may have noticed that the law library significantly expanded our Westlaw subscription in 2017. In addition to our previous coverage of primary law from all state and federal jurisdictions, Washington Practice, law reviews and jury verdicts, we now have state and federal court filings, and the bulk of the West treatise collection.

Current rules limit all patrons to two hours of Westlaw time per day. As a subscriber you will now be able to request an extra hour of Westlaw time. Just come to the desk to request your additional hour.

 

Three Free Document Deliveries Per Year

Give us your known citation to a case, statute, law review or other document in our collection and we will deliver a copy to you electronically. Restrictions on the size of documents will apply.

More information can be found HERE.

This is a $60 dollar value based on current subscriber pricing!

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 .