Without public debate or a formal hearing on the topic, the Washington State Supreme Court decided last month to end the Limited Licence Legal Technician (LLLT) program.  The June letter ends a program that broadened access to legal representation and served as a model for other states across the nation.   Please… Read more

With help from two partners, the City of Seattle Office of Immigration and Refugee Affairs has complied a spreadsheet that can help you determine what benefits a person is eligible for based on their immigration status.   The spreadsheet no substitute for legal advice, but is rather intended as a… Read more

Join the Unemployment Law Project’s WEEKLY webinar to find out the latest about how the pandemic is affecting unemployment benefits.  The free webinar will answer viewer questions and takes place every Monday at 12:00pm PST.  For more information and to register, click HERE. Read more

On Thursday, May 7 from 10AM to 12:30PM (PST) speakers from the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD), Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), and Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Unemployment Insurance will provide information about changes and updates to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)… Read more

One of the silver linings of these uncertain times is that they can cause us to think about things that all should – but often don’t.  No one LIKES to think about unpleasant outcomes or unforeseen changes in life circumstances, but just a little planning can make such possibilities much… Read more

Washington State governor Jay Inslee has extended his “Stay Home, Stay Healthy” emergency order to May 4, 2020.  Read details about this extension and the governor’s original order here. For more information about Washington State’s response to the COVID-19 situation, including current COVID-19 infection statistics, information about travel, and information… Read more

Until further notice, the King County Family Law Information Centers in both Seattle and Kent are suspending walk-in hours and will be assisting people by phone only at the following numbers from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon: For Kent cases call: 206-477-2781 For Seattle cases call: 206-477-2553 Read more

On Monday, February 12, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed a new ordinance that will significantly restrict residential evictions during the winter.  Council Bill 119726, if signed by the Mayor or allowed to pass into law without her signature, will prohibit Seattle landlords from evicting low- and moderate-income tenants for… Read more

According to a recent article in Crosscut – Legislators passed eviction protections. Washington landlords found loopholes — a new provision in the recently-revised Residential Landlord-Tenant Act may prove to be a scary prospect for month-to-month tenants. RCW 59.18.410(3)(d) states: “A  tenant  who  has  been  served  with  three  or  more  notices… Read more

The New Hope Act (Chapter 331 of the Laws of 2019) became effective on July 28, 2019 and makes substantial changes to the rights and procedures for clearing criminal misdemeanor and felony conviction records in Washington State. Among these changes are improved notice requirements for the Department of Corrections and… Read more

The Workshops We launched Civil Lawsuits Without Tears in March of 2018. It was the first workshop in our then new Self-Represented Litigants (SRL) Workshop series. That series now includes three civil procedure workshops, four family law workshops, a small business law workshop and a power of attorney workshop. Plans… Read more

The King County Bar Association, sponsor of the Neighborhood Legal Clinics, has posted a useful checklist for preparing to attend a session at one of their legal clinics.  To make the best use of your time please: 1. Decide on the desired outcome or goal. 2. Schedule an appointment at… Read more

The Northwest Justice Project, via its self-help site WashingtonLawHelp.org, has released a new guide to help custodial parents respond to a petition from a third-party–such as a grandparent or another relative–for visitation rights.  It’s titled You Have Been Served with a Petition for Visits and includes a complete set of… Read more

An in-depth article in the Seattle Times takes a look the laws and rules that permit collections firms to make life painful for debtors in Washington State.  With the addition of court-sanctioned fees and the highest post-judgment interest rates in the county, lawmakers are finally taking another look the industry.… Read more

Beginning in “early 2019,” the Washington State Bar Association is going to give all active members access to Fastcase as part of their bar membership.  Once it goes live, bar members will have full access to their extensive collection of caselaw, statutes, regulations, court rules, and other materials.  The arrangement… Read more

The Washington State Employment Security Department has announced that Federal workers furloughed due to the partial shutdown of the Federal government may apply for unemployment benefits.  Interested workers can apply online or by phone at 800-318-6022.  They will need to provide verification of their wages in the event ESD cannot… Read more

The Federal Trade Commission’s online resource, IdentityTheft.gov, can help you recover from identity theft.  The site uses a three-step process to gather information about your situation, create a recovery plan for immediate action and follow-up steps and, if you choose to create a personal account, to help you track the… Read more

Thanks to LeighAnne Thompson, Reference Librarian at Seattle University School of Law, our site now has copies of the following legal research guides, presented as infographics created with Piktochart. Many people are visual learners so using the infographics format leverages this fact and can help people better understand information, even… Read more

According to the Washington State Bar Association, there is an impostor site masquerading as the official Casemaker site at casemakerpro-dot-com.  If you have accidentally provided your logon credentials to this phishing scam, please change your Casemaker password right away through mywsba.org. Read more

The Washington State office of the ACLU has posted helpful “Can I Vote?” flowcharts to help people with criminal convictions figure out if they are eligible to vote.  The flowcharts are written in seven languages–English, Chinese, Korean, Oromo, Spanish, Somali and Vietnamese.  A person convicted as an adult of a… Read more

K & L Gates has founded a pro bono project to help victims of “revenge porn” or nonconsensual pornography defend their “cyber” civil rights.  Assistance is available to victims both within the United States and abroad.  To contact the Cyber Civil Rights Project and K & L Gates, use this… Read more

The disconnect between the perceived value of public libraries–particularly in the eyes of influencial policy-makers–and the vital role they play in supporting the social infrastructure of a civil society is real.  And it’s something that anyone concerned about equity, open access, and diversity should be prepared to confront.  So says… Read more

Seattle Municipal Court is sponsoring a warrant outreach program on Thursday, August 9th from 10:00am to 4:00pm at the Lake City Community Center.  The Warrant Outreach event is a partnership between the Seattle Municipal Court, King County Department of Public Defense, Seattle City Attorney’s Office, Seattle Police Department, Seattle Parks… Read more

The Northwest Consumer Law Center offers programs to provide affordable legal help with foreclosure, bankruptcy, debt collection, credit reporting issues, automobile purchases and student loan issues.  To be eligible for this assistance you must be a Washington State resident and your total household income – before taxes, expenses, deductions, etc.… Read more

Indigent people can be spared court fees that result from a criminal conviction and cannot be sanctioned for their inability to pay restitution and fines, under the new Washington Legislature Bill E2SHB 1783. This bill will ensure that poor people are not unfairly jailed or tied for years to the… Read more

This article, Motor Vehicle Repossessions: Consumer Debt Advice from NCLC, is the third 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… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

Beginning Monday, April 2nd, the Seattle library branch, located inside the King County Courthouse, will observe new hours of operation: Monday – Friday: 8:00am – 4:30pm Please note that these changes will affect the Seattle library branch only. Should you have any questions about these upcoming changes, please do not hesitate… Read more

Beginning Wednesday, February 14th, the Kent library branch, located inside the Maleng Regional Justice Center, will close every day from 2pm – 3pm for lunch. Starting March 1st, the Kent library branch will observe new hours of operations: Monday – Friday: 8:30am – 4:30pm; closed from 2pm – 3pm for… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

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,… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

The King County Law Library would like to welcome its two newest Board of Trustees members: The Honorable Susan Amini and Miriam R. Gordon, Esq. Judge Susan Amini was appointed to the King County Superior Court bench on May 2, 2013, by Governor Jay Inslee. Judge Amini was born in… Read more

The King County Law Library has added new pieces to its art display, thanks to the generosity of the staff at 4 Culture. 4 Culture is the cultural services agency for King County, Washington. 4 Culture is committed to making our region stronger by supporting citizens and groups who preserve… Read more

Written by Barbara Fister. You can read the original version of this article here. Of all of our cultural institutions, the public library is remarkable. There are few tax-supported services that are used by people of all ages, classes, races, and religions. I can’t think of any public institutions (except… Read more

King County government has recently released a poster supporting the motivation behind the County’s Equity and Social Justice Strategic Plan for 2016 – 2022.  As described by the County, the Strategic Plan “is a blueprint for action and change that will guide our pro-equity policy direction, our decision-making, planning, operations… Read more

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… Read more

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… Read more

A Washington State Bar ethics opinion considered whether it was ethical for Washington lawyers to practice law from a virtual law office. In Opinion 201601, the Committee on Professional Ethics (CPE) offered a well-reasoned opinion in favor of allowing lawyers the mobility and convenience of practicing law from a virtual… Read more

In recent days, many people have shown an interest in making sure that the Wayback Machine (also known as the Internet Archive) has copies of the web pages they care about most. These saved pages can be cited, shared, linked to – and they will continue to exist even after… Read more

The CIA recently announced that its CREST tool is now available online.  CREST is an electronic database of records that have been declassified under the CIA’s 25 year program.  While the CREST tool only contains a subset of the declassified records, researchers were previously required to visit the National Archives… Read more

Earlier this year, immigration historians from across the country launched #ImmigrationSyllabus, a website and educational resource to help the public understand the deep historical roots of today’s immigration debates. Created in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Immigration History Research Center and the Immigration and Ethnic History Society and made… Read more

When you pop open your browser and prepare to do a web search, do you use Google? There is no argument about Google being a reliable and popular search engine. But if you are interested in one that suits your specific interest, search type, or desire to help others, then… Read more

Each February, Americans honor both people and significant events in African-American history during Black History Month, also known as African-American History Month. Among the myriad reasons Black History Month is important is the under-representation of people of color in standard history classes. For instance, the recently released biographical drama Hidden… Read more

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is receiving a large amount of attention in the battle over President Trump’s immigration executive order. If some lawmakers have their way, however, then the court could soon be split up into two courts. This weekend, two judges on the Ninth Circuit Court of… Read more

WHEN? Saturday, February 4th, 2017 WHAT TIME? 10:00am – 12:00pm WHERE? Highline College, Student Union Building (Building 8), 2400 S. 240th Street, Des Moines, WA 98198 Northwest Immigrant Rights Project (NWIRP) is organizing a community education event to discuss changes to immigration policy for this Saturday, February 4th, at 10:00am… Read more

Slavery in America and the World: This database is a collection of books, papers, cases, etc. from various donor brought together to give a more rounded view of slavery. You can read more about it here. This database is available through HeinOnline. Art Law: Art Law in a Nutshell, 5th… Read more

Used Car Purchases: What to do When Your Car Does Not Work Properly This link leads to a PDF document written by the staff at the Northwest Justice Project discussing the following issues related to the purchase of a used car in Washington State: The car dealer did not offer… Read more

Precedential Decisions of Commissioner are published by the Commissioner’s Review Office of the Washington State Employment Security Department. The Decisions are published pursuant to the statutory mandates of the Washington State Public Disclosure Act, specifically RCW 42.17.260, and the Washington State Employment Security Act, specifically RCW 50.32.095. The Precedential Decisions… Read more

United Way of King County partners with many organizations in the Seattle area to provide people with free help in preparing their personal income tax forms.  Here is a link to a page that shows all the places where this help is available:  United Way of King County Tax Help… Read more

Washington’s Reporter of Decisions has just announced that a new website makes Washington Supreme Court and Court of Appeals opinions available for free.  The Washington State Judicial Opinions Website contains the text of the published appellate opinions dating back to territorial days.  Click here for the site.  For more background… Read more

This link leads to a guide written by the Northwest Justice Project on the WashingtonLawHelp website.  The guide describes what can and cannot be done to remove the record of any eviction from your court record.  It answers several key questions including: How do I determine whether there is an… Read more

The WSBA Access to Justice Board in partnership the the Administrative Office of the Courts worked together to create forms for family law cases that use simpler language that is easier to understand for non-lawyers. The hope is that these new forms create less confusion and remove some of the… Read more

A video from Washington’s judicial branch challenges some mistaken ideas about how courts work by using real person-on-the-street interviews and responses from judges and justices. The video was produced by the Public Trust & Confidence Committee of the Board for Judicial Administration (BJA) in partnership with Washington’s public affairs station,… Read more

Our State Supreme Court recently appointed Deputy Clerk Susan Carlson as our State’s first female Supreme Court Clerk, replacing retired Clerk Ron Carpenter. The following is excerpted from the Supreme Court’s official announcement: “The Washington Supreme Court’s nine justices have appointed the state’s first female Supreme Court Clerk in Washington… Read more

The Board of Trustees and the staff are pleased to announce that KCLL has hired Barbara Swatt Engstrom as its new Executive Director.  Ms. Swatt Engstrom, who holds a J.D. from the University of Wyoming College of Law and an M.L.I.S. from the University of Washington Information School, has over… Read more

On June 9, 2016 Engrossed Senate Bill 6413 was enacted. This bill creates a procedure called “Order of Limited Dissemination” which would prevent tenant screening companies from disclosing an eviction on their report. A judge may sign your order if: You were wrongly named in an eviction/unlawful detainer action or… Read more