KCLL Klues: Washington State Legal Research

In recognition of the fact that it was very difficult to get to either of our branches during the Christmas storm, we are waiving any overdue fines accrued between Dec. 18 and Dec. 28.

The King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office has released a set of documents on their web site that describe the changes coming in January 2009 to the Ex Parte process.  These are:

Ex Parte Motions and Hearings Manual: This short document describes the new procedures for working with the Ex Parte department.  Beginning in January 2009, only certain matters will be granted oral argument and the remaining matters must be submitted in writing only, without oral argument, through the Clerk’s office.

Ex Parte Master List: this not-so-short document lists all of the matters that can be put before the Ex Parte department.  Matters are labeled “Clerk” if they must be submitted in writing through the Clerk’s Office and labeled “Parties” if they can be submitted in person to the Ex Parte department.

Ex Parte Cover Sheet: this new form is required and must accompany each motion/order.

Ex Parte Cover Sheet (Optional): this optional form can be used to call the Courts attention to specific details related to the motion.

The King County Superior Court Clerk’s Office has just announced a new Ex Parte Motions and Hearings Manual that will provide specific information on new procedures for Ex Parte proceedings.  The Manual will contain a list of all matters presented to the Ex Parte Department and will indicate which may still be presented in person and which must be presented in writing through the Clerk’s Office.  According to the Clerk’s Office, emergency local rule changes related to these changes were approved by the Court on November 20, 2008 and will go into effect on January 1, 2009.  Copies of the rule changes are available at the Clerk’s Office website.

All eyes, at least in Washington State, are focused on our governor, Chris Gregoire, as she and her advisers work to address the myriad problems posed by the economic slowdown.  If you’d like to stay informed about the Gov. Gregoire’s activities, add her office’s web site to your Favorites list.  The Governor’s web site is easy to navigate and provides a great deal of up-to-date information about her work.  The main page includes links to her priorities–the Washington Budget is foremost–and some interesting ways you can help keep yourself informed electronically by blogging with the Govenor and subscribing to her web site’s RSS feed.  Many of the lower-level pages on the Governor’s web site contain extensive links to other web sites sponsored by Washington State government so even if the information you’re looking for isn’t on the web site directly you can usually find a link to another related source.  On the lighter side, you can also view a few photos of the Gov. Gregoire’s family and even read about her Shiba Inu, Trooper.

The Judges page at the King County Superior Court’s web site provides a wealth of court-specific information that will save you time and help you present your or your client’s case more effectively.  In addition to listing the current sitting judges and commissioners for each courthouse, this page also has links to court-specific pages where the judge has provided practice and procedure information.  If the judge you’re working with has provided this, his or her name will be an active hyperlink.  For example, here’s the page provided by Judge Kimberley Prochnau.  The information provided by each judge varies but you can find contact information for his or her courtroom, trial practice tips, references to specific local rules he or she wants to call to your attention, links to model forms and sometimes biographical information about the judge.  Back at the Judges main page, you’ll also find a link to a document that describes how to use email to communicate with the court.

The November election is only a week away.  Voter turn-out is expected to be high across the nation, with many voters submitting their selections via mail-in ballots.  In Washington State, 37 of our 39 counties are now using voting by mail exclusively.  Secretary of State Sam Reed is urging all voters, whether you’re voting by mail or in person at the polls, to carefully review the material in your voter’s pamphlet.  If you are voting by mail, your completed ballot must be postparked by November 4.  If you plan to vote at the polls, expect longer lines.  For more information from the Secretary of State about this year’s election and our State’s voting procedures, see Sam Reed’s latest press release.

Here at KCLL, we frequently get questions about the name change process.  There’s an excellent general FAQ about name change at a web site hosted by Nolo.  Nolo is a publishing company in Berkeley, California that specializes in affordable self-help legal materials.  Our staff has also created a Name Change Research Guide aimed at Washington State residents you should review for information specific to our state.

     Westlaw has a great feature that makes it easy for you to narrow the results of any search quickly and effectively.  It’s called Locate and is available through a link called Locate in Result.  Once you’ve run a search, this link appears near the top of your search results screen.  Click on it and you’ll see a dialogue box called Locate Search Terms.  Now you have the opportunity to add additional terms or phrases, text from other recent searches, date restrictions and document field restrictions.  Choose the options you want to add and click on the Locate button.  These additional criteria are applied to your original results list, narrowing it and helping you identify just the documents you want.  Not satisfied with this new results list?  Simply click on the link called Cancel Locate and you’ll be returned to your original results list.

Volume 29 of Thomson-West’s Washington Practice is a relatively new addition to and often overlooked piece in this indispensible research series.  Titled Elements of an Action, it provides a concise analysis of the litigation elements for a variety of common and not-so-common topics including dog bite cases, intentional infliction of emotional distress, malicious prosecution, nuisance, and dram shop liability.  Each chapter follows a common outline that includes information about authority, time limitations, remedies, defenses, and counterclaims.  Each chapter also includes sample trial documents and other related forms.

Elements of an Action has become a valuable addition to KCLL’s tort law materials and is a research gem you shouldn’t overlook.

The official version of the RCW (Revised Code of Washington) published by the Statute Law Committee begins with Volume 0.  Volume 0 contains a wealth of useful information including the US Constitution,  our State’s Organic and Enabling acts, our State Constitution, and a set of tables to help you track changes to particular RCW sections.  It does not contain the set’s general index, however, which is instead found in the last volume.