KCLL Klues: Washington State Legal Research

Through the end of the year, the Housing Justice Project will not be open in the evenings.  They will continue to be open 8-10:30AM everyday when court is in session.  If you have any questions, you can call them at 206-267-7090.

A recent article in the Seattle Times talked about important changes to Metro Transit’s snow plans.  Metro Transit will significantly cut the number of routes during a snow emergency from the current 220 to 70.  You can sign up to receive Metro alerts via email and text – you can even designate a specific route number.  It is a very cool service – check it out!

In the event of a snow emergency, the law library generally follows the King County Superior Court’s closure decisions.  Check the King County Superior Court’s emergency information phone lines for more information.  Closure information will also be posted on the law library’s website.

The law library’s holiday closures also follows the King County Superior Court’s holiday schedule.  For November, December and January, we will be closed the following days:

November 2010:
November 11 – Veteran’s Day
November 25 – Thanksgiving Day
November 26 – Day After Thanksgiving

December 2010:
December 24 – Christmas Eve
December 31 – New Year’s Eve

January 2011:
January 17 – Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Now that the Housing Justice Project has officially completed its first week in its new temporary location at the King County Law Library, it seems appropriate to mention that the HJP is still open for business during its regular hours of operation.  This means that they are accepting visitors from 8:00am – 10:30am on weekdays and from 4:00pm – 6:00pm on Mondays and Thursdays.  So, even though the library closes at 5:00pm on weekdays, library staff will be available during the evening hours on Mondays and Thursdays to ensure that patrons still have access to HJP’s services!

The Seattle courthouse offices of the King County Bar Association’s Housing Justice Project have been temporarily relocated from the third floor of the King County Courthouse to the Seattle branch of KCLL.  The relocation was prompted by the need to find temporarily space for offices affected by problems with the Superior Court’s Juvenile facility.

KCLL is pleased to be able to provide temporary assistance to the HJP.  The services they offer to King County tenants are invaluable.  The HJP office in the law library is located in our Legal Resource Training Center room; future law library classes will be taught in one of the law library’s conference rooms.

Proposed Budget Talks

The King County Council is seeking public input concerning the proposed 2011 budget.  Included in the King County Executive’s budget recommendation to the Council is $149,109 to support the operations of the King County Law Library at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in 2011.  Anyone interested in voicing their support for County services is invited to attend one of the Council’s public budget hearings.  Follow this link for specific information for hearing dates and locations.  All hearings begin at 6:30 pm.

Law Library Services at the MRJC

King County Law Library’s MRJC branch has played a vital role in supporting access to the justice system for South King County residents since the Center opened in 1997.  Over 65% of the people who visit the library each day are self-represented litigants themselves or family members of these litigants.   The legal issues they struggle with run the gamut from divorce and child support to criminal law, probate, and eviction.  They make extensive use of the Library’s paper materials, conduct research and compose court documents using our public computers, make photocopies, send and receive faxes, and use our scanning service.   Our staff guides them to appropriate paper and electronic resources for research, recommends strategies to optimize the time they spend in the library, helps them learn to navigate web sites and refers them to other law-related agencies for additional help.

Additional County Budget Information

More information about the County’s 2011 budget and the budget planning process see the King County Council’s budget web site and the County Executive’s web site.

The King County Law Library has formed an Advisory Committee to develop a strategic plan for the future of the public law library.

The King County Law Library is a public library that provides legal information to both attorneys and the public. In these difficult economic times, the Law Library is a free resource for legal information for the residents of King County. The two locations in the King County Courthouse in Seattle and the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent have over 100,000 visitors each year. The Board of Trustees is establishing the Advisory Committee to assist in re-branding and focusing the Law Library to better meet the information needs of the legal community as well as those without attorneys.

The Board of Trustees seeks to use the expertise, ideas, and experience of the Advisory Committee in three broad areas. First, the Law Library is exploring better ways to use technology to deliver legal information services throughout the county. Second, the Law Library plans to further develop and help coordinate legal services and information for self-represented and low-income litigants. Third, the Law Library seeks to enhance its visibility by transforming itself into a legal resource center where services are available to the public in a one-stop location.

The Advisory Committee members are:

Alan Funk. Alan Funk is an attorney at Wechsler Becker, LLP focusing on Family Law. He was the President of the Family Law Section of the King County Bar Association from 2009-2010.

The Honorable Steven Gonzáles. Judge Gonzáles has served at King County Superior Court since 2002 and is chair of the Access to Justice Board of the Washington State Bar Association. Prior to becoming a judge, he served as Assistant U.S. Attorney.

Heather Griffith. Heather Griffith is a second-year student at the University of Washington School of Law. Before law school, she worked in a public library and also a research library.

Penny Hazelton. Penny Hazelton is the Associate Dean for Library & Computing Services at the University of Washington School of Law. She also serves as the Director of the Law Librarianship program offered through the Information School at UW.

Barbara Holt. Barbara Holt directs the Library and Research Department for Perkins Coie, the largest law firm in Seattle.

The Honorable Donald Horowitz (Ret.). Judge Horowitz has been active in the legal community in Washington for over fifty years. He is a former King County Superior Court judge and has since served as a mediator and arbitrator.

Joseph Janes. Joseph Janes is a professor at the Information School at the University of Washington. His research interests include how library adaption and evolution keeps libraries relevant in their communities.

Connelly Johnson. Connelly Johnson is an Associate Librarian at Davis Wright Tremaine, a large Seattle law firm.

Jeff Kempe. Jeff Kempe serves as the Adult Services Coordinator for King County Library System. KCLS is the second busiest library system in the county.

John McKay. John McKay is a Seattle native that recently served as the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington. He is currently an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law and has received the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year Award from the Washington State Bar Association.

Kellye Testy. Kellye Testy serves as the dean at University of Washington School of Law. Prior to coming to UW, she was dean at Seattle University School of Law.

César Torres. César Torres is the Executive Director of Northwest Justice Project, a position he has held since 2006. He has over 25 years of experience serving low-income litigants and has focused his talents on issues relating to housing.

The Law Library looks forward to working with these esteemed members of the community and engaging in discussions on how to better serve the civil legal aid community and self-represented litigants.

 “Preserving Access to Justice” is the theme of the Library’s 2009 Annual Report.  Highlights of the year profiled in the report include our efforts to preserve funding for the Law Library at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent.  The report also highlights our new eFiling classes and scanning services.

We have posted a schedule of classes for September and October.  We are offering the complete E-Filing series (Beginning and Advanced Features) on September 8 and September 15.  In October, we’re teaching the Legal Research for the Non-Attorney two-part class and a session of our popular Skip Tracing classes.  All sessions are free and held at the Seattle law library location.  Registration is required and space is limited so call 206-296-0940 to sign up!

Joseph Chester Self was the 73rd person to be executed in Washington and the last person to be executed in the state until Westley Allan Dodd’s execution on January 5, 1993. During the 30 year hiatus, Washington’s capital punishment statute was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1972.

In Part Two of this episode of KCLL’s Sidebar, we talk to Jim Burns, who was among two men to prosecute Mr. Self.  For additional information about the case, you can go to the History Link website which we have linked to here.

Our EOS.Web library catalog will be down from 9:00 am to 11:00 am on Saturday, July 16 for routine maintenance.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.