Report from the October 2007 Meeting

The BOG’s October 26, 2007, meeting in Winthrop had a considerably lighter agenda than that of the September meeting. The Board received a report from the Council on Public Legal Education on its efforts to improve the awareness of the public and school students on issues of the legal system and civics. The Board also decided, after reviewing the results of the September 2007 Bar News’s focus on marriage equality, that the BOG will hold public forums on marriage equality at its March and April 2008 meetings in Tacoma and Spokane, respectively. The Board also made a number of board and committee appointments. Finally, I spoke to the Board about concerns that I have been hearing regarding the use by some attorneys of threats to report opposing parties to Immigration and Customs Enforcement solely as a means of gaining an advantage in a civil proceeding. The WSBA once had a formal ethics opinion prohibiting this type of conduct, but the opinion was withdrawn some time ago. The BOG will likely be hearing more about this disturbing issue at its December meeting and may be taking action.