NW Lawyer - March 2014

Paula Littlewood

WSBA Executive Director

As I’ve traveled around thestatethe last several years,theinputandfeed- backreceivedfrom WSBA members is invaluable.

One thing that is fairly consistent is that WSBA members aren’t clear on what license fees pay for, or the value members receive from paying those fees. While I believe value is defined differently by each individual, I felt it was important to address some of the many changes and adjustments the WSBA has made as a result of what we’ve heard about how you, our members, define value.

First, the themes I’ve gleaned are fairly consistent among members. You want help in maintaining a successful practice, you want support to keep up with the changing needs of the profession and your clients, and overall you want your membership to be more meaningful.

Let me start by talking about some of the transitions that have occurred that involve the CLEs WSBA delivers. We went through a fairly significant organizational realignment last year, with one of the goals being to bring CLE offerings into a clearer focus, better tied to our mission-focus areas and strategic priorities.

As a result, WSBA is focusing on what we are uniquely positioned to provide, which are seminars on substantive areas of law in partnership with our sections, skills for practice in the 21st century, and professional ethics.

At the same time, the work
of the board-appointed MCLE
Task Force is well under way.
This group is examining the
“M” in MCLE. Should CLEs
remain mandatory? If so,
should credit only be avail-
able for black-letter law courses? Or
should CLEs be expanded to include
other areas that impact your practice
and your lives, like stress management,
work life balance and leadership? In
light of the changing needs of the pro-
fession, should revisions be made to
the MCLE rules and regulations? This
group is projected to complete their
recommendations for the board and
Court by the end of 2014. It is clear
whatever recommendations they come
up with, though, the Task Force is striv-
ing to insure that the “M” in MCLE will
stand for “Meaningful.”
Another change in the CLE offerings
is the development of WSBA’s Legal
Lunchbox Series. This monthly series
is offered free to members. On the last
Tuesday of every month, members
can earn 1. 5 CLE credits by joining a
90-minute webcast. All Legal Lunch-
box topics are focused around 21st-
century practice skills. The response
to this series has been overwhelming,
and if you haven’t taken advantage of
this free member benefit yet, I encour-
age you to register for the next Legal
Lunchbox CLE on March 25. The topic
is “The 21st-Century Law Practice:
Tools and Efficiencies.”
If you’re an individual
who takes CLEs at WS-
BA’s Conference Center
in Seattle, we’ve made
an enhancement there
that’s worth noting. We
recently added an audio induction
loop system for the hearing impaired.
For those struggling to hear at CLEs
in the past, that issue has now been
addressed. In fact, I encourage you to
read Jerry Paulukonis’s story on page
46. He’s a true testament to the value
of this recent change.

Other changes have occurred in our Law Office Management Assistance As we announced in January, we’ve also added recent enhancements to Casemaker, a powerful research tool free to WSBA members. You can now access CaseCheck+, a case citator that determines if there has been any negative treatment on a case. Additionally, you have free access to CiteCheck, which allows you to upload documents and have the case citations auto-