Saturday, April 20, 2013

WSBA World Peace through Law Section Newsletter April 2013


WPTL logo
WSBA World Peace through Law Section 
April 2013
April 26, 2013:
Sunshine Over The Energy Wars: Home Solar In Washington State
Home Solar
Join us in this free webcast!
Join us for the second brown bag and webinar in our monthly series:"Sunshine Over the Energy Wars: Practical and Legal Aspects of Home Solar in Washington State."
Some say the wars of this century will be sparked by resource and energy shortages. What can we and our clients do in a practical way to reduce this risk? What are the legal aspects?
  
A panel led by Kevin Moen of Solterra Systems will discuss the practical side of home solar (net energy production, how easy/hard to install) and the legal side (taxes, permits, restrictive covenants, what's going on in Olympia this year).
When: 
Friday, April 26, 2013
Noon - 1 p.m.
Where:
In-person: WSBA offices
1325 4th Ave., Ste. 600
Seattle
In-person attendees may bring their lunch to the discussion.
Webinar: Instructions to follow upon RSVP.
RSVP: 
sections@wsba.org by April 22. Please indicate if you are attending in-person or via webinar. 
Feel free to invite colleagues to view this program with you; they don't have to be Section members although if they like what they see, we hope they join the Section! 
The handouts and other materials will be posted on the Event Materials page on the World Peace Through Law Section website.

Future Programs - Save The Date!
WPTL plans to webcast on the final friday of each month, noon to 1 p.m. Webinars allow Section members who may live anywhere in our state or beyond to participate. We are actively recruiting panels for more subjects and welcome your suggestions. For more information about the sections and its activities, visit The Section Web Page.
We hope to see you there!
 
Pro Bono Opportunities with Immigrants and Refugees:Yes You Can!
Jordan Wasserman
Jordan Wasserman
If you missed last month's webcast, "Pro Bono Opportunities with Immigrants and Refugees: Yes You Can!", don't worry! A recording and the handouts are now available on the Section's Course Materials page.
Watch Jordan S. Wasserman, pro bono coordinating attorney atNorthwest Immigrant Rights Project, and other attorneys describe how you can make an immediate contribution to the cause of peace by providing pro bono services to refugees and immigrants. Join them - you'll be glad you did!
June 22, 2013:
Litigating the Right to Peace

luis roberto zamora bolanos
Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños
Preparations continue on our program "Litigating the Right to Peace," featuring AttorneyLuis Roberto Zamora Bolaños, on Saturday, June 22, 2013 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Seattle University School of Law. You can pre-register now through this web link.
 
In this program, attorney Luis Roberto Zamora Bolaños discusses the legal basis of a right to peace and its successful use in litigation. Main topics include his successful litigation against governmental practices violating Costa Rica's "Peace Constitution," describe use of an international forum, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, to protect and institutionalize the right to peace, and cooperation with Japanese lawyers and peace organizations to safeguard Article 9 ("Peace Article") of Japan's Constitution.Learn more here
 
Please join us for a social immediately following the program. This program is open to the public but pre-registration is important to help with the head-count.
 
This Section is cooperating with numerous other groups, including the local chapter of the National Lawyers Guild and the Arizona State Bar Association World Peace Through Law Section; to help keep this event free and open to the public, Section members will be needed to volunteer to help out; please contact Event Chair Martha Schmidt.
 
Credit:
Approved for 2 live general CLE credits.
 
Makers: Women Who Made America
Makers
Women are the majority of humanity; women's rights are human rights and women's history is human history.
  
Fifty years after Betty Friedan'sThe Feminine Mystique first publicized "the problem that had no name" -- the widespread unhappiness of many women limited by traditional female roles and few options for meaningful work outside the family -- full equality for women has yet to be attained.
  
Learning the history can be helpful. Longtime Section member and author Robin Lindley has interviewed Professor Betsy West, executive producer Makers: Women Who Made America, the first major documentary on the history of the women's movement and how it has transformed our nation. 
You can read the interview at Making the Historical Documentary "Makers"; then see the documentary here. 

From the Chair: 
The Black Watch
The Black Watch
Every day, we meet or pass by survivors and victims of our failure to achieve peace through law. While the targets of our bombs and shells are a focus of our attention, We The People of These United States bear special responsibility to our service members, veterans and their families, who went at our order to do what they did.
  
That most readers of these words opposed those orders frees us from responsibility not at all. Yet today's professional military is separate from most civilians, in some ways a caste of untouchables whose experiences we cannot understand although we try to sympathesize and help.
  
In this context, let me recommend the award-winning play Black Watch, which runs in Seattle April 25 - May 5th. Based on interviews with the men of one of the oldest and proudest infantry divisions in the world, sent to Iraq at the height of the insurgency, it provides insight into the military subculture. Understanding is necessary to effective service for peace! Post-show programs feature conversations with cast and service members; the May 5th post-show features Congressman and Navy veteran Jim McDermott, winner of this Section's Ralph Bunche Award for his opposition to the invasion and other work for peace through law. I hope to see you there! --- REW
 
This is a publication of a section of the Washington State Bar Association. All opinions and comments represent the views of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by WSBA, its officers or agents. 
IN THIS ISSUE
* Sunshine Over The Energy Wars
* Follow-up To March 29 Program
* June 22 CLE: Litigating the Right to Peace
* Makers: Women Who Made America
* The Black Watch
"The non-violent approach does not immediately change the hearts of the oppressor.
 
It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it.
 
It gives them a new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had.
 
Finally, it reaches the opponent and so stirs his conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality." 
 
- Rev. Martin Luther King
"Stride towards Freedom"

Section
Leadership

Chair
Randy Winn

Chair-Elect
Nandini Rao

Immediate Past Chair
Patricia Paul

Secretary-Treasurer
Jana Heyd

Executive Committee
Chalia Stallings-Ala'ilima
Lisa von Trotha

Newsletter 
Randy Winn
Board of Governors Liaison  
Dan Ford


Contact Us!
http://www.wsba.org/Legal-Community/Sections/World-Peace-Through-Law-Section
- or - 
WSBA Service Center
800-945-WSBA (9722)
206-443-WSBA (9722)
Images (c) Constant Contact, Wikimedia, WSBA. Used with permission.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Chard And Strawberries Snuggling In Our Yard

Chard and Strawberries
Seem to play together nicely!
Today I saw that the white strawberry I planted last fall is flourishing under the chard I started from seed around the same time (give or take a few months.) Both survived our mild winter quite well and are leaping into spring, but at different heights. They seem to take the sunlight at different heights and seem to be playing together nicely. 
I take a leaf from each chard plant about once a week, sometimes cooking it in soup, sometimes eating it raw in salad. The strawberries feed us on a different schedule; I'm looking forward to making a salad with both ingredients.
The economics work out well; the chard came from a packet of seeds, and I could have grown the strawberry from an inexpensive packet of bare roots. In this case, I was impatient and bought a small plant for a few dollars; I don't regret this because we got yummy strawberries within a very short time!
In addition to the food, these plants are nice to look at and a much less work than mowing grass!


Sunday, April 14, 2013

Hair Donation Time!

Saturday I went to our local barbership to have my ponytail cut off.
I grow it out so that every couple of years, I can cut it off and send it to a charity that makes wigs for kids undergoing chemo. It's an easy thing to do, but it means that I don't see the barber very often.
Last time I did this, my niece Taryn was in hair school, and did the cut as a training project. She did a great job!
This year, she's busy working and I didn't want to take her time away from her business; also I want to check out a local barber in our neighborhood. It's Platinum Cuts & Styles at 9434 Delridge Way S.W., right next to the Triangle Tavern that I visit every couple of weeks, but I'd never been in the barbershop.
I'm no expert on the barbering profession, but I'm very happy with the results.I got a very good haircut, complete with a couple applications of hot towels and a lot of snipping and detail work. The "after" photo unfortunately caught the barber with a blank expression, but he was really quite bright an animated throughout the process. I would recommend the place without hesitation, and fully intend to get my next haircut there. However, that might not be for the next year or so!


Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Jack Kegley's Experience At Seattle's VA Raises Questions About Patient Care

Jack Kegley USMC is a 100% disabled Veteran (Vietnam) currently receiving treatment at the Seattle VA.

With the use of treatment such as MIST therapy, skin grafts, negative pressure therapy and specialized boots to offload the wound, his wound shrunk to the size of a pencil lead and was continuing to heal. Then the VA decided to give up on him. Why?

In 2007 Jack sought treatment of a diabetic ulcer about the size of a quarter, on his right big toe. Elderly diabetics are frequently at risk for injuries of this sort and, if not properly treated, they can grow to the size of a nickel or quarter and compromise the patient's health generally.  For two years he was treated weekly at the dermatology clinic where a nurse practitioner would debride the foot (that is, scrap off any dead tissue), wrap it in a bandage and send him on his way. This did not result in healing.

Typical "Crow Boot"
In 2009, a new approach was tried: instead of treating Jack as an ulcer with a patient to be managed, he was treated as a patient with an ulcer to be healed.. The more aggressive and holistic approach went after not just the dead tissue of the toe, but the entire patient's nutrition (vitamins and minerals), blood sugar, bio mechanics of walking and so forth. This included the use of a Celleration Corporation “MIST Treatment” (which is also approved at other VA facilities and at Madigan Hospital). Plans were made for a "crow Boot" made to offload the foot even further and perhaps a skin graft to close the wound completely. The ulcer began to shrink and reached the size of a pencil lead.

However toward the end of 2012 that treatment was terminated. The Mist Treatment device was taken away and the previous, ineffectual treatment of scraping the wound was resumed. What does this mean to Jack?

He wrote to the VA several times:
"Let me start this conversation by stating that I am pleased with the level of care that has been provided to me, under most circumstances, by those I have worked with at the VA Seattle and that the following is not reflective of the entire staff and facility.

I am now back at the position I was a year ago with no indications to what type of progress they expect to make, how they expect to offload the weight on my toes (I now have wounds of both large toes) or give me any indication as to the future plans.  They are even talking about taking the scooter away at some point in the future.  I will not tolerate going backwards, I will get out of the VA system and seek private care before I let this return to a point it was a year ago.
Now that they have cancelled the crow boot which was suppose to offload my right foot, and made other changes that do not give me confidence, there are no indications as to when they expect to do anything other than debride the foot.
It has now been 8 weeks since Podiatry took over care of the wound, I am no better than I was when they started, my second toe is healing as expected (but no indication as to why the foot blistered in the first place) and secondary wound has occurred on the side of the original injury.  When I was receiving the Mist treatments, infections were non existent ( I am now under antibiotic care for an additional 6 week to fight a new infection) and an explanation was never given as to why I only received 3 of 27 mist treatments authorized by fee services and why the treatments were cancelled. No plans have been discussed as to future offloading of the wounds or future treatments other than a weekly debridement.  That treatment has now been denied for the future with no explanation to me as to why.
As a Marine I learned the difficult we did right away and that the impossible took a little longer.  I will not stop this type of correspondence until my status returns to a satisfactory state or this issue is resolved.
Sincerely
John M Kegley
USMC"
Lest you think that MIST Technology is some strange, new-age things, see the Bibliography of studies proving its effectiveness. It's not as cheap in the short run as debridement but, on the other hand, it was fixing the problem. The crow boot is not exotic either.
The VA system is not a privilege or a nice-to-have; it is a right that was earned by service to our nation. It is not a place to mess around; it is a place to implement effective treatment. Why was the treatment that was working ended and the treatment that was not working resumed?
Why the change?
Who benefited from stopping the treatment that worked?
So far, Jack has written several times to the VA and not received any response giving him a satisfactory response as to why the Seattle VA Hospital decided it didn't like MIST treatments and the crow boot. What will it take to get these questions answered and effective treatment resumed?

http://vafpugetsound.blogspot.com/2013/04/why-inaction-on-mist-treatment-and-crow.html

Washington State Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP)


The lawyers of Washington State help with Legal Assistance to Military Personnel through a variety of programs.

For Our Warrior Community

The Washington State Bar Association's Online Lawyer Directory has a way to locate lawyers who have picked Military Law as a practice area.
  • Go to http://www.mywsba.org/default.aspx?tabid=177
  • In the scroll box labelled "Area of Practice" pick "Military"
  • You may pick further criteria, e.g. city, although that will limit results
  • Click "Search"
  • You will get a list of lawyers; click on their names to get contact information.
Servicemembers, veterans and their families, just as any other citizen, may find information on pro bono (free) and low bono programs in Washington State, see "How to Find Legal Help". You can also find a lot of self-help materials at http://www.washingtonlawhelp.org/
Active duty service members may wish to go first to Armed Forces Legal Assistance's online database to "locate active duty legal activities offering general legal services within the continental United States". A query for the state of Washington lists the following:

Fairchild AFB (Air Force)
92 ARW/JA
1 E. Bong St. Suite 103 [Bldg 2285]
Spokane, WA 99011
Phone: 509-247-2838 DSN 657-2838
http://public.fairchild.amc.af.mil/
Joint Base Lewis-McChord (Army)
Legal Assistance Office
Mailstop 69 Box 339500
Tacoma, WA 98433
Phone: 253-477-1873/1875 
http://www.lewis.army.mil/sja/
McChord AFB (Air Force)
62 AW/JA
100 Joe Jackson Blvd
Tacoma, WA 98438
Phone: 253-982-5513 DSN 382-5513
http://public.mcchord.amc.af.mil/
NSB Bangor (Navy)
NLSO NW Branch Office Bangor
1001 Tautog Circle
Silverdale, WA 98315
Phone: 360-396-6003 744-6003
http://www.jag.navy.mil/html/NLSO_northwest.htm
USCG Seattle (Coast Guard)
Commander 13th Coast Guard District
915 Second Ave.
Seattle WA
Seattle, WA 98174
Phone: 206-220-7110
http://www.uscg.mil/d13/dl/
NAVSTA Everett (Navy)
NLSO NW Branch Office Everett
2000 W Marine View Drive
Everett, WA 98207
Phone: 425-304-4551 727-4551
http://www.jag.navy.mil/html/NLSO_northwest.htm
NAS Whidbey Island (Navy)
NLSO NW Branch Office Whidbey Island
3530 N. Langley Blvd.
Oak Harbor, WA 98278
Phone: 360-257-2126 820-2126
http://www.jag.navy.mil/html/NLSO_northwest.htm
Naval Shipyard Puget Sound (Navy)
NLSO Northwest
365 South Barclay BLdg 433 Bremerton, WA 98314
Bremerton, WA 98314
Phone: 360-476-2156 439-2156
http://www.jag.navy.mil/html/NLSO_northwest.htm


The Findlaw website has a city-by-city list of lawyers interested in representing active-duty military personnel, military reservists, and veterans here.
The Northwest Justice Project has resources for poor people needing help with civil (not criminal) legal matters. Its Veterans Project can help with things such as child support adjustments, vacating criminal convictions, driver's license suspensions, and more. See the video below ! You can also check out its list of resources relating to veterans.


For Attorneys

Washington State Bar Association has an active Legal Assistance to Military Personnel (LAMP) Section. For contact information, a calendar of upcoming trainings and other events, and more, see http://www.wsba.org/Legal-Community/Sections/Legal-Assistance-to-Military-Personnel.

Anyone with more information on these or other programs, please add in a comment below. The purpose is service!

See also

Monday, April 08, 2013

Search Washington State Law Sites Easily


Many important topics include information that spans multiple sites. For example, information on lawyers in Washington States is spread across one State Bar, multiple County Bars, various specialty organizations and the state courts.
You don't want to use plain ol' Google, because that tends to mix results from Washington State with Washington D.C. and Washington University in St. Louis. Instead, you figure out which sites you want to search all at once, build a Google Custom Search, and there you go:

4freeCLE: The Free CLE Newsletter! April 7, 2013

4freeCLE: The Free CLE Newsletter!
April 7, 2013
In This Issue
Webcast CLE
In California
In District of Columbia
In Florida
In Illinois
In Indiana
In Massachusetts
In Minnesota
In New York
In Ohio
In Pennsylvania
In Utah
In Washington
On-Demand CLE
Past 4freeCLE Issues

Does Your State Offer Free CLE For Pro Bono?

Several states offer free CLE credit in exchange for pro bono service, e.g.MinnesotaWashington. Researching this is time-consuming, so if you want to do your colleagues a solid, check out your state and send the results to the editor. I'll be happy to give you credit in the publicity!




Director: Donald McWhinnie
Starring: Leo McKern
DVD ~ Release Date:
2010-10-05





Webcast CLE
Laptop Users
Share Free CLE Webcasts Anywhere!
From the comfort of your home, office or pasture, these webcast seminars makes it easy to keep your skills and knowledge up-to-date!
Find more webcasts at 4freeCLE's Web-Based CLE.
In-Person CLEs State-by-State
USA State-by-State
Find Free CLE In Your Home State!
Many of these in-person programs can earn you credit in multiple states. When in doubt, check with the credit-granting authority in your state.
 
California
District of Columbia
Florida
Illinois
Indiana
Massachusetts
Minnesota
Also Please Note:
New York
Ohio
Pennsylvania
Utah
Washington
Also Please Note:
Washington State: How To Earn Six MCLE Credits a Year Through Pro Bono ServiceYou can earn 6 credits with 6 hours of service, every year! 
 
On-Demand CLE
Computer In Rain
Anytime & Anywhere: Learn The Law And Earn CLE!
Free, on-demand CLE makes an everyday activity!
Find more on-demand programs at 4freeCLE's List of On-Demand CLE. And feel free to share this list with a friend!

About 4freeCLE
4freeCLE is delivered weekly and will always be free!
Share This!
Pass This Email To A Pal!