Volunteer judges needed: 2020 Washington State High School Ethics Bowl

Please see the request from Dr. Lone below seeking volunteer judges: law students, staff, and faculty volunteers can serve as judges. For more information about the High School Ethics Bowl and this year’s cases and rules, visit:  https://www.philosophyforchildren.org/what-we-do/high-school-ethics-bowl/ 

From: Jana Mohr Lone, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Philosophy for Children and Affiliate Associate Professor of Philosophy

Hello everyone, 

I am writing to seek your involvement in the 2020 Washington State High School Ethics Bowl, which will be held on Saturday, February 29, 2020, at the University of Washington School of Law. The UW Center for Philosophy for Children, which works to empower young people by bringing philosophical inquiry into their lives, is hosting this event for the seventh year, with the support of the UW's School of Law, Department of Philosophy, Program on Ethics, College of Arts & Sciences Division of Social Sciences, and College of Education, and the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association. 

In a High School Ethics Bowl, teams analyze a series of wide-ranging ethical dilemmas involving topics such as cheating, plagiarism, peer pressure, relationships, and abuse of social media. An Ethics Bowl is similar to debate, although in Ethics Bowls teams are not forced to take adversarial positions or to hold fast to an assigned perspective. Instead, students have a forum in which to engage in dialogue, and they are judged on the quality of their analysis and the degree to which they engage in a thoughtful, civil exchange. The idea is really to promote reasoned and respectful conversation about complex and difficult ethical issues, and in so doing help students to recognize how collaborative dialogue can enhance our understanding of the world and each other.

This year we have decided, after consultation with all of our coaches, that we are taking a break from participation in the National High School Ethics Bowl. This allows us much greater flexibility regarding rules, timing of the event, and the cost for the teams.

Please consider volunteering as a judge or moderator on February 29. 

Here is a link to more information about the event, including this year’s cases and rules:  https://www.philosophyforchildren.org/what-we-do/high-school-ethics-bowl/ 

Judges, lawyers, and faculty and graduate students from UW's School of Law, Philosophy Department, College of Education, and other departments, as well as many others have served in past years as judges and moderators. Each year people write to me to comment on how meaningful and fun this competition is. We are also working hard to continue to increase the diversity of judges and moderators involved in this event, and any help you can provide in this regard would be very welcome!

At this point, we are expecting 18-22 high school teams to participate. The event will begin around 8:00 am on Saturday, February 29, with a short training for judges and moderators and then a brief orientation for everyone. The bulk of the competition's rounds will be in the morning, until roughly 1 pm, which is when we will need the most judges. For the afternoon rounds, which will involve six teams in the semi-finals and two in the final round, we will only need nine judges and three moderators. So if you would prefer to come for the morning or just part of the morning only, that's totally fine — just let me know.

I hope you will participate this year! Please respond by email letting me know whether you think this might work for you, along with any questions you have. I will send along more information to all the participants in February, including logistics etc.

Thanks for considering this!

Best wishes, 

Jana Mohr Lone, Ph.D.
Director of the Center for Philosophy for Children and Affiliate Associate Professor of Philosophy
University of Washington 
http://www.philosophyforchildren.org
Twitter: @JanaMohrLone
Blog: http://philosophyforchildren.blogspot.com

Attend the LBAW Gala on 3/20/2020 at the Grand Hyatt in Seattle.  
Keynote Speaker: Monserrat Padilla
Emcee:  Chach Duarte-White
Awardees include: The Washington Leadership Institute (WLI); Justice Yu; Luis Cortes; and Rocky White

For more information & to register visit: https://www.lbaw.org/events/

The Washington Initiative for Diversity (WID) is excited to invite you to participate in the WID 2020 Winter Stakeholder Gathering – Diversity and Inclusion in Law Firms.

This gathering will focus on the hiring and retention of diverse talent in law firms.  The event will take place on February 12th, 2020 from 2pm to 4pm, at the Seattle offices of Lane Powell.    

Information about WID: 

WID is a non-profit that partners with legal employers to provide resources and tools to build an inclusive culture and a diverse work environment. WID has been around for 10+ years and was originally co-founded by Justice B. Madsen of the WA State Supreme Court.  We put on a few events a year, including Stakeholder Gatherings.  Stakeholder Gatherings are intended to provide safe environments for our colleagues in the legal profession to engage in informative, challenging and rich discussions on D&I, and to share best practices (and missteps) relative to driving D&I imperatives in our places of work and the profession generally. 

Information about the Stakeholder Gathering: 

Again, the upcoming gathering will focus on the hiring and retention of diverse talent in law firms. We’ll dive into the MCCA and ABA’s Bias Interrupters Research Report on bias in the legal profession with an emphasis on toolkits to interrupt bias in hiring, promotion, and assignments within law firms.  Theexecutive summary of the report is on the MCCA website, and it summarizes key data and also provides the tools found on pp. 87-101 of the full report that is available to members of the ABA and MCCA.      

We will have a panel discussion with a great line-up of speakers below and then breakout into interactive roundtable discussions amongst our attendees. 

·         Ann Munson Steines – General Counsel at Nordstrom. 

·         Genhi Bailey – Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer Perkins Coie.

·         Jennifer Yokoyama – Deputy General Counsel and Chief IP Counsel at Microsoft. 

·         Phyllis Turner-Brim – VP and Assistant General Counsel of Intellectual Property, Technology and Brand Protection at Starbucks.

·         Robert Harmon – Associate General Counsel and Director at Amazon.

We look forward to seeing you and for great discussions. If you have any questions, please contact David Wilson or Lydia Petrakis.

Rev Spokane invitationrev.v2.pdf

2020.01.30 yakima invitation-2.pdf

I-1000.pdf

joint-statement-of-mbas-re-charlottesville-updated.pdf

ABAW wishes King County District Court Judge Eileen A. Kato a very happy retirement. Judge Kato is a past recipient of ABAW's "Judge of the Year" award. She has served King County for over two decades and her distinguished career includes a variety of judicial leadership positions across a broad range of programs focused on improving the judiciary and our state courts. Thank you Judge Kato for your service to the public.

ABAW extends its condolences to the family and friends of the late former King County Superior Court Judge Warren Chan, the first Asian American to be elected to the bench in Washington in 1968. Judge Chan passed away on June 15, 2015 at the age of 92, leaving behind a distinguished legacy as a community leader and trailblazer in Washington's Asian community. The first Chinese-American graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, Chan graduated fourth in his class in 1950. Chan clerked for Supreme Court Justice Frederick Hamley and then entered private practice, eventually becoming senior partner with the law firm of Chan, Uhlman and Callies. Chan was appointed to serve as a Seattle Municipal Court pro tem judge in 1956, the first Chinese American to occupy a US judicial post. Judge Chan was then elected to the Superior Court in 1968, later serving as Presiding Judge in 1975. Judge Chan cofounded the Wing Luke Museum to honor his friend, Seattle City Councilman Wing Luke. Judge Chan also helped establish the Seattle Chinese Garden and its educational center at South Seattle College. A public memorial service was held July 3rd 2015, at 1:00 pm at the South Seattle College, Seattle Chinese Garden, 6000 16th Ave SW, Seattle. In lieu of flowers, gifts can be made to Seattle Chinese Garden. Learn more about Judge Chan’s amazing life at http://bit.ly/1NvftPz (Seattle Times) or http://bit.ly/1Iqyinq (obituary).

Archived from 6/30/2015 front page post.