Yakima lawyers volunteer to work as judges

Jose Valencia was 14 years old and looking forward to a high school football camp when he was hurt in a rear-end auto crash in 2004.

Valencia never got to play football, and he's a sophomore now at the University of Washington.

But more than three years after his attorney filed a lawsuit against the driver accused of causing the crash, the case is still waiting to go to trial.

He's not alone. Yakima County Superior Court has a backlog of more than 500 civil cases.

Starting next month, however, the court will embark on a new approach using volunteer judges to reduce that backlog.

Proponents believe it's the first time such an approach has been used in the state, and possibly beyond.

The proposal was partly inspired by Richard Bartheld, the Yakima lawyer who represents Valencia.

It came to him after learning several months ago that a trial date for the lawsuit would be delayed yet again.

In a letter he fired off to court consultant Harold Delia, he volunteered to serve as a part-time judge - for free - in order to help clear the backlog.

Bartheld says now that he was more frustrated than serious, but he's ready to step up since Delia, judges and other attorneys have shown support for his idea.

"Maybe it's time I be a solution to the problem, rather than a source of the problem," Bartheld said in explaining his reasons for volunteering.

Starting in March, nine or more local attorneys will serve as volunteer judges, taking over a federal courtroom donated for the purpose.

The parties in the cases before them - everything from divorces and custody disputes to contract violations and medical malpractice lawsuits - will have to agree on which judge will handle the matter.

Delia said the attorneys who have agreed to serve as judges are experienced in civil law. He expects more attorneys to volunteer as they learn of the program.

The county will not specifically approve volunteers in what is effectively a self-policing system.

State law does not require special certification as a judge beyond being a licensed attorney in good standing. The local bar suggested that each attorney selected to volunteer have at least 10 years experience; they will undergo regular training that the county offers for pro tem judges.

The effort has benefits for all of those involved, proponents say.

Attorneys and their clients will be able to avoid the frustration of getting their cases bumped; attorneys will gain experience as a judge, which will be valuable if they decide to run for a permanent post; and the county effectively gets a free resource to deal with a continuing problem.

Greg Hurley, an analyst for the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, Va., said he hasn't heard of a court taking an approach similar to Yakima County.

"We'll have to see how it works out," he said.

The approach could be widely watched at a time when budget cutbacks are forcing courts across the country into layoffs, furloughs and even closing one day a week.

Counties in California and in the city of Atlanta recently recalled retired judges to the bench as a way to deal with budget problems, Hurley said. California has also used temporary judges to hear motions before a regular judge handles the trial.

This recession's economic pain is worse than the last major hardship period, in 2002-03, because it's lasting longer, Hurley said.

"This is about as bad as it gets," he said.

When Yakima County court officials last year launched an effort to cut the backlog of criminal cases, they knew that the civil side would take a hit.

With the criminal caseload holding steady at less than 1,000 pending cases, officials are now tackling the other side of the equation.

Under state law, criminal cases must be resolved as quickly as possible in order to protect the defendant's rights. Civil cases don't have that requirement.

Yakima County has eight Superior Court judges and three court commissioners, one who is part time. The state Office of the Administrator of the Courts calculates that the county could use 13 judges, but the money is not available from either the state or the county, which split the cost for Superior Court judges. A single judge pro tem would cost the county $65,000 per year, roughly 40 percent of the cost of a court commissioner.

Nearly 8,100 civil and domestic cases were filed in the county last year, compared with less than 4,000 felony criminal cases.

Bartheld, an attorney for almost 30 years, can remember when the first trial date was all but guaranteed to go during the 1980s.

That hasn't been true for several years.

"We're just inundated," he said, largely because of budget problems for the county.

He had two cases out of 20 go to trial last year. Those are the difficult ones, where arbitration or other settlement attempts have already failed.

He hopes that the extended delays will disappear once the volunteer judges help clear the backlog. Delia said he hopes to clear about half of the 550 older cases by the end of the year.

It's not clear whether the volunteer program will continue once that happens.

"I'm going to love addressing that issue when it's a reality," said Ruth Reukauf, the presiding Superior Court judge.

Reukauf said she recognizes that the public wants cases to be heard by an elected judge.

She said the volunteer judges will help the court maintain access to justice. The fact that already busy attorneys are willing to help speaks to their commitment and the quality of the local bar association, she said.

Without the volunteers, trials could be further delayed, keeping families, businesses and others in limbo.

"We're all trying to work for a common goal," Bartheld said.

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Information from: Yakima Herald-Republic, http://www.yakima-herald.com