United States District Court for the Western District of Washington

• Court
• Judges

Western District of Washington Ninth Circuit Chief: Marsha Pechman Judges: 8 Posts: 8 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Jones • Leighton • Martinez • Lasnik • Robart • Rothstein • Settle Senior Judges Bryan • Coughenour • Dimmick • McGovern • Rothstein • Zilly Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Kelley Arnold Donohue • Strombom • Theiler • Tsuchida Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington is the United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties: Clallam, Clark, Cowlitz, Grays Harbor, Island, Jefferson, King, Kitsap, Lewis, Mason, Pacific, Pierce, San Juan, Skagit, Skamania, Snohomish, Thurston, Wahkiakum, and Whatcom. It has jurisdiction over the cities of Bellingham, Seattle, and Tacoma.

The United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington represents the United States in civil and criminal litigation in the court.

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, OR.

Vacancy warning level

The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington's vacancy warning level is currently set at green. The court currently has zero vacancies out of their eight posts, and no pending appointments for the district.

Jurisdiction

The Counties of the Western District of Washington (click for larger map)

The geographic jurisdiction of the Western District of Washington consists of all the following counties in the western part of the state of Washington. The court's headquarters are in Seattle, with a courthouse in Tacoma. Clallam County Clark County Cowlitz County Grays Harbor County Island County Jefferson County King County Kitsap County Lewis County Mason County Pacific County Pierce County San Juan County Skagit County Skamania County Snohomish County Thurston County Wahkiakum County Whatcom County

When decisions of the court are appealed, they are appealed to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals based in downtown San Francisco at the James R. Browning Federal Courthouse, but hears initial appeals at the Pioneer Federal Courthouse in Portland, OR.

Cases heard

The Western District of Washington has original jurisdiction over cases filed within its jurisdiction. These cases can include civil and criminal matters that fall under federal law.

Case load

Federal Court Case Load Statistics*

Year	Starting case load:	Cases filed:	Total cases:	Cases terminated:	Remaining cases:	Median time(Criminal)**:	Median time(Civil)**:	3 Year Civil cases#:	Vacant posts:##	Trials/Post
2010	2640	3636	6276	3519	2757	7.4	7.1	100(4.3%)	.0	22
2009	2603	3436	6039	3396	2643	7.9	6.7	68(3.2%)	.0	16
2008	2671	3644	6315	3693	2622	2018	7.8	55(2.7%)	.1	19
2007	3280	3573	6853	3813	3040	8.0	8.1	36(1.7%)	20.9	22
2006	4303	3471	7774	4101	3673	7.9	9.1	310(11.2%)	14.1	19

*All statistics are taken from the Official Federal Courts' Website and reflect the calendar year through September.    **Time in months from filing to completion. #This statistic includes cases which have been appealed in higher courts.    ##This is the total number of months that any all judicial posts had spent vacant that year.

Clerk's office

The Western District of Washington has two separate courthouses. The Clerk's office is open Monday through Friday 9 am - 4:30 pm, excluding Federal holidays. Staff are available from 8:00 am until 5:00 pm by phone. A drop box is available for filings between 4:30 pm and 5:00 pm at both the Seattle and Tacoma locations. Please consult the chart below for more information:

Branch	Address	Phone number
U.S. District Court Seattle Clerk's Office	U.S. Courthouse 700 Stewart Street, Lobby Level Seattle, WA 98101	206-370-8400
U.S. District Court Tacoma Clerk's Office	U.S. Courthouse 1717 Pacific Avenue, Room 3100 Tacoma, WA 98402-3200	253-882-3800

History

Court history

The state of Washington was established by Congress as one judicial district on April 5, 1890 with one post to cover the entire state and it was assigned over to the Ninth Circuit. On March 2, 1905, the state of Washington was divided into two judicial districts, the Eastern District and the Western District, with a post assigned to each. The post existing before the division was assigned over to the Western District. Over time 7 additional judicial posts were added for a total of 8 current posts.

Judicial posts

The following table highlights the development of judicial posts for the Western District of Washington:

Year	Statute	Total Seats
April 5, 1890	26 Stat. 45	1
March 2, 1905	33 Stat. 824	1
March 2, 1909	35 Stat. 686	2
May 31, 1938	52 Stat. 585	3
May 19, 1961	75 Stat. 80	5
October 20, 1978	92 Stat. 1629	6
July 10, 1984	98 Stat. 333	7 (1 temporary)
December 1, 1990	104 Stat. 5089	8

Notable cases

For a searchable list of opinions, please see Justia.com Dockets and Filings.

• WaMu 401(k) case  Judge(s):Marsha Pechman      *IN RE WASHINGTON MUTUAL, INC. SECURITIES, DERIVATIVE AND ERISA LITIGATION Nos. 2:08-md-01919-MJP, C07-1874 MJP

In 2009, Judge Pechman presided in a case in which employees of Washington Mutual sued to recover lost funds from their 401(k) retirement accounts after JP Morgan Chase acquired the assets of Washington Mutual in 2008. In October 2009, Judge Pechman ruled that JP Morgan Chase was not liable for the 401(k) accounts of Washington Mutual employees. A detailed description of the history of the case, as well as copies of all official court documents can be found here.

• Washington R-71  Judge(s):Ronald Leighton      *Family PAC v. Washington Public Disclosure Commission 3:09-cv-05662-RBL

Judge Leighton on October 27, 2009, ruled against Washington Family PAC in a lawsuit challenging Washington State's $5,000 in 21 days rule. The group sued the Washington Public Disclosure commission over the law that prohibits large contributions over $5,000 in the last three weeks of the election. The judge ruled that it was not in the court's best interest to change the rules of the game at the last minute.

• Glacier Northwest case  Judge(s):Ricardo Martinez      *Preserve Our Islands v. Shorelines Hearings Board Nos. 55655-0-I, 55656-8-I

On August 13, 2009, Judge Martinez ruled against Glacier Northwest to halt construction on a new pier project in Washington State which was deemed controversial. The judge found in his ruling that federal agencies did not enforce environmental laws when giving Glacier Northwest the permit to build the pier. The project was halted until federal agencies investigated the environmental impact towards Chinook Salmon and southern resident Orca whales which were on the federal endangered species list.

• Disability benefits case  Judge(s):Richard Jones

On September 5, 2009, Judge Jones ruled that the State of Washington must continue to issue benefits to over 1,000 disabled and elderly citizens. The judge found the state did not give proper notice to recipients who received benefits for social and medical therapy that their aid was going to be cut due to a budget shortfall. In the ruling, Judge Jones stated that the state violated due process rights, and told the state that they must respect every citizen's rights even in a budget crisis.

• R-71 signature release case  Judge(s):Ben Settle      *Doe v. Reed 3:09-cv-05456-BHS

For more background information on R-71 please see Washington Referendum 71 (2009) on Ballotpedia. On September 8, 2009, Judge Ben Settle ruled against a challenge from a gay rights groups in Washington. The group asked for the release of petition records signed in favor of R-71, which expanded the legal protections of domestic partners. The judge found that the methods the Washington Secretary of State's Office used to check the validity of the signatures were legal. Following the 2010 ruling by the United States Supreme Court in Doe v. Reed that made petition signatures public as per Washington's Public Records Act, anti-gay marriage advocates renewed efforts to prevent the names of people who signed the petition from being released. However, on October 17, 2011, Judge Settle ruled on the matter and determined that the signatures could be released. Later that day, Washington State officials released copies of petitions. Learn more about this story here.

Federal courthouse

Two separate courthouses serve the Western District of Washington.

Major news

For new stories and other related material see Washington judicial news.

See also

• News: Facebook teams up with Washington Attorney General to fight online spam, January 31, 2012
• United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

External links

• United States District Court for the Western District of Washington Official Website
• United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington Official Website
• Judges of the Western District of Washington
• Opinions of the Western District of Washington

References

Western District of Washington Ninth Circuit Chief: Marsha Pechman Judges: 8 Posts: 8 Vacancies: 0 Active judges Jones • Leighton • Martinez • Pechman • Robart • Rothstein • Settle Senior Judges Bryan • Coughenour • Dimmick • McGovern • Rothstein • Zilly Magistrate Judges Chief Magistrate: Kelley Arnold Donohue • Strombom • Theiler • Tsuchida Former Judges

Key: (Numbers indicate % of seats vacant.) 0% 0%-10% 10%-25% 25%-40% More than 40%

Active judges

Article III judges

See: Article III federal judge
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has 8 posts and 0 vacancies. The current Chief Judge is Marsha Pechman. This is a list of the current judges on the court:

Judge	Born	Home	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Preceeded	Bachelors	Law
Judge Ronald Leighton	1951	Stockton, CA	W. Bush	11/26/2002 - Present		Robert Bryan	Whitworth College, B.A., 1973	U. of California, Hastings College of Law, J.D., 1976
Judge Robert Lasnik	1951	Staten Island, NY	Clinton	10/22/1998 - Present	2004 - 2011	Carol Dimmick	Brandeis U., A.B., 1972	U. of Washington School of Law, J.D., 1978
Judge Richard Jones	1950	Seattle, WA	W. Bush	10/29/2007 - Present		John Coughenour	Seattle U., Bachelor of Public Affairs, 1972	U. of Washington School of Law, J.D., 1975
Judge Ben Settle	1947	Olympia, WA	W. Bush	7/2/2007 - Present		Franklin Burgess	Claremont McKenna College, B.A., 1969	Willamette University College of Law, J.D., 1972
Judge James Robart	1947	Seattle, WA	W. Bush	6/21/2004 - Present		Thomas Zilly	Whitman College, B.A., 1969	Georgetown University Law Center, J.D., 1973
Judge Ricardo Martinez	1951	Mercedes, TX	W. Bush	6/16/2004 - Present		New Seat|104 Stat. 5089	U. of Washington, B.S., 1975	U. of Washington School of Law, J.D., 1980
Chief Judge Marsha Pechman	1951	Salem, OR	Clinton	9/9/1999 - Present	2011 - Present	William Dwyer	Cornell University, B.A., 1973	Boston University, J.D., 1976

See: Article III federal judge

Pending appointments

There are no current pending appointments for the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington.

Senior judges

See: Federal judges on senior status
The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington has 6 judges on senior status currently. This is a list of the current senior judges on the court:

Judge	Appointed by	Active	Chief	Senior	Bachelors	Law
Senior Judge Robert Bryan	Reagan	5/7/1986 - 11/1/2000		11/1/2000 - Present	U. of Washington, B.A., 1956	U. of Washington School of Law, J.D., 1958
Senior Judge John Coughenour	Reagan	9/28/1981 - 7/27/2006	1997 - 2004	7/27/2006 - Present	Kansas State College of Pittsburgh, B.S., 1963	U. of Iowa College of Law, J.D., 1966
Senior Judge Carol Dimmick	Reagan	4/4/1985 - 11/1/1997	1994 - 1997	11/1/1997 - Present	U. of Washington, B.A., 1951	U. of Washington School of Law, J.D., 1953
Senior Judge Thomas Zilly	Reagan	4/20/1988 - 1/1/2004		1/1/2004 - Present	U. of Michigan, B.A., 1956	Cornell Law School, J.D., 1962
Senior Judge Barbara Rothstein	Carter	2/20/1980 - 9/1/2011	1987 - 1994	9/1/2011 - Present	Cornell U., B.A., 1960	Harvard Law School, LL.B., 1966
Senior Judge Walter McGovern	Nixon	4/23/1971 - 9/30/1987	1975 - 1987	9/30/1987 - Present	U. of Washington, B.A., 1949	U. of Washington School of Law, LL.B., 1950

Magistrate judges

Judge	Active	Bachelors	Law
Magistrate Judge Kelley Arnold	3/3/2009-Current
Magistrate Judge James Donohue	2/8/2005-Current	U. of Illinois, A.B., 1973	U. of California at Los Angeles, J.D., 1976
Chief Magistrate Judge Karen Strombom	4/1/2003-Current	U. of Wisconsin at Stevens Point, B.S., 1974	U. of Wisconsin-Madison, J.D., 1978
Magistrate Judge Mary Alice Theiler	4/25/2003-Current
Magistrate Judge Brian Tsuchida	5/13/2008-Current	Grinnell College, B.A.	University of Oregon, J.D.
Magistrate Judge Dean Brett	06/23/2005 - Present	Whitman College, B.A., 1968	Stanford Law, J.D., 1972
Magistrate Judge David Christel	03/24/2007 - Present	Washington State U., B.A.	U. of Washington Law, J.D., 1985
Magistrate Judge Richard Creatura	03/17/2009 - Present	Tufts U., B.A.	U. of the Pacific Law, J.D., 1978
Magistrate Judge John Weinberg	1973 - Present	Swarthmore College, B.A.	U. of Chicago Law, J.D.

Past judges

Former Chief judges

Judge	Term
George Boldt	1971 - 1971
William Beeks	1971 - 1973
William Lindberg	1959 - 1971
William Goodwin	1973 - 1975
John Clyde Bowen	1948 - 1959
Walter McGovern	1975 - 1987
Barbara Rothstein	1987 - 1994
Carol Dimmick	1994 - 1997
John Coughenour	1997 - 2004
Robert Lasnik	2004 - 2011

In order to qualify for the office of Chief Judge in one of the federal courts, a judge must have been in active service on the court for at least one year, be under the age of 65, and have not previously served as Chief Judge. A vacancy in the office of Chief Judge is filled by the judge highest in seniority among the group of qualified judges. The Chief Judge serves for a term of seven years or until age 70, whichever occurs first. The age restrictions are waived if no members of the court would otherwise be qualified for the position. Unlike the Chief Justice of the United States, a Chief Judge returns to active service after the expiration of his or her term and does not create a vacancy on the bench by the fact of his or her promotion. See 28 U.S.C. § 45.

These rules for Chief Judges in the federal judiciary have been in effect since October 1, 1982. The office of Chief Judge was created in 1948. Until August 6, 1959, the position was filled in each federal court by the longest-serving judge who had not elected to retire on what has since 1958 been known as senior status or declined to serve as Chief Judge. From then until 1982 it was filled by the senior such judge who had not turned 70.

Former judges

1. Cornelius Holgate Hanford
2. Edward Cushman
3. George Donworth
4. Clinton Woodbury Howard
5. Jeremiah Neterer
6. Franklin Burgess
7. John Clyde Bowen
8. Lloyd Black
9. William Goodwin
10. William Lindberg
11. Jack Tanner
12. William Beeks
13. George Boldt
14. William Dwyer
15. Charles Leavy
16. Morell Sharp
17. Donald Voorhees
18. Monica Benton