Right-to-Counsel Case Argued Before State Supreme Court, Gets Media Attention

Seattle Partner Katie O'Sullivan argued a potentially precedent-setting case before the Washington Supreme Court on May 31. In the case, King v. King, O'Sullivan, Nick Gellert and Rebecca Engrav, who are working pro bono, asked the court to recognize an individual's right to counsel in certain civil cases, on a case-by-case basis. The Perkins Coie team argued that in this case, the state's duty to provide meaningful access to the courts and due process includes a right to a lawyer at trial because of the client's risk of loss of all custody of her three children, the complicated nature of the proceedings--which included allegations of domestic violence--and because the only way to dissolve a marriage and resolve the child custody dispute is through the courts. The matter, which has received significant media coverage, including on King 5 News and NPR/KPLU and in the Seattle Times, will be decided in the next year.