2016 Candidate Questionnaire Judicial Level Candidate Name Anthony David Gipe Position Sought King County Superior Court, Position 52 Home County and Legislative District King County, 43rd Legislative District Campaign Contact Information Mailing address: Phone: 425-610-9071 PO Box 20655 Fax: Seattle, WA 98102 Website: In progress Email: [email protected] Twitter: @ Facebook: In progress Campaign manager or point of contact Sanjay Walvekar 206-745-0167 [email protected] Consultant(s) Christian Sinderman 206-683-8380 [email protected] Part I – Candidate Background Please briefly describe your qualifications, education, employment, community and civic activity, past union affiliation, and other relevant experience. Attach a resume with more complete history. I have been practicing law for 16 years, and am a graduate of the University of Washington Law School. Prior to law I spent 10 years working as an interpreter and intelligence analyst. I was an interpreter and analyst for U.S. Navy working with the NSA, and I am veteran of the first Gulf War. I then worked as a private interpreter in Seattle while attending law school. I recently served as President of the Washington State Bar Association, and have been a board member or officer of the State Bar for 9 years. I am also a founding board member of QLAW, and founding board member and instructor for the Washington Leadership Institute which is dedicated to developing minority leaders in the legal profession. I currently serve on two standing/steering committees for Center for Children and Youth Justice. I have also served as a pro tem judge in King County District Court. My only union membership was a job in a butcher shop when I was a teenager. See my attached CV for more details. Describe your history of involvement in Washington state politics. What offices have you previously sought election or appointment to? What campaigns have you worked on? I have been a member of the democratic party and the green party my entire adult life. In Washington I have worked on a few campaigns for judicial office, and have been a supporter of Gov. Gregoire, Gov. Inslee and Attorney General Bob Ferguson. I also worked on grassroots organizing for marriage equality initiative and on other LGBT civil rights. Beyond this, my work in the political world has been as a leader of the State Bar and lobbying on issues relevant to equality and the practice of law. What prompted you to run for this office? A desire to be of greater service to the community. I have been thinking about a run for judicial office for a couple of years. Now that my term as President of WSBA has concluded, and an opportunity has presented itself, I have decided to run this year. I think the bench needs more diversity, and it needs leaders who have a broad understanding of the changes facing our profession and the justice system both technically and in terms of multi-cultural competency. I think I have an excellent balance of intellect, empathy and cultural competency that would serve our community well. Describe the progress of your campaign so far. What kind of reception is your campaign getting? Are you running unopposed, or do you have an opponent? How will your campaign appeal to the voters? My campaign has only recently started, as I announced on Friday, March 11, 2016 following the announced retirement of Judge Heller. So far, I am unaware of any opposition. I am confident that the voters will see my qualities as a fair and experienced person who is dedicated to a process that works for everyone. I would like people to know that I understand them, that I have empathy for problems coming before the court because I have been in their shoes, having worked my way up from a poor working class family in rural Washington. I would hope that they could see that I too have experienced discrimination and harassment for who I am, and that correcting bias and prejudice is a life time of work. If the voters can see these things in me, then I think that will make me an attractive candidate for their votes. Please answer the following questions. Yes* No 1 Have you ever failed to pay any taxes or court ordered judgments? X 2 Have you ever been found in violation of a Public Disclosure Commission, Federal X Election Commission or Seattle Ethics and Elections Commission regulation? * If you answered “Yes” to either of the above, please explain your answer: Part II – Ratings and endorsements What endorsements and ratings from bar associations have you received to date? Bar Association ratings: Joint Asian Bar Association of Washington – Exceptionally Well Qualified LGBT Bar Association of Washington – Exceptionally Well Qualified Veterans Bar Association of Washington – Exceptionally Well Qualified King County Bar Association – Well Qualified Latina/o Bar Association of Washington – Well Qualified Endorsements: Rod Dembowski, King County Council Bobbe Bridge, Justice of Washington Supreme Court (ret). Barbara Madsen, Chief Justice of Washington Supreme Court Steven Gonzales, Justice of Washington Supreme Court Mary Fairhurst, Justice of Washington Supreme Court Charles Wiggins, Justice of Washington Supreme Court Debra Stephens, Justice of Washington Supreme Court Sheryl Gordon McCloud, Justice of Washington Supreme Court Veronica Alicea-Galvan, King County Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Berns, King County Superior Court Judge Richard McDermott, King County Superior Court Judge Ken Schubert, King County Superior Court Judge Andrea Darvas, King County Superior Court Judge Robin Romeo, Arbitrator Russ Aoki Michelle Radosevich James Williams Naoko Inoue Shatz Andy Sachs Daniel Shih Thomas Pitchford Breckan CJ Scott Lisa Gilmore Ryan Casey Jamie Hawke If you have previously sought elected office, what notable endorsements did you receive? I have not previously sought elected public office. What other organizations are you planning to ask for an endorsement? In addition to the King County Democrats’ endorsement, I will seek the endorsement of individual Legislative District Democratic organizations in King County as well as elected officials, judges, attorneys, and advocacy groups statewide. Part III – Legal experience, technology, and court costs Please describe your pro bono activities over the last five years. I take numerous pro bono cases every year, sometimes alone and sometimes with my law partner or with other co-counsel. I estimate that I donate over 300 hours per year on average for that last five years. One of my recent cases has been taking a case on appeal to the court of appeals, and now on review at the Supreme Court that is attempting to void a portion of a common consumer contract that restricts consumers from speaking in public about the product and services they receive. I also dedicate a lot of pro bono time in family law cases representing minority families and LGBT families, especially those facing difficult contested cases but lacking the means to protect their rights. What law firms or public law offices (i.e. King County Prosecutor's Office) have you worked for? Have you served as a prosecutor or a public defender? Please include dates, and title for each position that you have held, as well as areas of law practiced. I have primarily been a trial attorney practicing in the areas of general civil litigation, construction litigation, family law, personal injury, civil rights, and police misconduct. I also litigate business disputes with my law partner who is a business attorney. I also frequently act as trial counsel for other attorneys in a variety of cases. Aside from a short fellowship with Equal Justice America at Columbia Legal Services, my entire career has been at private law firms. See my attached CV for list of Firms and positions. Have you ever served as a mediator or arbitrator? (If so, please describe your experiences.) If you are an incumbent, do you perform settlement conferences? I have served as an arbitrator in King County Superior Court Mandatory Arbitration for over six years. I have served 2-5 times per year on contract cases and personal injury cases. What do you believe are the most important qualifications for a judge or justice? Intelligence is necessary to understand sometimes complex legal issues. Empathy is required to fully understand why people are presenting their problems to the court. Equity is necessary to level out the barriers in a case that have nothing to do with the merits of the arguments. Integrity is necessary in both decision-making and in ensuring consistency. Humility is needed, so that we never forget the impact our decisions have on the lives of others. Have you been a judge pro-tem? If so, what was that experience like? What did you learn from it? Yes, I have been a pro tem in King County District Court. The case load on the dockets can be very high. It takes a lot of attention, focus, and dedication to effectively handle the case load. It reinforced what I already knew, that working as a judge is hard work, but I believe I am ready for that. While acting as President of the State Bar I maintained an almost full time workload at my firm while dedicating 20-30 hours a week to my duties as President. Do you support making it easier for Washingtonians who are not members of the bar to access public records, particularly at the Superior/District court levels, where per-page fees are charged? Yes. Do you have any thoughts on how our courts should address the growing use of smartphones during court proceedings, particularly by jurors? I do not think there is any way to prevent the use of cell phones in court, so long as they are not disruptive.