A member of Pacifica’s Litigation practice group, Jacob joins a legacy of Pacifica Law Group’s participation in Leadership Tomorrow’s 10-month community leadership program. Each year, the organization brings together individuals from the private, nonprofit, and public sectors across the Puget Sound to learn about regional challenges and opportunities, develop leadership skills, and build community.

In addition to participating in Leadership Tomorrow, Jacob serves on the executive committee of the Washington State Bar Association’s Antitrust, Consumer Protection & Unfair Business Practices Section. He was also named to the 2025 “Ones to Watch” list by Best Lawyers in America in the field of commercial litigation.

Pacifica attorneys Carlos Chavez, Sarah Johnson, Faith Pettis, Christopher Sanders, Jessica Skelton, and Denise Stiffarm are also Leadership Tomorrow alumni. Former Pacifica attorneys who are Leadership Tomorrow alumni include Judge Kymberly Evanson, Alanna Peterson, and Jay Reich.

Everyone at Pacifica congratulates Jacob on his graduation from Leadership Tomorrow.

As an appellate lawyer representative, Paul will collaborate with judges of the Ninth Circuit to improve appellate practice and procedures and the administration of justice in the Ninth Circuit. He will participate in meetings throughout the Circuit, coordinate activities with district lawyer representatives, as appropriate, and attend and participate in the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference.

An accomplished appellate and trial lawyer, Paul’s experience includes more than 125 appeals, many in the Ninth Circuit.

During the briefing, Pacifica attorneys discussed the current legal landscape, explored future scenarios, and shared practical guidance and potential legal strategies on the following topics. Two days into the new administration, many of these concerns have already begun to materialize—and Pacifica is working with its clients and community partners on multiple fronts to respond. (Stay tuned.)

Immigration

Sarah Mack and Anita Khandelwal discussed how the incoming administration’s immigration policies may conflict with state laws and federal privacy laws. They also discussed the potential ramifications of the Trump administration’s threats to revoke the Department of Homeland Security’s “Sensitive Locations Policy,” which currently provides that federal immigration enforcement operations should not occur at courts, schools or other designated locations.

Sarah and Anita also shared ideas about how schools, courts, jails, and other public and private entities should prepare for and respond to the presence of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers at their facilities.

Federal Funding

Jessica Skelton and Paul Lawrence analyzed the potential for the executive and legislative branches of the federal government to use funding to ensure state and local compliance with federal policies. They discussed the 10th Amendment’s anti-commandeering doctrine, which says that the federal government cannot coerce state or local governments to enforce federal laws. They also discussed the use of funding incentives to encourage state and local compliance, including the guardrails courts have placed on the use of such funding incentives.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Initiatives

Jessica and Paul also analyzed the current state of the law on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in light of two recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions: Students for Fair Admissions, the 2023 case in which the Court struck down race-based admissions processes at Harvard and the University of North Carolina; and Allen v. Milligan, in which the Court upheld a key provision of the Voting Rights Act that allows race-conscious government action as a remedy to unlawful discrimination.

They also looked ahead to possible DEI-related issues under the new administration, including the potential abolishment of government DEI offices, the end of federal government participation in DEI initiatives, and threats to eliminate federal funding to organizations with DEI programs.

Abortion Access

Jamie Lisagor and Erica Coray addressed how abortion access may be affected during the second Trump administration. Jamie and Erica provided an overview of Washington’s abortion protections and explained how the Trump administration may attempt to undermine those protections by utilizing the Comstock Act, seeking reversal of the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of mifepristone abortion medication, or by cutting insurance coverage and funding for organizations and programs that currently provide abortions. They concluded by discussing ways in which local government entities and organizations can help protect access to abortion during the Trump administration.

Gun Violence Prevention

Zach Pekelis outlined how the second Trump administration may attempt to weaken gun violence prevention efforts. As he promised during the campaign, Trump will likely divert federal funds to arm teachers, encourage gun sales without background checks, defund the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and do away with ATF regulations. Trump has also pledged to sign the Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act, which would force states to recognize concealed carry laws of other states—even those that require no permit at all.

For questions regarding these or other issues related to the changing legal landscape under the second Trump administration, please reach out to Jessica Skelton or any member of the Pacifica team.

According to Vote Forward, handwritten letters are one of the most effective ways to help get out the vote, and the letters can boost voter turnout by as much as 3.4 percentage points.

Pacifica volunteers tuned in to the vice presidential debate and wrote 300 personal letters to potential voters in Pennsylvania, sharing personal stories about why we vote.

Vote Forward volunteers have written nearly 8 million letters in 2024. And there is still time to participate—letters can be mailed up until October 29, 2024.

Follow the link below to learn more about Vote Forward and their work to get out the vote.

https://votefwd.org/

Pacifica attorneys, staff, and summer associates had the opportunity to spend a beautiful summer morning yesterday volunteering at the Washington Park Arboretum, the 230-acre urban greenspace on the shore of Lake Washington that’s home to more than 40,000 plant species.

The Arboretum, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year, is managed by the University of Washington Botanic Gardens and Seattle Parks and Recreation, with partnership and support from the Arboretum Foundation.

Working in the Arboretum’s Oaks section, we helped clear the area around two newly planted oaks—a Shumard Oak and a Maple-leaved Oak—and wrestled with some familiar Seattle garden foes: blackberry and bindweed.

We also had an opportunity to learn a bit more about the Arboretum, its history, present, and future. We learned, for instance, that a grounds staff of just 14 people care for the Arboretum, which is free to the public, and that volunteers are vital its maintenance.

Below is a link to the Arboretum Foundation site for those who may be interested in volunteering or learning about other ways to support this beautiful public resource.

A huge thank you to Grounds Supervisor Roy Farrow and Arboretum Foundation Volunteer Programs Manager Lily King for welcoming us.

https://arboretumfoundation.org/

A member of Pacifica’s Litigation practice group, Christopher joins a legacy of Pacifica attorneys who have graduated from Leadership Tomorrow’s 10-month community leadership program. Each year, the organization, which is celebrating its 40th year, brings together individuals from the private, nonprofit, and public sectors across the Puget Sound to learn about regional challenges and opportunities, develop leadership skills, and build community.

Christopher is a committed public servant and leader in the legal profession. He currently serves as commissioner of the Washington State Minority and Justice Commission, is the Chair of the Washington State Bar Association Disciplinary Board and co-founded the Washington Coalition of Minority Legal Professionals. Christopher also serves on the F.A.M.E. Equity Alliance of Washington board, and is a past president and current member of the Loren Miller Bar Association.

Pacifica attorneys Carlos Chavez, Sarah Johnson, Faith Pettis, Jessica Skelton, and Denise Stiffarm are also Leadership Tomorrow alumni. Former Pacifica attorneys who are Leadership Tomorrow alumni include Judge Kymberly Evanson, Alanna Peterson, and Jay Reich.

Everyone at Pacifica congratulates Christopher on his graduation and applauds his continued efforts to make positive change in his community and in the legal profession.

VECINA supports attorneys and other advocates fighting for immigrant justice in the United States through training, mentorship, and community education, among other initiatives. Meha began volunteering with VECINA as a pro bono attorney in its Afghan Newcomers project, which helps Afghans with asylum requests and other legal needs. Her work with the client—whose name is withheld to protect her and her family—began in April 2023.

“The fear that my client faced in Afghanistan after the Taliban took over is unimaginable,” Meha said. “I’m glad that I could play a part in helping her live in safety.”

Meha’s client applied for asylum in the U.S. based on the fear that, if she were to return to Afghanistan, she would be persecuted by the Taliban not only because of her family’s ties to the Afghan and U.S. militaries, but also because of her anti-Taliban political opinions and religious beliefs.

People who seek asylum in the U.S. must prove that they have a “well-founded fear” of persecution in their country of nationality because of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion. To evaluate a “well-founded fear,” U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services uses a four-part test, known as “The Mogharabbi Test,” which was laid out in a 1987 decision by the United States Department of Justice Board of Immigration Appeals in a deportation case known as the Matter of Mogharrabi.

Meha’s client applied for asylum because the Taliban, after they regained control of Afghanistan in 2021, targeted and threatened her family because members of her family had served in the Afghan and United States military in Afghanistan. The client also refused to comply with the political and religious rules for women. She and some of her siblings were able to escape, first into hiding in Afghanistan, then to a humanitarian camp in Abu Dhabi, before they were granted parole to the United States.

Meha’s client was initially granted humanitarian parole into the U.S. as part of a Department of Homeland Security program to assist vulnerable Afghans following the end of the War in Afghanistan, including those who had worked with the U.S. military during the war. But parole grants only temporary status in the United States. With a grant of asylum, the client can eventually apply for citizenship.

As board members, volunteers and pro bono legal counsel, women attorneys at Pacifica contribute to organizations that provide underserved people with equitable access to legal services, educate students, provide for children in need, support young people in foster care, combat racism, and strengthen communities by empowering women, among many other initiatives.

Jamie Lisagor, for instance, serves on the executive board of the Civic Learning Council, an organization focused on strengthening civic learning opportunities for Washington State students. Meha Goyal volunteers for Northwest Immigrant Rights Project, which supports immigrants through direct legal services and advocacy. Meha also volunteers for Vecina, an immigrant justice nonprofit, and their Family Reunification Project, which seeks to reunite unaccompanied migrant children with family members in the United States. Jessica Skelton provides volunteer service to Legal Voice, an organization that fights gender inequality in the Pacific Northwest through the legal system. Jessica and Erica Coray volunteer for Treehouse, an organization that creates opportunities for youth in foster care in Washington State. Alison Benge is a member of 100 Strong, a women’s philanthropic leadership network actively supporting Save the Children’s efforts around the world. Among other projects, 100 Strong is currently advocating for “Ending Child Marriage” in Sierra Leone. Denise Stiffarm serves on the board of YWCA Seattle | King | Snohomish, an organization that works to eliminate racism and empower women. And Faith Pettis serves on the advisory board of the Evergreen Impact Housing Fund, which makes below market loans to affordable housing projects in the King County and surrounding areas.

These and the many other volunteer contributions made by Pacifica’s women attorneys exemplify our Firm’s values and commitment to community service. We are proud to celebrate this spirit of volunteerism, and the dedication of the women of our Firm to increasing equity, inclusivity, justice, and opportunity for all through their work as lawyers and community leaders.

Dean Varona, Dean Lawson, and Pacifica’s Carlos Chavez.

Pacifica Law Group had the honor last week of hosting a conversation with Tamara F. Lawson, University of Washington School of Law Toni Rembe Dean and Professor of Law, and Anthony E. Varona, Seattle University School of Law Dean and Professor of Law. During the discussion, moderated by Pacifica partner Carlos Chavez, the Deans spoke about current efforts to increase equity and inclusion in the legal profession, including the roles law schools, law firms, government attorneys, and the wider legal community can play. The Deans also offered ideas for actions legal employers and individual attorneys may take to support students and graduates from underrepresented communities, and to create a more diverse bar.

Below are some key takeaways from the conversation.

Barriers to Legal Education and How to Break Them Down

The discussion with Deans Lawson and Varona touched first on the biggest barriers to legal education that students from diverse backgrounds face, and what can be done to help grow the pipeline of legal students from underrepresented communities.

Dean Lawson noted that finances are a significant barrier to legal education. Increased scholarships and other financial support will improve access to legal education and increase the talent pool, she said. She also highlighted the importance of confidence. “Certain communities have been told more often than others that they don’t belong [in the legal profession],” she said. Welcoming, embracing, and encouraging prospective students from underrepresented communities can have a significant impact on their confidence.

Aspiration is another significant barrier, Dean Varona explained. Many prospective law students from diverse backgrounds do not have contact as children or young adults with legal professionals, and hence do not consider law careers. It is important to find ways to reach, mentor, and inspire more young people to pursue the law.

Legal education is also physically not available to many potential students, Dean Varona added. For instance, he noted the Hispanic and Latinx communities in Central Washington, and that lawyers and law schools are primarily in Seattle or elsewhere. “Not only do [potential law students] not have access to role models, but they don’t have access to local easy legal ed,” Varona explained. He later highlighted Seattle U School of Law’s effort to launch hybrid law school hubs in Yakima Valley, South Puget Sound and Anchorage, areas where no brick and mortar law schools currently exist.

Dean Varona also noted that Washington’s three law schools (Gonzaga University, Seattle University, and University of Washington) partner with Heritage University in Toppenish, WA, on the Law School Admission Council (LSAC) Prelaw Undergraduate Scholars (PLUS) Program, a law school pipeline for Latino/Latina/Latinx students and Indigenous students from the Yakima Valley. The program, which is funded by LSAC and just finished its second year, has seen Heritage University graduate students into law school programs for the first time. “It’s been very successful,” Dean Varona said.

How Legal Employers Can Increase Equity and Inclusion through Hiring

Deans Lawson and Varona also discussed the impact legal employers may have in creating opportunities and widening the pool of talented early career lawyers.

They both suggested that law firms and other legal employers take a hard look at their hiring practices and consider who those practices may be excluding. Students who come to law school with fewer privileges are more prone to struggle initially in law school, causing them to miss out on opportunities such as the Law Review or clerkships, Dean Lawson noted. “Your first grades in law school put you on a pathway, or exclude you from the pathway where you can impact the profession,” Dean Lawson added. “I would encourage us all to step out of some of the traditional stereotypes or limits or barriers that we have set in our profession, around elitism, frankly, and be willing to explore each individual.”

“You have to get to the bottom of what it is that your hiring practices are really screening for,” said Dean Varona. Traditional approaches exclude students who for reasons of personal circumstance may have struggled early in their law school careers, or may not have been able to attend an elite institution. “Is there tremendous talent among other law students that haven’t achieved those particular metrics? Of course there is.” Dean Varona explained that it is common for students who do not come from privileged backgrounds to struggle early on, but to then go on to become excellent students and achieve high marks in their second and third years. “Is that kind of student captured by the current law firm recruiting model? Largely not,” he said. “Isn’t there a talent, isn’t there a tremendous gift, as an employee, as a new lawyer, in overcoming such a set of significant obstacles and becoming a successful law student?”

How Legal Employers May Help Create a More Inclusive Pipeline of Legal Students

Deans Lawson and Varona suggested that law firms also have important contributions to make in increasing the number of students who choose to pursue legal education, and in preparing those students for success.

Dean Lawson suggested law firms find ways to support students and prospective lawyers in their development of written and oral communications skills. “We all know that your writing skills are paramount for our profession. And almost always, they’re slightly lacking [in students],” Dean Lawson noted, including as a result of COVID-related educational disruptions.

Pipeline programs that reach high school and college students need much more involvement from lawyers, Dean Varona said. Legal professionals may get involved in bar association activities, or reach out to high schools and offer to speak to students. “These small things can ripple out in such important ways that it’s easy for us to underestimate,” Dean Varona explained.

On the Need for Mentoring and Sponsorship, and Attorneys’ Professional Obligations

In concluding the discussion, Deans Lawson and Varona singled out the importance of mentoring and sponsorship for students and early career lawyers from underrepresented communities. Dean Varona pointed out that the level of mentoring needs to increase. “In many of the programs that we have set up over the last several decades, ‘mentoring light’ is what we’ve been offering, and it’s simply not enough,” he explained.

Dean Varona also noted the distinction between mentoring and sponsorship, and that the latter means connecting students and early career lawyers with concrete opportunities. “We have a professional obligation as attorneys who have licenses to diversify the profession and provide pro bono service,” Dean Varona said.

Dean Lawson emphasized the importance of DEI activities leading to concrete action and commitment in the form of scholarships, externships and internships, jobs, and other opportunities for students from underrepresented communities. The challenge for law firms and for individual lawyers is to, not just check a box by participating in a DEI activity, but to “follow through…as it relates to making a true impact in the landscape of the future of our profession.”