October 2009

Spend Five Minutes to Keep Your License

by Jean McElroy

Every year, the WSBA has to recommend that the Supreme Court suspend from practice a number of WSBA members for licensing-related reasons. In most cases, the member could have avoided suspension by following one simple piece of advice: Personally make sure that your license renewal forms and payment are completed and either submitted online or signed and returned on time. All told, the entire license renewal process should take about five minutes.

Every year, lawyers licensed in Washington are required to renew their licenses.[1] This requires at least paying an annual license fee, the amount of which varies depending on the lawyer’s status and type of license. For all active WSBA members, this also includes annually paying the mandatory Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection assessment and completing and submitting a Trust Account Declaration and a certification regarding whether you have professional liability insurance. Every three years, all active members also must certify whether they have completed their mandatory continuing legal education requirements. Failure to pay the license fee or assessment, or to complete and return a required certification or declaration, can result in suspension of a lawyer’s license to practice law. And if lawyers practice law while their licenses are suspended, this may result in disciplinary action.

The WSBA is charged with making sure that Washington lawyers timely complete their licensing and mandatory continuing education requirements. Over the last few years, we have been taking steps to make the process easier. We have:

• condensed eight pages of double-sided forms into one double-sided form for licensing and (if it’s an active member’s reporting year) one double-sided form for MCLE;
• improved the clarity and frequency of our communications to members;
• made it easier for members to report earned MCLE credits online;
• simplified the Trust Account Declaration (see the 2010 license renewal form); and
• developed a system whereby members can complete all of their license and reporting requirements online through mywsba.org.

The bottom line is this: Ultimately, you are personally responsible for meeting your licensing requirements. Yes, we know that many of you rely on your assistants or paralegals to handle your licensing details. You still need to complete and submit the forms online, or review and sign the paper forms and make sure they are returned on time, and it is worth five minutes of your time to do so. Your license to practice law is at stake. Your paralegal or assistant will not be suspended from practice if the requirements aren’t met — you will. Here are some tips:

• Keep your contact information in the WSBA official records current and up to date. This is required by Admission to Practice Rule (APR) 13. (The WSBA must be informed of a change within 10 days.)
• Review the MCLE earned-credit reports sent to you in June or July every year and make sure the WSBA records are accurate and up to date. Correct the records if necessary. Earn all required credits by December 31 of the final year in your reporting period.
• Take five minutes to complete and submit your licensing forms online, or to read, fill out, and sign your licensing renewal paperwork with all of the required information. (Complete and submit the online forms or the paper forms — not both.)
• Make sure that your completed paperwork and full payment are returned to the WSBA on time (for 2010, by February 1).
• Don’t ignore letters or e-mails from the WSBA about your licensing renewal or MCLE requirements, especially those sent by certified mail, even if you think they are in error. If you think you have done everything correctly, check your records at mywsba.org. If you still don’t know what’s wrong, contact us; we will help you figure it out. You may have overlooked one piece of required information or underpaid your required fee or assessment by a small amount; our data entry may not have caught up with your submission yet; or there may be a mistake in our records. We are happy to help. 

Jean McElroy is the WSBA director of regulatory services and can be reached at jeanm@wsba.org.

NOTES
 1.  Currently, WSBA members officially on judicial, honorary, or disability inactive membership status with the WSBA are exempt from this requirement.