Scott Stafne

Washington Supreme Court

Position 2

Legal/Judicial Experience: Founder/owner of Stafne Law Firm (Arlington, WA) practicing constitutional, land use, marine, maritime, admiralty, personal injury. Extensive experience in front of Municipal, State, Appeals, and Supreme Courts.

Other Professional Experience: Maritime and fisheries expert and advisor to Pacific and North Pacific fisheries management councils

Education: Graduated Phi Beta Kappa DePauw University (summa cum laude 1971); Juris Doctorate Degree University of Iowa (summa cum laude 1974); Masters of Law and Marine Affairs from University of Washington (1977). ACE certified in 1993.

Community Service: Pro Bono Community Service including four years challenging Seattle School District school closures. Owner, Peregrine Falcon Rookery/Reserve, most successful in the nation.

Statement: Scott Stafne believes our high court needs a fresh voice with a depth of legal experience that can restore better legal interpretations to our judicial system. Currently he takes great issue with the Supreme Court for not following their own rules, accepting poor Court of Appeals decisions they do not challenge, and issuing poor judgments without adequately stating their reasons.

Scott Stafne is a lawyer’s lawyer – with more experience in diverse aspects of the law than the Justice he’s opposing who’s been on the high court for 12 years. His experience includes constitutional law, land use, marine resources, personal injury, municipal and school systems law, admiralty law and much more.

He has spent his career defending their rights against banks, insurance companies, municipalities, and government. Among his most reported cases: the firefighter killed in the Fortymile fire outside Wenatchee; parents challenging the 2009 Seattle School Closures and student assignment plan, hundreds of recent clients faced with illegal foreclosures and credit problems, and thousands of pro bono hours for people who could not afford an attorney.

Scott says: “It’s time to shake up the Supreme Court with people who have more depth of legal experience than they have an agenda.”

Candidate ratings:

ORGANIZATION	DOUGLAS McQUAID	SUSAN OWENS	SCOTT STAFNE
Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee	*	*	Not Qualified
Justice for Washington Foundation	Unqualified	Qualified	Unqualified
King County Bar Association	Refused to Cooperate	Well Qualified	Not Qualified
Q-Law: The GLBT Bar Association of Washington	*	Exceptionally Well Qualified	*
Seattle Metropolitan Elections Committee	*	Highly Recommended	Highly Recommended
Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association	*	*	Not Qualified
Washington Association of Prosecuting Attorneys	*	*	Not Qualified

Important note! Each of these organizations uses its own standards and rating terms when evaluating candidates; please check their pages for further information. We do not have ratings from all organizations for all candidates, and the reasons vary. Some evaluations may still be in process, or we might not have received them yet; some candidates may not have been offered an opportunity to participate, or they may have declined to participate. Again, please check the organizations' pages for further details.

Archived Version: August 7, 2012

Washington Supreme Court

Position 2