Washington State Bar Licensure Task Force Subcommittee on Ethics/Character Fitness Report and Recommendations

The Washington State Bar Licensure Task Force’s Subcommittee on Ethics/Character and Fitness (the Subcommittee) was created at the behest of Brent Williams-Ruth, the representative selected by the President of the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA or the Bar) to represent the Board of Governors on the Bar Licensure Task Force. His interest in modifying the Character and Fitness process took root after meeting Tarra Simmons during her experience with the Character and Fitness Board. After the WSBA Character and Fitness Board recommended that Simmons’s application to sit for the bar exam be denied, the Washington Supreme Court reversed that recommendation in a 9–0 decision issued the same day as the oral argument. In re Simmons highlighted the long overdue need to review the character and fitness assessment process and criteria. The Subcommittee was created to examine the character and fitness process and criteria and to make recommendations as needed. This report summarizes the Subcommittee’s findings and makes recommendations.