PORT ANGELES — Retired Clallam County Superior Court judges George Wood and Ken Williams will receive William O. Douglas Judicial Service awards during a lawyers’ conference next month.
The accolades will recognize each man’s two decades on the bench.
Wood first was elected in 1992, won re-election without opposition five times and retired in May, replaced by Brian Coughenour.
Williams was originally elected in 1992 and brought drug courts for juveniles and adults to the Clallam County court system. He retired at the end of 2012, replaced by Erik Rohrer.
The awards will be presented at 10:30 a.m. Nov. 6 during Clallam-Jefferson Pro Bono Lawyers’ seminar in the council chambers of Port Angeles City Hall, 321 E. Fifth St. Attendance is restricted to attorneys.
Deborah Nelson, who practiced law in Port Angeles from 1994 until 2007 and now works in Seattle, will attend the ceremony.
Nelson said the Washington Association for Justice established the award — named for U.S. Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas of Washington (1898-1980) — especially to honor judges who serve in rural counties.
Excellent job
“They are doing an excellent job, often with fewer resources,” she said.
Nelson said her entire Clallam County career was in front of Wood and Williams, to whom she compares other jurists.
“I look not only at the rulings they make but also how they treat people,” she said.
“Judges are the face of justice.”
The retired Clallam County jurists “have always been highly respectful of people,” including jurors, Nelson said.
They also were prompt in making decisions in matters they’d taken under advisement.
Nelson particularly remembered lawyers from large Puget Sound-area law firms who sometimes tried to condescend to the Clallam County judges.
Williams was clear they’d get nowhere with him.
“He would not get pushed around by attorneys from big firms in Seattle,” Nelson said.
Also attending the pro bono seminar, entitled “CLE Bonanza” for continuing legal education, will be state Supreme Court Justices Susan Owens and Charles Wiggins.
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Reporter James Casey can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jcasey@peninsuladailynews.com.
