Appeals court hopefuls deemed qualified

The half-dozen applicants to replace retiring Judge Kenneth Kato on the Washington Court of Appeals are all qualified, according to the Spokane County Bar Association.

A poll of bar members and the analysis of an 11-member panel revealed no clear turkeys or standouts among the candidates: Superior Court judges Tari Eitzen and Linda Tompkins, deputy Spokane County prosecutors Kevin Korsmo and Brian O’Brien and private attorneys Louis Rukavina and Debra Stephens.

The two-part report, released Friday, was requested by Gov. Chris Gregoire, who will appoint Kato’s successor. It rates the candidates in a variety of areas, using a four-point scale ranging from “not qualified” to “exceptionally well qualified.”

All 885 regular bar members were invited to rate the candidates on legal ability, judicial temperament, integrity and relevant legal experience, while the 11-member panel interviewed the candidates for an hour apiece and reviewed questionnaires and writing samples.

The evaluation panel declared Stephens, Rukavina and Eitzen “exceptionally well qualified.” It said O’Brien is “well qualified,” and Korsmo and Tompkins are “qualified.”

The panel ordinarily is led by the bar president, but the association board appointed attorney James McPhee because President Art Hayashi is a deputy prosecutor along with candidates Korsmo and O’Brien.

Korsmo is in charge of appeals; O’Brien directs the prosecutor’s District Court staff.

Rukavina is a civil trial lawyer, specializing in labor, commercial and personal injury law as well as mediation and arbitration. Stephens focuses on civil appeals and coordinates friend-of-the-court briefs for the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association.

McPhee said the bar association’s evaluation committee included two retired judges, a full-time legal instructor, a prosecutor, a criminal defense lawyer, a civil plaintiff’s attorney, a civil defense attorney and a family law attorney.

McPhee said 303 bar members responded to the poll, in which candidates got one point if unqualified, two if qualified, three if well qualified and four if exceptionally well qualified in the categories covered by the poll. He cautioned that the averages are skewed by the fact that the number of responses vary greatly according to how well each candidate is known.

Here are the poll results:

“Tari Eitzen: legal ability, 2.7; judicial temperament, 3.03; integrity, 3.15; relevant legal experience, 2.9. She got 258 to 264 responses in each category.

“Kevin Korsmo: legal ability, 2.78; judicial temperament, 2.64; integrity, 3.05; relevant legal experience, 2.78; 124 to 149 responses.

“Brian O’Brien: legal ability, 2.66; judicial temperament, 2.65; integrity, 2.95; relevant legal experience, 2.75; 183 to 231 responses.

“Louis Rukavina: legal ability, 2.57; judicial temperament, 2.6; integrity, 2.86; relevant legal experience, 2.45; 170 to 177 responses.

“Debra Stephens: legal ability, 3.01; judicial temperament, 3.16; integrity, 3.18; relevant legal experience, 2.92; 155 to 179 responses.

“Linda Tompkins: legal ability, 2.34; judicial temperament, 2.73; integrity, 2.97; relevant legal experience, 2.62; 250 to 265 responses.