Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Legal Resources Rural topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Whatcom attorney urges broader access to WSBA desk books for rural lawyers
Summary
Rajeev Majumdar, an attorney with the Whatcom Law Group in Blaine, told meeting attendees that WSBA desk books and the Washington State Law Library’s LexisNexis e-book collection are vital resources for solo and small‑firm practitioners in rural Whatcom County and urged greater access to member work product.
Rajeev Majumdar, an attorney with the Whatcom Law Group in Blaine, said during public comment that rural lawyers need better access to WSBA desk books so they can serve clients and uphold their professional duties.
Majumdar described practical barriers in rural practice — including that his town has about 5,000 residents and the nearest lawyer to the south is roughly 25 miles away — and praised desk books produced by WSBA volunteers and the Washington State Law Library’s LexisNexis Digital Library as concentrated sources of current legal procedure and case law.
“We really have to think about how can we get resources,” Majumdar said. He called the WSBA desk books “one of the WSBA’s most noble projects, bringing together cutting edge legal thought, case law, and putting it in one place.” He added, “Judges use them all the time. The Supreme Court cites it to it continuously.”
Majumdar also described how attorneys can access the materials online, saying: “go to the Washington State Law Library, go to Collections, the State Law Library, Scribe down all the way to ebooks, click on the link, where it says LexisNexis Digital Library ebook collection.” He said the digitized desk books are particularly valuable to “small and solo practitioners, really anyone in public service, judges,” and that the volunteer contributions help lawyers “better serve our clients, better uphold our oaths as attorneys in the public.”
The remarks appear in the transcript as public comment; no formal motion, vote, or directive related to WSBA desk books appears in the provided record.
The comment highlights resource-access issues for rural legal practices and points attendees to an existing online collection; the transcript does not record any follow-up action, staff response, or official commitment to change access policy.
