Susan Amini

King County Superior Court

Position One

Current Occupation/Employer: Attorney, Amini Law Firm.

Legal/Judicial Experience: 18 years experience in criminal, civil and family law; Judge Pro Tempore throughout King County since 1994; Hearing Officer for the Washington State Bar; Law Clerk for Hon. Judge John Gossert Jr.; admitted to the Washington State Bar, Western Washington Federal Bar, and U.S. Supreme Court Bar.

Significant Career Experience: I have tried hundreds of cases and represented a wide array of clients, from the at-risk elderly, to victims of domestic violence and child abuse, small business owners, and the disabled.

Education: J.D., University of Maryland Law School.

Family: Married; husband works at Boeing; son attends law school.

CANDIDATE STATEMENT: I am honored to be running for Superior Court Judge, and pledge that, once elected, I will work to improve access to justice for all.

Superior Court Judges preside over criminal and civil cases; I have extensive experience with both, including hundreds of trials throughout King County. As a Pro Tem Judge, I am known for being fair but firm on the bench, holding offenders accountable, while ensuring that all parties have an opportunity to be heard.

Nothing has taught me more about the importance of fairness and equal opportunity than when my son, Cyrus, became blind at age 8. I advocated tirelessly with the public school district to ensure that he and other students with disabilities received the same opportunities as their peers.

I have served as a Trustee of Overlake Hospital, a Bellevue Human Services Commissioner, and an arbitrator for the Washington State Bar. I have received high ratings from the King County Bar and Latina/o Bar, and the sole endorsement of the American Immigration Lawyers Association (Washington Chapter).

Endorsers include Gary Locke, Ron Sims, retired King County Sheriff James Nickle, Roberto Maestas, Nancy Rising, Bob Santos, Ruth Woo, 33rd District Democrats, and over forty judges/elected officials.

Official web site: www.susanaminiforjudge.com

Opponents: Tim Bradshaw and Suzanne Parisien

Candidate ratings:

ORGANIZATION	SUSAN AMINI	TIM BRADSHAW	SUZANNE PARISIEN
King County Bar Association	Well Qualified	Exceptionally Well Qualified	Qualified
Joint Asian Judicial Evaluation Committee	Qualified	Well Qualified	*
Latina/o Bar Association of Washington	Exceptionally Well Qualified	Exceptionally Well Qualified	*
Loren Miller Bar Association	*	Well Qualified	*
QLaw: GLBT Bar Association	*	Exceptionally Well Qualified	*
Washington Women Lawyers	*	Highly 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 for candidates with an asterisk (*), 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.

Questionnaire responses:

For King County Bar Association
For King County Democrats

Finance report:

(Click a dollar figure for detailed data from the Public Disclosure Commission. Note that summary numbers here might not match detailed data for various reasons.)

CANDIDATE	REPORT DATE	CONTRIBUTIONS	EXPENDITURES
Susan Amini	05/30/2008	$96,426.43	$47,682.76
Tim Bradshaw	05/31/2008	$7,767.57	$2,710.57
Suzanne Parisien	05/31/2008	$22,450.00	$15,504.00

Media stories:

		December 28, 2007
Seattle Times		Longtime Superior Court judge says it's time to retire
Seattle P-I		Judge makes plea to voters in retirement announcement

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