The first woman ever appointed to the Clark County Superior Court bench plans to retire in March.
Judge Barbara Johnson, who is the county’s presiding judge and longest-serving judge now seated, submitted her resignation letter Dec. 7 to Gov. Jay Inslee’s office.
“It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as Superior Court judge for Clark County since I was sworn into office the first week of January 1987,” Johnson wrote. “Every day has presented interesting issues and challenges, and I have worked with outstanding people throughout my years as a judge.”
Johnson, 65, said after 28 years on the bench, it is time to move onto something new.
She plans to go into a mediation and arbitration practice with retired Judge James Ladley, who has an office on downtown Vancouver’s Franklin Street near the courthouse.
“He was my adviser judge when I started in Superior Court,” Johnson said. “This is a great opportunity for me, and I look forward to learning and benefiting from his experience, as I have in the past.”
She said she’s also looking forward to spending more time traveling with her husband, Tom Ryll, visiting family and indulging in her gardening hobby.
Her final day on the bench is March 31. Inslee is expected to appoint her successor.
“Judge Johnson has been a wonderful colleague for so long, it is difficult for me to imagine the Clark County bench without her,” said Judge Robert Lewis. “She has been everything a community could want in a judge — knowledgeable, thoughtful, patient and decisive. Her work ethic and professionalism set a high standard for the rest of us to try to meet. Personally, as a friend, I will miss her.”
Johnson is a graduate of University of Washington’s law school and a former King County deputy prosecutor. She was appointed to the Clark County Superior Court bench by then-Gov. Booth Gardner.
Among her accomplishments is being named Judge of the Year in 2006 by the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association. She was nominated by an attorney who sued automaker Hyundai on behalf of a Vancouver man who was paralyzed in a 1997 crash.
In 2002, a jury awarded $8 million to Jesse Magana. The Court of Appeals ruled Johnson erred when she didn’t instruct jurors to disregard testimony from a witness. “The Court of Appeals remanded the case for retrial solely on the issue of liability, that is, whether Hyundai was at fault,” Johnson explained. “The Court of Appeals ruled that if the second jury reached the same verdict and found the Hyundai vehicle was defective, the verdict of $8 million would be reinstated.”
The case went to trial for a second time in January 2006, when Johnson sanctioned the automaker for failing to disclose almost 50 seat-back failures in cases similar to Magana’s.
She canceled the trial and entered the $8 million jury verdict by default judgment against Hyundai, a decision that attorneys lauded as courageous, according to The Columbian’s archives. Her decision was appealed and ultimately upheld by the Washington State Supreme Court.
Johnson started her law practice in 1975 during the Stone Age of the legal system, when the bar association directory listed female attorneys in the auxiliary section, said Vancouver attorney Don Jacobs, who presented the award to Johnson at the Westin Hotel Seattle.
“It’s so different now than when I started,” Johnson said.
She noted that there is now a female majority on the Division 2 Court of Appeals and the State Supreme Court.
In the past several years, Johnson has served as the county’s presiding judge, which involves acting as a spokesperson for the bench and multiple administrative duties.
“We don’t really learn administrative skills as lawyers, but it’s been especially an honor to represent the court, speak for the court and budget things,” Johnson said. “It’s challenging, but I’ve enjoyed it, too.”
Meanwhile, she has presided over the trials of some of the county’s most notorious criminals, such as Jeffrey and Sandra Weller. Johnson sentenced the couple in March 2013 to 20 years in prison for starving, beating and imprisoning their adopted twins.
“Judge Johnson has presided over thousands of cases in criminal, civil and family law during her 28 years as a Superior Court judge,” said Judge James Rulli, who is second in seniority on the Clark County Superior Court bench. “She has always been in command of her courtroom but has done so in a calm, thoughtful and deliberate manner. Her leadership as our presiding judge the past five years and the institutional knowledge she has shared with the other judges has been invaluable. She will be greatly missed by the entire bench.”
The governor’s office issued a notice of the upcoming vacancy Tuesday and requested applications for appointment of Johnson’s successor.
Johnson said she scheduled her retirement in order to give the governor time to first appoint a successor for Judge John Nichols, who plans to retire next month. The schedule also gives Nichols’ successor some time to adjust before another newcomer is appointed to fill Johnson’s place on the bench.
“It’s a wonderful job,” Johnson said. “I really encourage any attorney, District Court judge or court commissioner to apply for the position. It was a really tough decision to step down.”
The applicants for Nichols’ position are Clark County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Fairgrieve and private attorneys Christopher Ramsay and Derek Vanderwood. In a Clark County Bar Association poll, a majority — about 51.3 percent — of 113 respondents indicated Fairgrieve would be their top choice for the judicial appointment.
Inslee has indicated he plans to appoint one of the men in mid-January.
