H-1429.1
SUBSTITUTE HOUSE BILL 1171
State of Washington
69th Legislature
2025 Regular Session
By House Early Learning & Human Services (originally sponsored by Representatives Pollet and Goodman)
READ FIRST TIME 02/18/25.
AN ACT Relating to exempting attorney higher education employees from mandated reporting of child abuse and neglect as it relates to information gained in the course of providing legal representation to a client; amending RCW 26.44.030 ; and creating a new section.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that reporting of abuse and neglect of children by employees, including student employees, of academic, administrative, and athletic departments of public and private institutions of higher education is vitally important to prevent such abuse and neglect, and that such employees in higher education may be in positions to observe and report abuse that may not be readily observed by others.
The legislature also finds that the values underlying the duty of lawyers to preserve the confidentiality of client information may be inadvertently undermined and violated if attorney employees who supervise law students in clinical practices where such students are inadvertently required to disclose information related to the representation of a client. If such information is not clearly exempted from mandated reporting, clients will be denied adequate representation by students and the attorney faculty or academic employees supervising them in clinical programs.