This recruitment is Open Continuous. Application review will be ongoing. The hiring authority reserves the right to make a hiring decision and/or to close the recruitment at any time. 

Make a difference. 

As a Health Law Judge (HE3), you’ll be supporting the Department’s mission to protect public health by providing efficient, fair, impartial, and consistent adjudicative process for all litigants. As a member of the Adjudicative Services Office (ASO), Health Law Judges (HLJs) conduct judicial proceedings and function as presiding officers in cases where the disciplining authority is either the Secretary of Health or one of the various Boards or Commissions, which regulate healthcare practitioners or facilities, Certificate of Need, WIC and other Department of Health programs.

We currently have multiple full-time, permanent Health Law Judge (HE3) positions within the Department of Health. These positions are flexible/hybrid in that some hearings may be conducted remotely or in-person on the Tumwater campus. The department has chosen to offer remote and in-person hearing options to ensure equity and fairness for all litigants.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:  

Facilitate the Litigation Process:

• Conduct telephone status conferences to create and subsequently enforce the case schedule (Scheduling Order).  
• Manage the discovery process by establishing dates for identifying witnesses and exhibits, deadlines for discovery, settlement and dispositive motions, prehearing conferences, and the hearing, which, are all intended to assist the parties in preparing for the hearing.  
• Facilitate the resolution of issues by analyzing motions and exhibits, hearing oral arguments (as necessary), and conveying timely rulings on motions regarding witnesses and documentary and testimonial evidence.  
• Draft well-reasoned orders that resolve and memorialize the remaining preliminary legal, procedural, and evidentiary issues before the hearing. 

Preside Over Adjudicative Proceedings:

• Conduct adjudicative proceedings within the framework of the Administrative Procedures Act, the Uniform Disciplinary Act, and the applicable laws and regulations governing cases before the Department.  Ability to competently preside over proceedings that are adversarial in nature and may include both in-person and telephone hearings.  
• Timely rule on written and oral motions and objections raised by the parties and instruct the parties accordingly.  Communicate effectively with all parties.  Use additional care when communicating with parties who have limited English proficiency and use interpreters to ensure that access to justice is achieved and the proceedings are understood.        
• Decide the legal issues and serve as the trier of fact in Secretary cases.  Issue coherent legal rulings and aid the triers of fact during deliberations in cases brought to Boards and Commissions. 

Draft and Issue Post-Hearing Orders

• Correctly analyze documentary and testimonial evidence to make appropriate factual findings.  
• Apply the law and the appropriate legal standards to the facts.  
• Draft and edit initial and final orders, which include findings of fact, conclusions of law and sanction language (when appropriate), in a timely manner. 

Other Legal Activities

• Provide coverage and support for other HLJs and professional staff as needed.  
• Perform spot research and assist with order writing when necessary.  
• Attend CLE’s and other agency/ unit training, and enthusiastically participate in team-building activities.
• Review petitions for reconsideration and modification of initial and final orders and conduct emergency summary proceedings.        
• Approve or deny settlement agreements and review and issue default orders when appropriate.

Required Qualifications. 

• Juris Doctorate Degree from an accredited Law School
• Admission to the Washington State Bar Association and in good standing.
• Three (3) years of litigation, trial practice or judicial experience in the past seven years. 

NOTE: Trial practice is defined as frequent appearances as an attorney in a court of general jurisdiction or an administrative law tribunal. Judicial experience is defined as experience as a judge in a court of general jurisdiction or an administrative law tribunal in which the rules of evidence are applied. 

About Washington State Department of Health

Our programs and services help prevent illness and injury, promote healthy places to live and work, provide information to help people make good health decisions and ensure our state is prepared for emergencies. To accomplish all of these, we collaborate with many partners every day. We help ensure a safer and healthier Washington by: Working to improve health through disease and injury prevention, immunization, and newborn screening Providing health and safety information, education and training so people can make healthy choices Promoting a health and wellness system where we live, learn, work, play and worship Addressing environmental health hazards associated with drinking water, food, air quality and pesticide exposure Protecting you and your family by licensing healthcare professionals, investigating disease outbreaks and preparing for emergencies

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