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Judge Mark Larrañaga - Superior Court

How to contact a King County Superior Court judge and get ready for your trial or motion.

photo of Judge Larranaga

• Courtroom Number: 4H

• Bailiff: Bren Smith

• Department: 33

• Assignment: General Trials

 

Biography

Judge Mark A. Larrañaga was appointed to the King County Superior Court bench on May 7, 2023, by Governor Jay Inslee. Judge Larrañaga is currently assigned the general (civil and criminal) trial rotation at the Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent, Washington.

Judge Larrañaga earned his bachelor’s degree at San Diego State University and law degree at Gonzaga University School of Law. Judge Larrañaga came to bench after 30 years of trial and appellate experience. He has tried complex cases in state and federal court, including month-long capital cases. He has successfully argued to the Washington and Oregon State Supreme Courts and all three divisions of the Washington State Court of Appeals.

In 2001, he was appointed to be the director of Washington State’s first death penalty assistance center, where he provided training, lectures, and assistance to death penalty attorneys and testimony to the Washington State legislature regarding various aspects of Washington’s death penalty system.

He voluntary resigned in 2005 to go into private practice. Because of his comprehensive courtroom experience and work with experts in a wide range of areas, he was deemed “learned counsel” by state and federal courts to handle capital trials and appeals in Alaska, California, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Judge Larrañaga was an adjunct professor at Seattle University School of Law from 2005 – 2018 and was co-author of An Analysis of the Economic Costs of Seeking the Death Penalty in Washington State, Seattle Journal for Social Justice, Vol. 14, Issue 3, Spring 2016.

Since his appointment to the bench, Judge Larrañaga has presided over both criminal and civil cases. He is a member of King County Superior Court’s Jury Committee and is currently co-chair Washington’s Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) Childcare Workgroup to make recommendations for the creation of a childcare assistance program for individuals reporting for jury service. 

 

Email

DO NOT email the judge directly. All email correspondence must go through the bailiff. Please see the email address listed above. 

Please see this link for King County Superior Court’s policies regarding emailing with the court.

Rules to Review before Emailing or Calling the Court

Civil Case Information, Forms, and Documents

Notice Regarding E-Service Requirement

  • Pursuant to Local General Rule 30, all attorneys and unrepresented parties who E-file documents must register to accept e-service via the Clerk’s e-Filing application, unless they have been granted a waiver.  IF YOU FAIL TO REGISTER FOR E-SERVICE, IT IS POSSIBLE YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE A COPY OF A COURT ORDER.

Electronic Working Copies 

Judge Larrañaga prefers to receive electronic working copies submitted to the Clerk using the Clerk’s e-Filing Application pursuant to LCR 7(b)(4)(F)(i). Please note: if your pleadings refer to materials which were previously filed within the court record, please reference the pleading by both the document title and sub number (eg: Declaration of Bob Jones, Sub #5) within the court docket. If a party’s submission exceeds the 500-page limit, you may request prior permission from Judge Larrañaga’s bailiff to deliver the working copies in PDF format, either on disk or thumb drive (and delivered to the Judge’s Mailroom). Prior permission should be requested by sending an email to larranaga.court@kingcounty.gov. Please do not email any working copies directly to the Court or to her bailiff without prior permission. Please put in the upper right corner of the working copies the note date of consideration or hearing, Judge Larrañaga’s name, and by whom the documents are being presented (“moving party,” “opposing party,” or other descriptive or identifying term). 

Non-Dispositive Motions

Parties must comply with all the requirements of KCLR 7 when setting motions without oral argument, including providing and filing proof of service of the motion. All non-dispositive motions will be considered by the Court without oral argument unless a party requests oral argument and the Court deems oral argument to be necessary. If you wish to request oral argument, please so indicate on the front page of your motion or opposition. The request will be considered when the motion is reviewed on the date for which it is noted. If at that time the Court decides to hear oral argument, the bailiff will contact the parties regarding scheduling. If the Court does not grant oral argument, you will receive a courtesy copy of the Court’s order on the non-dispositive motion once the court enters a ruling.

 Dispositive Motions and Other Hearing Requests

  • Judge Larrañaga’s motion with argument calendar is available to view below. Dispositive motions are heard on Fridays. Other hearing types, such as unlawful detainers, preliminary injunctions, revisions or criminal motions are generally scheduled in no more than 30-minute time slots Mondays – Thursdays, and occasionally Fridays. Please review the orange available dates on the calendar for other hearing types.
  • Dispositive motion hearing times are available in blue one-hour slots, which are noted as “DISPOSITIVE MOTION TIME AVAILABLE” on this calendar.
  1. Each motion is allotted 1 hour for argument and ruling. Any cross motion or additional (separately briefed) dispositive motion must also be scheduled with the Court. You may not include those as part of your response to a motion.
  2. All working copies, per LCR 7(b)(4)(F), of the parties’ briefs and accompanying documents must be submitted through either e-working copies, or as otherwise authorized by the Court. Working copies must be submitted when they are due to be filed. Do not wait to submit until the reply is due.
  3. As there are hundreds of cases on the Court’s caseload competing for limited motion availability, If the moving party elects for any reason not to proceed with the motion, that party shall notify the court to strike the hearing immediately, per KCLCR 7(b)(4)(H).

*** The Court may provide additional time on hearings involving multi-party cases or complex litigation. Please advise the bailiff of your request when scheduling. Other types of motions that are granted oral argument are motions for restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, and class certification hearings. ***

  • Please select a date from this calendar, and then check with all opposing counsel or pro se parties to make sure that the date works before contacting the bailiff, as this is required. Doing so reduces the need to reschedule hearings due to conflicts.  The court will not schedule the motion unless all parties have indicated they are available.
  • Once you have selected a date and confirmed all parties’ availability, you must contact the bailiff to confirm the date is still available.  DO NOT note your motion until the bailiff has sent back confirmation. Email requests must include the following:
    • Case name and cause number
    • Names and email addresses for all counsel and/or pro se parties involved in the case
    • Type of hearing and date(s) requests from the available dates on the calendar below
  • The Court requires that you must also file and provide a working copy of your Note for Motion within 48 hours after confirming a hearing date.  Per LCR 7(b)(4)(F), the parties are required to provide working copies in support of or opposition to the noted motion no later than the day they are to be served on the opposing party.

 

Family Law Resources

Access a list of General Family Law Resources for low-cost assistance with family law matters. For parties navigating a dissolution, please refer to the How-to resources for Family Law page. For parties without an attorney, please review the services provided through the Family Law Facilitators - King County. They are a wonderful resource to answer questions on how to navigate through your case to resolution.

Settled Cases and to Strike a Motion

Please email the bailiff immediately if a case settles or if you wish to strike a motion you have filed from the court’s calendar. Trial courts are not notified when a case otherwise resolves through the ex parte department, or when a Notice of Settlement is filed within the Court record.

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