Last Tuesday, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Bianca Tse, a seasoned trial lawyer and former prosecuting deputy who has resided and practiced in the Eastside for over 30 years.
Last month, she kicked off her campaign for King County District Court Judge with a myriad of members from the Bellevue community.
Tse has worked in a variety of legal fields. Hailing from Tulane Law, she first began her career working at the King County Prosecutor’s Office.
“I worked in that office for over 16 years, and I was able to basically cut my teeth as a trial attorney. There, I was hired by Norm Maleng. He was very well respected, very well liked in our community at the time. And so, in that capacity, I worked in a variety of rotations,” Tse recalls. She has worked on robbery cases, burglary cases and assault cases, as well as cases of domestic violence. She remembers being in court, doing trial work, almost every day.
After her time at the Prosecutor’s Office, Tse began a new career at her brother’s law firm in Bellevue. “I transitioned from criminal cases to civil cases … I do civil litigation, real estate work, business, transactions … It’s been a lot of fun doing that.”
Tse continued: “About five years ago, I started doing pro-tem work, which is where you sub in for the sitting judges in King County District Court.”
She noted her pro tem journey began in 2021, during the COVID-19 lockdown. She began to ponder what was truly important, which ignited a drive to do more for her community.
“So that’s when I started doing board work with a non-profit organization. Then I came across an opportunity to potentially become a pro tem judge,”
Over time, Tse has also worked for other cities across King County: most notably Kirkland, Issaquah and Mercer Island. During her time as a judge pro tem, Tse gained lots of insight into what it takes to be a judge and the importance of having an experienced one.
She says it’s important to have a judge who “has a really good understanding of the inner workings of the court and how the parties all come together and the issues that come before the court.”
“That’s kind of the reason why I’m running, you know? I’d like to go back to my roots. I started my career in public service, and I found it really rewarding.”
Tse prides herself on the opportunities she’s had to serve her community throughout her career. As a prosecutor, she was advocating for victims and holding their offenders accountable, which was very important work to her, she says. As a District Court Judge, she aims to serve her community again with the same sentiments.
When asked about her goals as a District Court Judge, Tse’s overarching theme focuses on accessibility.
“In the five years I have sat in various courts across King County, one thing that is consistent is the need to have a robust interpreter pool.”
“I’m not saying that King County or the other jurisdictions don’t; we do have interpreters for many languages, but I have come across occasions where the defendant, or the participant, spoke a specific dialect,”
Tse notes that, in these cases, the court can only get the next closest dialect. She, as a bilingual Chinese-American, emphasizes that dialects are vastly different from each other.
“The reality is, there is no access to justice if the participant doesn’t know what’s happening in court or if they’re catching only every third word, so I feel that’s an area that should be looked at and bolstered.”
“King County also has the highest volume of cases in all of Washington State. That’s surprising, you would think … but the reality is, because cities now have cameras, that really drives up the number of infractions that are being filed.”
In light of this, Tse is striving to improve the streamlining of these misdemeanors and infractions. “I feel like, as a judge, we should talk about that and work on how to streamline these cases so that they don’t linger in the system, and to effectively manage how we treat cases and have them resolved,”
During this conversation with Tse, I learned that she is an incredibly driven individual who is dearly beloved by her community. Whenever someone is in need, she is ready to pitch in and help. That should be what our leaders represent.
The Watchdog and Bellevue College are not endorsing any candidate, anyone who can be perceived as a candidate or is biased towards a certain political party. Though judicial candidates are non-partisan, it is important to establish that neither The Watchdog nor Bellevue College endorses a candidate in this election.
