--- title: "Aurora Bearse | KnowJudges" canonical: "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/aurora-bearse-commissioner-court-of-appeals-division-ii-1050-wa" page_type: "judge_profile" updated: "2026-07-26" --- # Aurora Bearse Court of Appeals - Division II · Commissioner ## Profile - Court: Court of Appeals - Division II - State: Washington - Role: Commissioner - Service status: active - Last verified: 2026-07-26 ## Summary Official statewide and applicable court procedural guidance applies to this judge. ## Before you appear - Read the judge-specific standing order first when one is listed. - Check the docket and case orders for requirements that supersede broader guidance. - Confirm current remote-access and courtroom technology arrangements before the proceeding. ## Courtroom Rules ### photography recording Scope: statewide Washington GR 16 allows video recording, audio recording, and still photography by the news media in courtrooms only after the judge has expressly granted permission. Evidence excerpt: Video and audio recording and still photography by the news media are allowed in the courtroom during and between sessions, provided (1) that permission shall have first been expressly granted by the judge [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ### limitations on recording Scope: statewide If a Washington judge limits courtroom photography or recording, GR 16 requires particularized findings on the record and treats open access as presumed. Evidence excerpt: Open access is presumed; limitations on access must be supported by reasons found by the judge to be sufficiently compelling to outweigh that presumption [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf) Source checked: 2026-07-26 ## Sources - [Official profile](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/index.cfm?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=1050&orgid=122) - [Official roster](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/index.cfm?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=1050&orgid=122) - [Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts official judicial roster](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_dir/index.cfm?fa=court_dir.persondetail&indid=1050&orgid=122) - [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf) ## JSON-LD ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/aurora-bearse-commissioner-court-of-appeals-division-ii-1050-wa", "url": "https://knowjudges.com/kyj/judge/aurora-bearse-commissioner-court-of-appeals-division-ii-1050-wa", "name": "Aurora Bearse | KnowJudges", "description": "Aurora Bearse, Court of Appeals - Division II. 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Bearse is a Commissioner of the Washington State Court of Appeals, Division Two, a position she has held since 2012 - Bearse has published law review articles, presented on appellate practice at CLE seminars, and is completing a certificate in appellate judicial skills from the National Judicial College - Her legal practice included work as an associate at Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP - She also held the role of a law clerk to Judge Robert R. Beezer (9th Circuit) and Judge William H. Walls (D. N.J.) ### Education ### Additional information - handling major securities and bankruptcy litigation, such as the Enron bankruptcy. - Based at the Court’s Tacoma office, 909 A St., Ste. - 200, Tacoma, WA 98402. - Before joining the Court of Appeals, Bearse held the role of an administrative law judge, presiding over hundreds of hearings for state agencies. - Before law school, she assisted University of Washington law students in securing judicial clerkships. - Earlier in her career, she was an Assistant Appellate Federal Public Defender in Houston, Texas, arguing over a dozen appeals before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, including a case that led to the reversal of a sixteen‐level sentencing enhancement. - Bearse graduated with honors from Rutgers Law School, where she was senior articles editor of the law review. - She is a member of the WSBA’s Access to Justice Board Rules Committee, the court system’s appellate rules committee, and the Gender & Justice Commission’s representative on the statewide court education committee. ## Published courtroom rules ### Shared court rules - [Washington GR 16, Courtroom Photography and Recording by the News Media](https://knowjudges.com/courtroom-rules/national-shared-set-7133c6bd26c80972b86e0d31) — Scope is limited to the court class in the source claim. Shared court context only; case-type restrictions, exceptions, later amendments and case orders apply. This is not a personal preference or a complete rules inventory. [Official source](https://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/pdf/GR/GA_GR_16_00_00.pdf). Collected 2026-07-26.