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Neil Weiss was sworn in Thursday as the new Edmonds Municipal Court judge. Doing the honors was his father, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Bruce Weiss.
The Edmonds City Council voted in May to confirm Mayor Mike Rosen’s appointment of the younger Weiss – an Everett defense attorney – as the city’s new municipal court judge. Weiss replaced former Municipal Court Judge Whitney Rivera, who was appointed to the Snohomish County Superior Court.
Weiss will serve out the remainder of Rivera’s term, which ends Dec. 31, 2025. He would also have to run for election to the position in 2025.
Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen said in an email that there was a long list of reasons why Weiss rose to the top of the candidates. “Judge Weiss has a reputation for treating individuals with empathy and respect and ensuring they are heard,” Rosen said. “He had served as a pro tem for Edmonds on at least 70 occasions and more than 225 times across nine municipal, district and superior courts. He has served as judge in Edmonds, he has supervised staff, he understands the business side of running a court and he understands the weight of his job on behalf of individuals and the city.”
Weiss is an alumnus of Washington State University and Seattle University School of Law. Since 2021, he has served as a pro tem judge for Edmonds Municipal Court and has also worked in the same capacity for Lynnwood, Monroe and Everett Municipal Courts, King County Superior Court and Snohomish County District Courts.
Before being appointed to the Edmonds Municipal Court bench, Weiss worked with ABC Law Group, LLP on juvenile dependency cases, criminal defense, family law, protection orders, civil litigation and administrative law. In 2019, Weiss and his legal partners started FIRST Legal Clinic, a pro bono clinic that represents pregnant people and parents of newborn infants who are at risk of having their children taken away by Child Protective Services.
During the ceremony Thursday, attorneys Talia Ayay and Adam Ballout from ABC Law Group also shared their experiences in working with Weiss.
“Neil has traveled many times back and forth to the local hospital in essentially a race to beat the social worker there…in arriving to stand between a scared mother holding her infant and the state attempting to remove the child,” Ballout said. “Neil stands time and time again and [has] the courage to do the unpopular but the right thing, standing up to abuses of power and putting himself between the powerful and the clients who need advocacy.”
Ballout compared ABC Law Group’s practice with the 2014 film Edge of Tomorrow, where Tom Cruise’s character is in a time loop where he dies repeatedly under the same circumstances and attacks.
“We learn, grow and evolve against adversaries that repeat the same attack every single day until we all die,” Ballout said. “Neil has emerged from intern to hero, organizing new methods of attack and new strategies for keeping new families together.”
Ayay said that she is “thrilled” to have Weiss to be a judge but feels “sad” that Snohomish County will lose one of its best public defenders.
“As much as we will miss him, I’m confident that Neil will bring the same energy, empathy and change to the bench that we brought to defense. He’ll question the status quo, think of new ways to do things and have the bravery to push forward with those ideas,” Ayay said.
“Our entire family are entirely proud of you, Neil, and what you’ve accomplished,” Bruce Weiss said to his son during Thursday’s ceremony. “We’re happy for you and we’re happy for your family. But we’re really happy for the residents of Edmonds because we know that Neil will carry on the traditions of excellent judges in Edmonds. Edmonds’ judges have been exceptional, and Neil is going to join them in that.”
Neil Weiss said he was honored to have his father there, adding it was a special moment for both of them.
“I’m going to make sure that everybody who’s coming to this court feels heard,” Weiss said. “Regardless of that final result, those who were here feel that their case was heard fairly and impartially.”
“I was elated and incredibly happy to get the call for the position and am really honored that the mayor would consider me for that,” Weiss added. “There were so many really impressive and high-caliber candidates. To be chosen within that field was an honor for me.”
Weiss said that he hopes to see the Edmonds Municipal Court work more closely with local service providers to ensure that people who come before the court get the support they need to reduce recidivism and never end up in court again.
“Edmonds has amazing things going on,” Weiss said. “The judges who came before me – Judge Fair, Judge Coburn, Judge Rivera – have really built the court and [have] amazing support of the municipal court and a lot of great programs.”
— Story and photos by Nick Ng
Judge Weiss will excel at his new position.