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June 2008WSBA Celebrates 75 YearsState Bar Act Establishes the Association as We Know It Today by Robert D. Welden This year marks the 75th anniversary of the State Bar Act, which established the Washington State Bar Association as an integrated, or unified, bar association. Although we celebrate our 75th anniversary this year, the roots of the WSBA go back 120 years. In January 1888, the Washington Bar Association was formed in the last year of the Washington Territory. In those days, all lawyers who had cases set for argument before the Supreme Court were required to be present at the beginning of the Court term in January. Sometimes, lawyers were required to wait for days or weeks for their cases to be called on the calendar. It was in this setting that a group of lawyers met in the Territorial Supreme Court chambers in Olympia, January 19, 1888, to form the Washington Bar Association. (The name was changed to the Washington State Bar Association in 1890.) The first meeting was held during the day and was attended by 35 lawyers. They elected a chairman and secretary, and appointed a committee to draft a constitution. They adjourned until 7:00 that evening. The hand-written minutes of that evening meeting show that the first order of business was the appointment of a committee to investigate charges against a judge, Frank Allyn, filed by attorney D.P. Ballard. They also adopted a resolution appointing a committee to investigate “charges of a grave and serious nature” against the same D.P. Ballard who complained of Judge Allyn. (There is no record that either investigation led to initiation of disciplinary proceedings against either Judge Allyn or Mr. Ballard.) During that evening meeting, they adopted a constitution for the Association. It provided:The objects of this Association are to cultivate the science of jurisprudence, promote the administration of justice, uphold and advance the standard of integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession, and to establish and cherish a spirit of brotherhood among its members. The association originally consisted of 35 lawyers, and membership cost $5 per year. By 1913, there were about 600 members of the Bar. At that time, it was a purely voluntary organization and did not include all lawyers admitted to practice. In 1914 the President of the Association, Ira P. Englehart of North Yakima, argued there were three reasons for “a strong organization”: First, to observe and discuss proposed legislation; . . . Second, for social intercourse; By 1930, as more lawyers were admitted to practice, it was proposed that the Bar Association have a paid executive secretary and a paid representative in Olympia when the Legislature was in session, that it have an official publication, and that it be incorporated. George McCush, of Bellingham, was appointed chairperson of the Incorporation Committee. That committee reported back with a draft of a Bar Association Act to be proposed to the Legislature. Because the Washington Constitution prohibits creation of corporations by special act, the committee proposed that the Bar Association be created as an agency of the state. The proposed act would create “a complete integrated (i.e., mandatory membership) Bar which is officially organized, self-governed and all inclusive.” It proposed an annual license fee of $5. This proposal was widely debated over the next few years. One issue was whether the bar should be established directly by legislation (the “State Bar Act”), indirectly by legislation authorizing integration by Supreme Court rule (the “Short Bar Bill”), or simply by court rule. Ultimately, the drafting was taken up by Seattle attorney Alfred J. Schweppe, former dean of the University of Washington School of Law. He argued forcefully and successfully for legislative establishment of the Bar. In 1933, the State Bar Act (Ch. 2.48 RCW) was enacted. During this period, Mr. Schweppe also agreed to serve, briefly, as the first executive secretary of the Association, and operated the State Bar out of his law office in the Colman Building in Seattle. He soon hired Clydene Morris to serve as executive secretary. The State Bar offices moved to the Dexter Horton Building in 1933, where they shared space with the Seattle Bar Association. In 1947, the combined offices were moved to street-level offices in the Morrison Hotel across the street from the King County Courthouse. Ms. Morris served as executive secretary until 1955, when Alice O’Leary Rawls became executive secretary (the position was changed to executive director in 1962). Ms. Rawls was a graduate of the University of Washington School of Law, and had been an assistant attorney general, deputy prosecuting attorney, and director of the King County Family Court. In 1966, the WSBA office moved to the College Club Building in Seattle. In 1971, G. Edward Friar was hired as assistant executive director, and in 1972 he succeeded to the position of executive director. In 1981, he was succeeded by John Michalik, a lawyer from Minnesota who had been employed as the WSBA’s first director of continuing legal education. In 1986, the WSBA office moved to the Westin Building. Dennis Harwick, the executive director of the Idaho State Bar, became WSBA executive director in 1990. During Mr. Harwick’s tenure, the WSBA office moved to Seattle’s Fourth and Blanchard Building. In 1998, Mr. Harwick was succeeded by Jan Michels, the former King County Superior Court clerk. In March 2007, Paula Littlewood, former WSBA deputy executive director, was named executive director, and in December, the WSBA office moved to the Puget Sound Plaza Building on Fourth Avenue in Seattle. The WSBA currently has more than 30,000 members. To learn more about the WSBA including governance, organization, related organizations, and demographics, see www.wsba.org/info/history.htm.
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