FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 29, 2009

Contact: Stephanie Perry
Communications Specialist/Website Editor
206-733-5932; stephaniep@wsba.org

Julia A. Bahner Sworn In as WSBA Young Lawyers Division 2009-10 President

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association announces that Seattle attorney Julia A. Bahner was sworn in as the 2009–10 president of the WSBA Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) on September 24, 2009, at the Board of Governors meeting in Seattle.

Bahner brings six years of experience to the WYLD Board of Trustees (Board). Her history of service with the WYLD started when she served as a King County trustee from 2003–2006. She served for two years as the co-chair of the WYLD membership committee before being elected president-elect for the 2008–09 bar year. Bahner has been involved in many WYLD programs and committees, and has regularly written articles for De Novo, the WYLD newsletter.

Bahner is actively involved with the ABA YLD and served as the ABA YLD district representative for Oregon and Washington from 2006–2008. As part of that position, she was in contact with all young lawyer groups in Oregon and Washington and also managed the Disaster Legal Services Program (DLS) in both states. During her term, DLS was activated twice in Washington as a result of severe flooding; Bahner coordinated DLS services for more than 130 affected individuals and spoke at a CLE presentation addressing the DLS volunteer program. She has served on the editorial boards of the ABA YLD's The Young Lawyer and The Affiliate newsletters, was a member of the national ABA YLD CLE Team, and served on the ABA YLD Council from 2006–2009. She is currently the ABA YLD liaison to the ABA Business Law Section, and serves as the WSBA's official alternate to the ABA House of Delegates (HOD), sitting in for the WSBA delegates when they are unable to attend.

During her term, Bahner plans to strengthen the WYLD committees, launch the WYLD-WSBA Section liaison program, reach out to WYLD members through a statewide online survey and the launch of a WYLD Facebook page, and coordinate expansion of the statewide GAAP program. On behalf of the WYLD, Bahner applied for and received an ABA YLD Subgrant, enabling the WYLD Board of Trustees to conduct a comprehensive online survey of its members this year. She is also leading the planning of a Northwest YLD Summit in October, where the WYLD Board will engage in a joint board meeting with the board members of the Portland young lawyers division and the Oregon new lawyer division boards. Under her leadership, public service will remain a top priority for the WYLD, as well as statewide member outreach and representation and programs aimed at new lawyer transition to practice.

Bahner received her undergraduate degree from the University of Washington and her law degree from Seattle University, where she graduated cum laude in 2002. She currently serves as a bankruptcy consultant for The Garden City Group in Seattle.

About the Washington State Bar Association
The WSBA is part of the judicial branch, exercising a governmental function authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 33,200 lawyers. The WSBA both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association – all without public funding. As a regulatory agency, the WSBA administers the bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; and administers the lawyer-discipline system. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.

The governance of the WSBA is vested in its Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The president is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma. The 2009-2010 president-elect is Steven G. Toole, of Bellevue; and the immediate past-president is Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle. The Board meets regularly (every six weeks) at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the Bar is carried out through its numerous standing committees, 27 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division with its many committees.

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