|
|
|
 |  |
 |
 |
WSBA Info | |
|
For Lawyers | |
|
For the Public |  |
 |
For the Media |  |
|
CLE |  |
| | Bench Bar Guidelines | News Releases | Publications | |
|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 22, 2009 Contact: Judith Berrett WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Tulalip July 24-25(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting July 24–25 at the Tulalip Resort. Second District Governor G. Geoffrey Gibbs, who practices in Everett, will welcome the Board to Tulalip. The public meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (with lunch from 12:30 to 1:30) on Friday, and from 9:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday. Members of the Snohomish, Skagit, and Island county bar associations and members of the Tulalip Tribe Board of Directors and Tribal Court Elders Panel will be the Board’s guests at a reception Friday evening, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Tulalip Resort. Presidents of the bar associations are Rico Tessandore, Snohomish County; Paul Nielsen, Skagit County; and Jennifer Brainard, Island County. Joyce Woods is executive director of the Snohomish County Bar Association. At the reception, WSBA President Mark Johnson will present three local hero awards, one to the Tulalip Tribal Court Elders Panel, one to Mount Vernon attorney Catherine M. Brown, and one to Snohomish County Court Coordinator Toni Elmendorf. As the Board of Governors travels around the state, these awards are presented to those who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. Friday’s meeting will begin with a welcome from Tulalip Tribal Chairman Melvin Sheldon Jr. Seattle attorney Roger Wynne, chair of the WSBA Court Rules and Procedures Committee, will present the Committee’s annual report. The Committee will seek the Board’s action on several proposed changes to court rules, which, if approved, will go to the Supreme Court with a request for adoption. Also on the morning’s agenda are the Governors’ and Liaisons’ Forums, during which governors and others in attendance may bring non-agenda items to the attention of the Board. Friday morning will conclude with a report from Washington Young Lawyers Division President Jaime Hawk, of Spokane. The Program Review Committee will ask the Board to take action on recommendations relating to the WSBA Service Center, Continuing Legal Education, and Public Legal Education. The Board will conclude Friday’s meeting with matters related to civil legal aid funding. In June, the Board of Governors voted to grant $1.5 million to the Legal Aid for Washington Fund (LAW Fund) to help with the civil legal aid funding crisis, and to enter into a joint guideline agreement defining the terms of a new partnership between the WSBA and LAW Fund. There will be a first reading of the proposed joint agreement. Saturday’s public session will begin with a report from WSBA Director of Information Technology Mark McDonald. Treasurer Russell Aoki and Deputy Director for Finance and Administration Julie Mass will present the first reading of the draft fiscal year 2010 budget (the WSBA’s fiscal year runs October through September). The Planning Ahead Committee, which has been addressing the issue of protecting client interests when solo or small-firm lawyers die or become disabled without a transition plan, will report to the Board and present a resolution. Other agenda items include election of the 2009-2010 treasurer, committee appointments, an update from the Board of Governors Diversity Committee, and WSBA standing committees’ reports on this year’s activities and next year’s plans. 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 Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle. The 2008-2009 president-elect is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma; the 2009-2010 president-elect is Steven G. Toole, of Bellevue; and the immediate past-president is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee. 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. # # # |