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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 22, 2009 Contact: Judith Berrett WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Seattle September 24-25(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting September 24-25 at its headquarters in downtown Seattle. The public meeting will be held from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (with lunch from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.) on Thursday, and from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday (with lunch from noon to 1:00 p.m.). This will be the last Board meeting for the current Board presided over by Seattle attorney Mark Johnson; at its conclusion, Johnson will assume the role of immediate past-president and Tacoma attorney Salvador A. Mungia will become the WSBA’s 119th president. It will also be the last meeting at which Immediate Past President Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee, and outgoing governors Russell M. Aoki, of Seattle; Anthony L. Butler, of Seattle; Peter J. Karademos, of Spokane; and Edward F. Shea Jr., of Pasco, are seated at the table. Carla C. Lee, of Seattle, who just completed a partial term as governor representing the Washington Young Lawyers Division, will begin her second, and first complete, term of service on the Board. Thursday morning, there will be a report on the Washington State Bar Foundation by Foundation President and Past WSBA President Ronald Ward. Adoption of the WSBA’s FY 2010 budget, presented by Treasurer Russ Aoki and Deputy Director for Finance and Administration Julie Mass, is also on the agenda Thursday morning — the WSBA’s fiscal year begins October 1. A grant of $1.5 million from the WSBA to LAW Fund, to help fund civil legal aid in Washington, was approved in May, and the decision by the Budget and Audit Committee as to where the funding will come from will be presented. Lish Whitson, one of the WSBA’s delegates to the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates, will report on the ABA’s annual meeting, held in August. In addition to Whitson, the WSBA was represented at the annual meeting by delegates Phillip Ginsberg, Michael Pellicciotti, the Honorable S. Brooke Taylor, Ronald Ward, James F. Williams, and alternate delegate Julia Bahner. With more than 400,000 members, the ABA is the largest voluntary professional association in the world. Thursday morning will conclude with the annual report from Lawyers’ Fund for Client Protection Board, presented by Chair Sims Weymuller, of Seattle. Following lunch, Legal Foundation of Washington President Nicholas Gellert, of Seattle, will present the Foundation’s annual report. Dedicated to equal justice for low-income persons, the Legal Foundation of Washington was created at the direction of the Washington State Supreme Court to administer the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program in Washington state. More information can be found at www.legalfoundation.org. At its May meeting, the Board voted to develop an agreement between the WSBA and LAW Fund, defining the terms of a new alliance between the two parties. The agreement will be presented, and the Board is scheduled to take action. WSBA Executive Director Paula Littlewood and Professionalism Committee member Sims Weymuller will present a Professionalism Outreach Initiative regarding Washington’s three law schools. Other matters include an update from the Board of Governors Diversity Committee from Committee Chair, Governor Brenda Williams; reports from WSBA standing committees on FY 2009 activities and FY 2010 plans; and various committee appointments. President-elect Salvador Mungia will present a first reading of his proposed Mentor Program, the mission of which is to have every student, at the completion of grade three, advance to grade four with a grade-appropriate knowledge of civics and to read, write, and perform arithmetic at a grade-appropriate level. President-elect Mungia’s plan is to implement a pilot over the coming year. On Thursday evening, the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner and Business Meeting will be held at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle. Awards will be presented to: the Honorable Deborah D. Fleck, of Seattle, Award of Merit; the Honorable Robert L. Harris, of Vancouver, Lifetime Service Award; the Honorable Lesley A. Allen, of Wenatchee, Outstanding Judge Award; Richard E. Mitchell, of Seattle, Professionalism Award; Roger D. Wynne, of Seattle, Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service; Washington Minority Bar Associations Collaboration Project, Kim Tran and Michael Heath, co-chairs, and Washington Minority Bar Associations Joint Committee on Law Firm Diversity, Thuy Nguyen Leeper and Kenneth Payson, co-chairs, Excellence in Diversity Awards; Ernest Radillo, of Wenatchee, Courageous Award; and Captain Alexander M. Straub, of Camp Murray, Community Service Award. Also being recognized at the dinner are J. Donald Curran, of Spokane, and Lembhard G. Howell, of Seattle, whose President’s Awards are being presented at the President’s Dinner Wednesday evening. Seattle attorneys Jonathan Yeh and Dan R. Young, the 2009 recipients of the WSBA Pro Bono Awards, and the Honorable Mary I. Yu, recipient of the 2009 Norm Maleng Leadership Award, which is given jointly by the WSBA and the Access to Justice Board, will also be recognized — these awards were presented in May at the annual Access to Justice and Bar Leaders conferences. On Friday morning, Program Review Committee Chair and WSBA Treasurer Russ Aoki and WSBA Deputy Director for Finance and Administration Julie Mass will ask the Board to take action on recommendations regarding Mandatory Continuing Legal Education, Limited Practice Officers, the Law Clerk Program, and the Practice of Law Board. The Council on Public Defense, represented by Jackie McMurtrie and Bob Boruchowitz, will present a recommendation endorsed by the District and Municipal Court Judges Association related to Criminal Rules for Courts of Limited Jurisdiction 4.1 (Arraignment). Director of the Office of Public Defense Joanne Moore will present a status report on public defense in Washington. Immediately following lunch, outgoing Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) President Jaime M. Hawk, of Spokane, will present the WYLD’s annual report. The 2009-2010 WYLD President, Julia A. Bahner, of Seattle, will be sworn in by WSBA President Mark Johnson immediately following the report. Court Rules and Procedures Committee Chair Roger Wynne will present several recommended rule changes which, if approved by the Board, will go to the Supreme Court with a request for adoption. Proposed changes relate to telephonic testimony and inadvertent disclosure of privileged material; the Board will also continue its discussion of proposed rules regarding the discovery of electronically stored information. About the Washington State Bar Association 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. # # # |