FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

July 27, 2009     

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

Catherine M. Brown Receives Local Hero Award

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that it has presented Mount Vernon attorney Catherine M. Brown with its Local Hero Award. The Local Hero Award is presented by the WSBA Board of Governors as it travels around the state to those who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. The WSBA Board of Governors met in Tulalip on July 24–25. WSBA President Mark Johnson presented the award at a special reception, with members of the Board of Governors, members of the local bench and bar, and other guests in attendance.

Brown received her undergraduate degree in English from Seattle University and her law degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo. During law school, she worked with My Sisters’ Place, a domestic-violence agency just outside of New York City, and with domestic-violence clients at Neighborhood Legal Services, a legal-aid organization in Buffalo, NY.

Brown is currently the coordinator of the Skagit County Volunteer Lawyer Program at Skagit County Community Action Agency, where she links pro bono attorneys with low-income clients; works closely with the Skagit County Bar Association’s executive committee to organize and publicize local events; and edits and distributes the Skagit County Bar Association’s monthly newsletter. Brown also sits on the Community Advisory Board for Skagit County’s Mediation Services Department.

“Catherine goes above and beyond in the performance of her job,” wrote Paul Nielsen, president of the Skagit County Bar. “Catherine is very committed to the program and its objective of providing pro bono legal services to indigent persons. She is extremely dedicated and hard-working, and always maintains a great sense of humor, even in stressful situations.”

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. 2008-2009 president-elect is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma; 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.

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