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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Washington Minority Bar Associations Receive 2009 Excellence in Diversity Award(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that the Washington Minority Bar Associations (MBA) will be honored with the 2009 Excellence in Diversity Award for their work on two projects: the MBA Collaboration Project and the MBA Joint Committee on Law Firm Diversity. This award is presented to a lawyer, law firm, or law-related group that has made a significant contribution to diversity in the legal profession’s employment of ethnic minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. WSBA President Mark Johnson will present the award at the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner, to be held on September 24, 2009, at the Hyatt at Olive 8 in Seattle. The statewide Diversity Conference was first held in 2006 as a result of the work of Kim Tran and Michael Heath, co-founders of the Washington Minority Bar Associations' Collaboration Project (WAMBAC). WAMBAC is comprised of 11 of the minority bar associations in Washington. Conference topics have included an analysis of legal decisions that impact minority communities such as the same-sex marriage decisions, litigation issues such as bias in jury deliberations, and a focus on increasing diversity on the judicial bench. The conferences have been held annually, growing in attendance, stature, and impact each year. Tran received her law degree from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, and is a shareholder at Stafford Frey Cooper, where she practices civil litigation with an emphasis on employment law. Heath received his law degree from Duke University School of Law, and currently works with Core Cloud Edge Law Group as a technology lawyer. “We see in WAMBAC a wonderful example of the very best of what we can be as a community of lawyers,” wrote Frederick Rasmussen and Renea Saade in their nomination letter. “We think it time to applaud the success and inspiration of Kim and Michael and the project they created, and we are proud to make that recommendation.” The MBA Joint Committee on Law Firm Diversity consists of members from the Asian Bar Association of Washington, the Korean American Bar Association of Washington, the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington, the Loren Miller Bar Association, the Northwest Indian Bar Association, QLaw (the GLBT Bar Association of Washington), the South Asian Bar Association of Washington, the Vietnamese American Bar Association of Washington (VABAW), and Washington Women Lawyers. Together, Committee members created and distributed a law-firm diversity questionnaire to the 50 largest law firms or law offices in Washington state. The questionnaire sought detailed demographic information on racial/ethnic, gender, sexual orientation, and disability status of attorneys, as well as descriptions of law-firm diversity efforts and programs. The Committee organized the resulting data into a report, the Law Firm Diversity Report, which was released in March 2009. The full report is available online at http://vabaw.com/Documents/FINAL%20REPORT.pdf. The Law Firm Diversity Report will be an annual survey by the Washington Minority Bar Associations. Committee Co-chair Thuy Nguyen Leeper received her law degree from Seattle University School of Law, is the immediate past-president of VABAW, and currently serves on the board of the Asian Bar Association of Washington Committee. Co-chair Kenneth Payson received his law degree from the University of California at Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and is a partner with the firm of Davis Wright Tremaine, where his practice focuses on consumer class action defense. “With the Law Firm Diversity Report, the Washington Minority Bar Association Joint Committee on Law Firm Diversity has made another important step forward in the journey toward achieving meaningful and lasting diversity in the legal profession in Washington,” wrote Paula E. Boggs, executive vice president and general counsel for Starbucks, in her nomination letter. 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. 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. # # # |