FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

July 27, 2009      

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

Toni Elmendorf Receives Local Hero Award

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that it has presented Snohomish County Juvenile Court Coordinator Toni Elmendorf 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 will meet 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. Mount Vernon attorney Catherine Brown and the Tulalip Tribal Court Elders Panel also received Local Hero Awards at the reception.

Elmendorf has worked for Snohomish County since 1998. She is the court coordinator for three courtrooms: defender, dependency, and commissioners’ calendars for at-risk youth and truancy. She is also the facilitator for the offender show-cause calendar.  Her job is to ensure that all calendars run smoothly, and that every individual or family who comes to court knows when and where to be. She works with 50–60 families at a time in different courtrooms, coordinates the calendars, and answers questions from the public and attorneys, all the while maintaining a calm, pleasant demeanor that helps to defuse the high stress levels that families appearing in juvenile court often experience.

“I have heard many people say, and I agree, that they would need two people to replace her — and those two people would only cover half of her job,” said Rico Tessandore, president of the Snohomish County Bar Association, in his nomination. “She does the work of two full-time individuals, and does it without complaint and with a smile on her face.  She’s the bedrock of juvenile court.”

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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