FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   
June 23, 2008      

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

Loren Etengoff Elected 3rd District Governor

(SEATTLE) — The WSBA is pleased to announce that Vancouver attorney Loren Etengoff has been elected the new governor from the third congressional district. At the conclusion of the Board of Governors meeting in September 2008, Etengoff will assume the seat currently held by Kristal K. Wiitala for a three-year term.

Etengoff graduated from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He received his law degree from Gonzaga University School of Law. In 1982, Etengoff moved to Vancouver, Washington, where he served as a partner in a three-person firm until June 2006, when he opened his own practice. Etengoff’s practice is devoted to representing the rights of those who have been physically injured by the negligence of others.

Etengoff has been actively involved with the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, where he served on the Board of Governors and on development committees. He is a member of the American Association for Justice, the WSBA, and the Clark County Bar Association.

Etengoff lives in the Vancouver area with his wife and children. He is a past board member of the Evergreen School District Foundation. He has managed and coached both youth and adult soccer teams while serving on the board of the Evergreen Soccer Club and the Clark County Youth Soccer Federation.

Etengoff is excited to assume his position on the WSBA Board of Governors. He believes that access to justice is a critical issue for the citizens of the state of Washington and is looking forward to assisting the WSBA in meeting this challenge.

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 32,600 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 14-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large members, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The 2007-2008 president is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee. The 2007-2008 president-elect is Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle, the immediate past-president is Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle, and the 2008-09 president-elect is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma. 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 numerous standing committees; 26 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.

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