FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
  
June 23, 2008      

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

WSBA Board of Governors Elects Anthony Gipe At-Large Governor

(SEATTLE) — The WSBA is pleased to announce that the Board of Governors has elected Seattle attorney Anthony Gipe as the new governor-at-large. At the conclusion of the Board of Governors meeting in September 2008, Gipe will assume the seat currently held by Eric de los Santos for a three-year term.

Gipe studied at the Monterey Institute of Foreign Languages/Defense Languages Institute, where he received his accreditation in Russian Languages and Culture. He served for seven years in the United States Navy as a Russian-language interpreter and intelligence analyst. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Comparative History of Ideas from the University of Washington and received his law degree from the University of Washington School of Law. He is currently a senior associate at the firm of Sheer & Zehnder.

Gipe has been active in  numerous professional organizations, including the King County Bar Association, the Washington Employment Lawyers Association (where he served as a board member), and the Lesbian and Gay Law Society of Washington. He is a founding board member of QLAW, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) bar association of Washington. He is a founding member of the WSBA Leadership Institute Advisory Board, has served on the WSBA’s Amicus Brief Committee and Rules of Professional Conduct Committee, and has served as chair of the WSBA Civil Rights Committee. Washington Law & Politics readers voted him a “Rising Star” in the legal profession in 2002 and 2003.

“I learned early on that the only way to change prejudices and preconceptions is to join up, educate others, and demonstrate that inclusion of diverse people is its own reward,” wrote Gipe. “I have also recognized and assisted in the great strides made by the WSBA and the profession in Washington on GLBT issues. My goal…is to continue to be involved in the organizations I work with, to educate individuals, organizations, and myself about our differences and our commonalities.”

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 2008-2009 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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