FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 4, 2008

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

The Honorable Ronald M. Gould Receives WSBA Professionalism Award

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association announces that the Honorable Ronald M. Gould will be honored with the 2008 Professionalism Award. The Professionalism Award is awarded to a member of the WSBA who exemplifies the spirit of professionalism. “Professionalism” is defined as the pursuit of a learned profession in the spirit of service to the public and in the sharing of values with other members of the profession. WSBA President Stan Bastian will present the award at the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner, to be held on September 18, 2008, at the Grand Hyatt Seattle Hotel.

Judge Gould received his undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of Commerce and Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, and received his law degree from the University of Michigan Law School. Before beginning his judicial career, Judge Gould was a partner with the Seattle law firm of Perkins Coie, where his practice focused on antitrust, trade secret, and complex commercial litigation. He was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in 1999.

Judge Gould is a past president of the Washington State Bar Association, a former professor at the University of Washington School of Law, a board member of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, and a member of the Supreme Court Historical Society. His current community involvement includes serving on the executive board of the Chief Seattle Council of Boy Scouts of America, and he formerly served on the Community Relations Council of the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle, on the board of the Economic Development Council of King County, and as a trustee of Bellevue Community College.

“[Judge Gould] is recognized by all as a jurist who is unfailingly courteous, fair, thoroughly prepared on both the facts and the law, and whose adherence to the rule of law broaches no exception by either side in litigation,” wrote Judge Richard C. Tallman. “His personal courage, perseverance, and dedication to duty are truly inspiring.”

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.

# # #