FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   

June 18, 2008      

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

Catherine Moore Elected 7th-East District Governor

(SEATTLE) — The WSBA is pleased to announce that Seattle attorney Catherine Moore has been elected the new governor of the 7th-east congressional district. At the conclusion of the Board of Governors meeting in September 2008, Moore will assume the seat currently held by Liza E. Burke for a three-year term.

Moore received her bachelor’s degree at nineteen in political science from the State University of New York, and her law degree from Albany Law School. From 1988-1992, she was an attorney for The Defender Association of Seattle, then went into solo practice, where her areas of practice included family law, dependencies, juvenile offense and BECCA, civil and criminal appeals, elder and minor guardianship, and guardian-ad-litem appointments. As a legal adviser for the New Zealand Ministry of Consumer Affairs from 1999-2001, she was a national advocate for Maori, Pacific Islander, and low-income consumers. She was the managing family law attorney for the King County Bar Association from 2002-2003, leaving to serve as a tribal court judge. Moore currently serves as commissioner pro tempore for the King County Superior Court, and as a disciplinary hearing officer for the Washington State Bar Association.

Moore has been active in the WSBA, serving on the Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee, the Mediation Panel, and the Hearing Officer Panel, and was appointed to the Judicial Selection Task Force. In addition, she currently serves as a board member for Perinatal Treatment Services of Washington; chairs the King County Municipal League Candidate Evaluations Committee; volunteers with the Washington State Coordinated Campaign Voter Registration Project and the Washington Campaign for Clean Elections; and serves as a Washington Judicial Selection Coalition member.

Previously, Moore served as a commissioner on  the King County Civil Rights Commission, and as a community speaker on civil liberties. Moore was honored with the King County Bar Association President’s Award in 2002, and the New Zealand Deputy Prime Minister’s Recognition in 2001.

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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