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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Judith Berrett New Washington State Bar Association Officers and Governors Sworn In(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association is pleased to announce that Tacoma attorney Salvador A. Mungia was sworn in as 2009-2010 president by Chief Justice Gerry L. Alexander at the Association's Annual Awards Banquet and Business Meeting held on September 24. Mungia will serve as president through September 2010. President-elect Steven G. Toole, of Bellevue, was sworn in as president-elect. President Mungia received his bachelor's degree from Pacific Lutheran University and his law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. In 1984–1985, he served as a judicial clerk to the Honorable Fred Dore, Washington State Supreme Court, and from 1985–1986, he was a judicial clerk to the Honorable Carolyn Dimmick, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Since 1986, Mungia has been with the firm of Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim, where he is now a partner. Mungia's service to the bar began more than 20 years ago, when he was a trustee for the Young Lawyers Division of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. Since that time, he has served on the Board of Directors for LAW Fund (including a two-year term as president of the Board), and served as president of the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. He has also served on the Board of Directors of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law. Mungia began his term of service on the WSBA Board of Governors in 2005, as a governor representing District 6. He served in that capacity for three years before being elected president-elect in 2008. He was a lawyer representative to the Ninth Circuit Judicial Conference from 2003 through 2005. In 2008, he was awarded the Bertha M. Snell Award and the Outstanding Service Award, both by the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association. Mungia is also involved in his local community. He is a past commissioner of the Tacoma Human Rights Commission. He has served on the Grand Cinema Board of Directors and is currently serving as a director for the Palmer Minority Scholarship Foundation. He is a past board member of the ACLU of Washington and has been a cooperating attorney with the ACLU since 1986. When asked what motivated him to become an attorney and ultimately involved in WSBA leadership, Mungia said: "I am the son of immigrants — my father was from Mexico and my mother was from Japan. I saw too often how they were taken advantage of because of the color of their skin, their lack of command of the English language, and their economic status. I became a lawyer so that I could protect my family from such injustices. After becoming a lawyer, I fully realized how strong a voice attorneys have to speak on behalf of those who have such a little, or no, voice in society. I wanted to get involved in Bar Association leadership to remind attorneys what a great opportunity we all have to use our voice to speak on behalf of those who have no voices." Mungia, when asked what his theme was going to be for his year as WSBA president, stated: "For attorneys to be a voice to those who don't have a voice, restore hope to those who have had their hope taken away, and to be a pain in the butt to those who seek to take the voices and hopes from others." President-elect Toole received his bachelor's degree from The Ohio State University in 1971 and his law degree from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1975. He was admitted to the Washington State Bar in 1976, and currently has a solo practice, where he focuses on personal injury litigation. Since 2000, he has also practiced in the areas of arbitration and mediation. Toole's service to the WSBA began more than 15 years ago, when he was elected to the Board of Governors representing District 8. Since 2003, he has served as the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (Washington State Association for Justice) liaison to the Board of Governors' meetings. He also served on the Board of Trustees of the Washington State Bar Foundation. District 2 Governor G. Geoffrey Gibbs will serve as WSBA treasurer for 2009-2010. Gibbs received his bachelor's degree from Montana State University, his J.D. from the University of Montana, and his LL.M. from the University of Washington. He is a shareholder in the Everett law firm of Anderson Hunter, where his practice focuses primarily on litigation, with an emphasis on family law, probate, and boundary litigation. He also routinely serves as a professional mediator. New governors are Nancy L. Isserlis, of Spokane (District 5); Leland B. Kerr, of Kennewick (District 4); Roger A. Leishman, of Seattle (District 7-West); and Marc L. Silverman, of Bellevue (District 1). Carla C. Lee, of Seattle, will serve a second term as governor at-large representing the Washington Young Lawyers Division. Governors serve three-year terms. President Mungia, President-elect Toole, Treasurer Gibbs, and the new governors will take their places at the October 23-24 Board of Governors meeting in Pullman, along with Immediate Past-President Mark Johnson and governors Brian L. Comstock, of Bellevue (District 8); Loren S. Etengoff, of Vancouver (District 3); Anthony D. Gipe, of Seattle (at-large); Lori S. Haskell, of Seattle (District 7-Central); David S. Heller, of Burien (District 9); Catherine L. Moore, of Seattle (District 7-East); Patrick A. Palace, of Tacoma (District 6); and Brenda E. Williams, of Seattle (at-large). About the Washington State Bar Association 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 Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma; the president-elect is Steven G. Toole, of Bellevue; and the immediate past-president is Mark Johnson, of Seattle. 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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