FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

August 5, 2008      

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

Judge Robert L. Zagelow Receives WSBA Local Hero Award

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that it has presented Walla Walla Judge Robert L. Zagelow with its Local Hero Award. The Local Hero Award is presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. The WSBA Board of Governors met in Walla Walla on July 25, 2008; the award was presented by WSBA President Stanley Bastian at a reception that night attended by members of the WSBA Board of Governors and the Walla Walla County Bar Association. 

Judge Zagelow was raised on a farm in Odessa, WA.  He graduated from Washington State University and the University of Idaho School of Law.  Judge Zagelow practiced law for over 25 years with the firm of Minnick-Hayner, where he primarily represented small business owners, farmers/ranchers, and the agricultural industry. He was elected to the Superior Court bench in 1996 and presided over his courtroom in a professional manner that ensured justice for the injured, fairness for the defendants, and respect for all involved.

Judge Zagelow has been very active in his church and community. He has served on the Walla Walla Community College Foundation Board of Governors; the advisory council of the Long-term Care Ombudsman Program; and the Board of Directors of the local chapter of the Association for Retarded Citizens. He has also served on the boards of the local United Way, Chamber of Commerce, American Diabetes Association, and Children’s Home Society of Washington. Judge Zagelow is also an active member of the Rotary Club.

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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