Alan Craig Anderson Receives Washington State Bar Association Local Hero Award │ March 10, 2022
OLYMPIA, WA, MARCH 10, 2022 — The Washington State Bar Association presented Alan Craig Anderson with the Local Hero Award to recognize his commitment to his community, colleagues, and housing justice.
The Local Hero Award is given to those who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. WSBA President Brian Tollefson presented the award during the Board of Governors meeting on March 10. Anderson was nominated by the Government Lawyers Bar Association.
“There are many attorneys that inspire us with their selfless service to the public," said Anderson’s nominator, Deputy Attorney General Kristen Mitchell. “There are far fewer that inspire more than admiration but also inspire their colleagues to join in that service.” She wrote Anderson deserved to be recognized for the Local Hero Award because of his long work in public service law and his service to his community through the Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services’ (TCVLS) Housing Justice Project.
Working with the Attorney General’s Office since 2015, Anderson represented the Department of Health, primarily the Dental Quality Assurance Commission. The work is exhausting, thankless and highly technical, Mitchell noted, yet Anderson became a resource for his colleagues and a mentor for new attorneys. He frequently presented at in-house training programs and CLEs. Anderson often went above and beyond to support his teammates, including catching a last-minute flight to Mississippi to cover a deposition for a colleague who had a medical emergency.
“Alan’s expertise has helped countless families avoid homelessness,” Mitchell wrote of Anderson’s long-running volunteer work with the Evictions and Landlord-Tenant Clinic of the Housing Justice Project through TCVLS. Anderson served as a volunteer, mentor, and trainer for TCVLS over his many years of volunteering. Even during periods of busy, intense work, he remained a steadfast volunteer and trainer whose training Mitchell praised as “clear, concise and simply excellent.”
Rachel Langen Lundmark, the Executive Director of TCVLS said Anderson “remains one of my favorite volunteer attorneys. He is smart, sensitive to the needs of both attorneys and clients, and just so giving of himself.” Anderson received the TCVLS Volunteer Award in 2018 as part of the Housing Justice Project team for his significant work protecting people from eviction.
Cindy Gaddis, a colleague at the Attorney General’s Office, said that one of Anderson’s presentations inspired her and many others to volunteer with the Housing Justice Project and she is grateful for his support and encouragement.
About the Washington State Bar Association
The WSBA operates under the delegated authority of the Washington Supreme Court and exercises a governmental function authorized by the Court to license and regulate the state’s nearly 40,000 legal professionals, including lawyers, limited practice officers, and limited license legal technicians. The WSBA both regulates legal professionals under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association — all without public funding. The WSBA administers the Bar admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; administers the lawyer discipline system; and provides continuing legal education for legal professionals, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities. The Bar’s mission is to serve the public and its members, to ensure the integrity of the legal profession, and to champion justice.
