Corporate Counsel Section

Announcing…we're now the Corporate Counsel Section!
In response to a request from the Executive Committee of the Corporate Law Department Section, the WSBA Board of Governors approved amendments to the section's bylaws at their December 7, 2007, meeting. A key amendment, changing the section's name to the Corporate Counsel Section, more clearly reflects the majority of the members who serve as in-house counsel and are referred to as such. Additional approved bylaws amendments include the addition of subscribers to allow law students to join the section as non-voting members; the annual meeting to coincide with one of the section's CLE programs; and the officers of the section will be the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer (formerly the Chairperson, Chairperson-Elect, Vice Chairperson and Recorder). Additional changes relate to the manner in which the executive committee approves action items, how nominations for office are made, and the establishment of committees. For specifics, please reference the current bylaws, as amended, which are posted on this page.

Membership in the Corporate Counsel Section is open to any active member in good standing of the Washington State Bar Association. Our members include in-house legal counsel, attorneys in private practice who spend a substantial portion of their time working with in-house counsel, and other attorneys who provide legal counsel to businesses or non-profit enterprises. We urge attorneys interested in learning more about corporate law departments and general business and corporate law to join our Section. Law students may join as subscribers of the section, but do not have voting rights.

The Section provides a number of programs and other resources for our members. Our quarterly dinner meetings provide an excellent opportunity to socialize and network, and include speakers on various topics of interest to Section members. CLE credit is generally available for each dinner meeting.

The Section publishes a newsletter which features interesting articles on recent case law, regulatory and legislative developments, along with practice pointers and other career development topics. We also sponsor various CLE programs, including the very popular Corporate Counsel Institute, a day-long seminar that features wide-ranging presentations on a variety of topics of interest to in-house counsel and other business attorneys.

Section Membership Information: If you are a member of the Washington State Bar Association, the current lawyer membership dues can be found here. If you are not a member of the Washington State Bar Association, you may join as a subscriber for the same amount (subscribers receive member benefits but are not eligible to vote in section business matters). We also welcome law students to join our Section and their current annual fee can be found here: Online - Law Students. Section membership coincides with the Washington State Bar Association's fiscal year and covers the period each year from October 1 to September 30. Current Section members will receive an annual renewal notice in early October for the coming membership year.

You can join via secure online transaction. Once you have paid your membership dues, you will be added to the membership of the section and will begin receiving our newsletter and other information about section activities.

Section Members: To join the section e-mail list and receive information about section activities and other section-related matters, please send your e-mail address and Bar number to questions@wsba.org.

For more information about the Corporate Counsel Section, please contact the Section Chair:

Mr. Henry K. Hamilton
Email: hhamilto@starbucks.com