FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   
April 19, 2007

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

Washington State Bar Association Names Noelle McLean Local Hero

Seattle, Washington, April 19, 2007 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced that it has presented Noelle McLean 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 on April 13 in Kelso, where the award was presented during a lunch with members of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum and Lewis county bar associations.

Ms. McLean has a long history with the practice of law. She started working in her father's law office, C. Michael McLean of Longview, when she was 10 years old, working her way up to filing and additional clerical work in high school.

Ms. McLean originally attended Washington State University to be a veterinarian, but soon decided to switch to law. She was president of her sorority and was on the Dean's List. She attended the University of Puget Sound School of Law (now Seattle University School of Law), graduating in 1993. After passing the bar, she worked with her father until 1995, when she rented an office from Cowlitz County Commissioner Gary Bashor and began her own practice. In 1998, she and fellow attorney Thad Scudder remodeled a building and set up practice.

In addition to her work, Ms. McLean is active in the community and has served on many boards and committees, including the YMCA Mock Trial Competition and Cowlitz and Wahkiakum County Youth Commission. She has also worked with the Safe Kids Coalition and Cowlitz County Humane Society. She is president of the Washington state chapter of Epsilon Sigma Alpha, a leadership and service organization, and a past executive board member of Cowlitz Wahkiakum County Bar Association. She has served as a board member of the Cowlitz County Legal Aid Society and the local chapter of the Salvation Army, and as coordinator of the Cowlitz County Family Law Brown Bag Association (judges and family law practitioners who gather to discuss common issues in family law).

"Noelle is one of the top family law practitioners in Southwest Washington," said Frank F. Randolph, president of the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum County Bar Association, in his nomination. "She is very knowledgeable in the law, is an excellent and very strong advocate, and is very thorough in her preparation.

"She volunteers to cover any need she sees and does not press — probably to her detriment — to be relieved of these duties until another volunteer can be found. She is an excellent organizer, no matter how complex the task, and works very well with anybody and everybody. If she is part of an organization, she is probably one of its key leaders (whether or not she has the title).

"Our local bar's Executive Board, which is drawn from a wide range of attorneys from different areas of practice, had numerous excellent nominees for the Local Hero Award — but Noelle was the obvious pick," Randolph said.

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 30,600 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 2006-2007 president is Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle. The 2006-2007 president-elect is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee, and the immediate past-president is S. Brooke Taylor, of Port Angeles. 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 23 standing committees; 26 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.

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