October 2003

One of Eastern Washington's Own Is the WSBA's New President

by Lindsay Thompson

Sometimes, Pullman lawyer and new WSBA President Dave Savage says, you look up and things just fall into place.

Long active in local and state Bar volunteer work, the Pullman attorney thought his involvement was topping out by chairing several WSBA committees and sections. "I looked at running for the Board of Governors," he recalls, "but it's almost impossible to overcome the votes a Spokane lawyer can draw on compared to Pullman." The last seven governors, for example, have all been from the Inland Empire's largest city.

So when the Board of Governors created two at-large seats in 2001, Savage, then outgoing chair of the WSBA Court Rules Committee, threw his hat into the ring. One of the purposes of the at-large seats is to give Washington lawyers who don't live in the one or two population centers in each congressional district a better shot at the board, and Savage persuaded the board his would be a useful perspective.

Then, when the WSBA presidency rotated through eastern Washington (it triangulates among eastern and western Washington and King County), Savage saw another opportunity. After a year on the board and entreaties from colleagues, he again threw his hat into the ring, and was named president-elect last year. At this year's annual meeting in September, Savage received the gavel from outgoing President Dick Manning.

Sixty next month, the Seattle-born Savage has been a lawyer for 30 years, all in Pullman. He's a shareholder and president of Irwin, Myklebust, Savage & Brown, PS  (www.imsblaw.com), a seven-lawyer firm practicing business and agricultural law, civil and criminal litigation, domestic relations, estate planning and probate, mediation and arbitration, real estate, retirement plans, and employee benefits and taxation.

Pullman is one of Washington's many border towns. Savage is admitted to practice in Washington, Idaho, and Montana, and his civil-litigation practice has him appearing frequently in the courts of all three. He has a cross-border education as well, with a B.A. from Washington State and a law degree from the University of Idaho.

So, now you've got the job, what do you want to do this coming year, we asked. Savage was ready with a list. A high priority, and one echoing Tri-Cities lawyer Ed Hiskes's longtime efforts, is to get a low-cost electronic legal-research system in place that all WSBA members can use. "Casemaker is one example," he said, noting it has been adopted by a number of other state bars around the country as a member benefit, "but we are looking at several." He's appointed a group, chaired by former Court of Appeals Judge Charles K. Wiggins, to compare the options and make a recommendation.

Internally, Savage wants to start "a wholesale review" of the Association's standing-committee structure and how members get appointed to those committees. "Making appointments is a huge, complicated task for governors. Because they don't communicate much among one another about whom they are appointing, the best we get is rough geographic diversity among committee members. But we also end up with a lot of disappointed members who want to be involved but come away feeling it's all a rigged game. Then those people go away and we don't hear from them again, much less get a chance to put their talents and energies to work." Savage also told Bar News there appear to be committees in search of a mission, while areas that committees could usefully address go unaddressed.

The new president says he has also heard the rising chorus of complaint about how WSBA governors and presidents are elected, and wants to look at making those processes more transparent. "Too many members say they can't figure out how you get elected, and so don't try themselves," he told us. Overlay the population-centers problem, which results in one city's having a disproportionate effect on Board of Governors elections, on the obscurity of the process, and you get a membership that may rightly feel a bit disenfranchised, he concluded.

A lot of the president's duties involve moving forward projects underway within the WSBA long-range plan, and Savage expects a good bit of his time will be taken up with that work. There's an ongoing study of the student-debt crisis and what to do about it, recommendations for improving professional development of new lawyers to be implemented, and a wide array of other initiatives already in motion. One he lays particular emphasis on, however, is addressing the disconnect between the increasing diversity of Washington's population and the lack of diversity at the upper levels of law firms, the Bar Association, and the judiciary. There, too, he feels, increasing numbers of members feel the WSBA doesn't say much to, or for, them, and he wants to start changing that. It'll be a long-term task, "but we have to start, be serious and focused, and keep at it." A key component in the short run will be meetings between minority and specialty bar associations, and bar leadership, to listen to their ideas on making the WSBA useful and relevant to the practice of law in a new century.

With few lawyers in the state Legislature, and legislation that affects—sometimes targets—the legal profession arising in nearly every session, Savage has called for a tuneup of the WSBA's legislative program, including, especially, improving how the Bar deals with fast-breaking events during sessions, and developing more educational relationships with legislators to help them be more effective.

After a year as president-elect, David Savage has gotten accustomed to shuttling between Pullman and Seattle, with trips practically everywhere else in between, and the challenge of keeping his practice going. He says he is looking forward to his year as president, and occasionally working in a visit with his wife, lawyer and WSU Vice-President Sally Savage, and their three children, Jesse, Erin, and Kath-ryn. "It'll be fun," he predicts. "We'll get things done."

Bar News editor Lindsay Thompson practices in Seattle and has worked with 18 WSBA presidents in a row.

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