July 2002

The Board's Work

by Judith Berrett

Director of Member and Community Relations

Board of Governors meeting held in Yakima on June 7 was packed full of important business — all accomplished in one day instead of the usual day and a half, enabling board members to attend the Access to Justice and Bar Leaders conferences.

Highlighting the meeting was the election of Pullman attorney David W. Savage as the 113th president of the WSBA. Savage, currently a governor-at-large, will begin by serving as president-elect during the 2002-2003 fiscal year, assuming the presidency in September 2003. Savage's Bar work includes participation in the Litigation Section and Rules Committee, and service as a hearing officer. In his application letter, he wrote: "As events of the past year have demonstrated only too well, we are living in a time of abrupt change and uncertainty, facing a future that is surely less well-known than we once thought. As a bar association, we must make a conscious effort to do our best to see into that future for the practice of law. Only by doing so will the association remain relevant to its members; continue to serve as a guide for the protection and promotion of their interests; be prepared to preserve and protect the independence of the judiciary; and secure the rights of the public we serve regardless of economic, social or ethnic considerations."

Law Week 2002 was lauded as a tremendous success. With 34 counties participating, we have only five more counties to reach before Law Week is truly a statewide event. Michele Earl-Hubbard, 2002 Law Week Committee chair, reported that during the week of April 29-May 3, more than 500 attorneys and 66 judges reached 16,000 students and nearly 400 teachers in more than 500 classrooms in 250 schools. Earl-Hubbard stated that according to the ABA, Washington is likely to have the nation's largest Law Week program, with the best Web site. The BOG acknowledged the excellent work of the Law Week Committee and the many volunteers.

Awards Committee Chair Lucy Isaki presented a most distinguished and inspiring slate of recommendations for the annual WSBA awards. The board unanimously approved the committee's recommendations: Lifetime Service, Hon. Charles Z. Smith; Award of Merit, Stephen R. Crossland; Professionalism, Hon. Smithmoore Myers; Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service, Jerald R. Hamley; Pro Bono, J. Matthew Geyman; Courageous, William Jaquette III; and Excellence in Legal Journalism, Lise Olsen of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Still to be named are recipients of the Outstanding Judge and President's awards.

Because there had been no applications for the position of 7-East governor (to fill the spot that will be vacated by Jenny Durkan in September), the Board of Governors had called for letters of interest from 7-East members. Astonishingly, 27 individuals responded to the call. Of those, the screening committee narrowed the list to six, who were interviewed at the BOG meeting. Andrea Brenneke was elected, and she will take her seat at the BOG table this fall along with Joni R. Kerr (3rd District), Howard L. Graham (6th District) and Ronald R. Ward (8th District).

ATJ Board Chair Michele Jones reported on the work of the ATJ Board, the WSBA Pro Bono and Legal Aid Committee, the Technology Bill of Rights Committee, and the other partners in Washington's access to justice network. Lack of access to justice for all continues to be a major problem in our state. Jones reported that in spite of our legal services programs and volunteer attorney programs, four out of five people eligible for free legal aid are turned away. This year's loss of $.9 million in state funding for civil legal services ($2.4 million was initially lost, but $1.5 million was recovered) is a very tough hit. In efforts to secure adequate funding for civil legal services, a civil legal-needs assessment (to be completed by the end of 2002) is being conducted under the auspices of the Supreme Court's Task Force on Civil Equal Justice Funding. (Note: For more information, see www.waaccesstojustice.org/atj/atjboard.)

Hon. Marlin Appelwick, co-chair of the Council on Public Legal Education, which is housed at the WSBA, reported on several projects, including:

• A "gateway" public legal information Web site, being developed by the council in partnership with the University of Washington and the Access to Justice Technology Bill of Rights initiative, with funding from the Paul G. Allen Charitable Foundation.

• An outreach campaign to promote youth courts among the state's legal, judicial and educational communities, funded by the Washington Judges Foundation.

• The formation of a committee that will coordinate community-based public legal education across the state.

The council is also continuing its efforts to educate teachers and members of the media about the legal system, and recently instituted an award that will be presented annually to an individual, group or institution for outstanding work in public legal education.

The BOG nominated Catherine Hendricks to the Supreme Court for appointment to the Pattern Jury Instructions Committee.

Gonzaga Law School Dean Daniel Morrissey discussed issues and challenges in legal education, specifically as they relate to Gonzaga.

Mirta Laura Contreras received the WSBA Local Hero Award in recognition of outstanding service to farmworkers and women in Yakima County. Contreras has been a lawyer with the Yakima office of Columbia Legal Services for the last 10 years. She has dedicated her career to helping farmworker women, a passion that stems from her childhood spent working in Yakima Valley fields with her parents and extended family.

She began representing farmworker victims of domestic violence in 1999. Since then, she has assisted numerous battered immigrant victims and children with custody matters, accessing immigration remedies under the Violence Against Women Act, and seeking nontraditional court remedies for domestic-violence issues.

Contreras heads the Amigas Unidas Project, working with community leaders to provide outreach and education to farm-worker victims of domestic violence, and is a board member of the Washington State Coalition Against Domestic Violence.