Board of Trustees Minutes

The following is a brief summary of the minutes from the Board of Trustees meeting on November 20, 1999 at Heathman Lodge in Vancouver, Washington. Contact your local trustee or the Washington State Bar Association if you would like a copy of the official minutes.

Attendees
Lisa Castilleja, Paul Lehto, Brian Born, Susan Pitchford, Walt Olsen, Tom Quinlan, Steven Marsalis, David Reed, J.D. Smith, Sherri Jefferson (via telephone) and Vonda Sargent. Also in attendance were Sheri Borgford and Geoffrey Hymans, De Novo Editor. (LaShawn Warren (LRP Chair) and Geoffrey Hymans joined the Board in Executive Session)

1. Motion made to approve minutes from the October Board Meeting after corrections. Motion was seconded. Motion carried.

2. Administrator's Report: Sheri Borgford reported that the meeting for December would take place in Bellevue, Washington at the Double Tree Inn. There will be a fellow's party on Saturday, December 11th at Sheri's house.

3. It was discussed whether WYLD would like to have a CLE or have a reception at Gonzaga during Celebration 2000. It was suggested that we host a reception after the CLE in an effort to save funds. There was also discussion regarding whether to host the reception at the new law school. Sheri will provide additional information at the next meeting. There may be the opportunity to co-host a reception with the Gonzaga Law Students Association.

4. Lisa introduced Vonda Sargent, the newest member of the Board. Vonda will finish out the term of the previous Board member who recently moved to Seattle. Vonda will represent Thurston County and surrounding areas. Vonda is a prosecutor with the Thurston County Prosecutor's Office. Welcome to the Board, Vonda!

5. President's Report:

a. WSBA Appointments: LaShawn Warren (WYLD LRP Chair) and Catalina Cantu have been appointed as liaisons to the WSBA Long-Range Planning Committee.

b. The following members will participate on the panel with the Deans of the Washington law schools regarding professionalism and ethics: Patrick Palace, Paul Lehto, Lisa Castilleja, Susan Pitchford, and J.D. Smith. The panel discussion will take place on December 6th at the WSBA offices from 12-2:00 p.m. All WYLD members were encouraged to attend.

c. ABA Meetings: Lisa announced that February 10-14, 2000 the ABA YLD would be meeting in Dallas, Texas for the Fall Annual Meeting. Sherri Jefferson announced that she would be doing a presentation. Lisa and J.D. will be attending as delegates from Washington. Anyone interested in serving as a delegate should contact Lisa ASAP.

e. The next Board of Governors' Meeting is January 13-15. Tom Quinlan will be attending with Lisa Castilleja.

f. Lisa encouraged Board Members to attend functions of the affiliate, specialty and local bars. She mentioned the Hispanic Bar Association's annual dinner is coming up on December 2nd. The RSVP should be turned in by Monday, November 22, 1999. WYLD representatives will attend the HBA dinner.

g. Confirmation of Appointments: Lisa discussed nominations for the appointment of Sandra Veliz as Chair of the Membership Committee and Meridee Matthews as WYLD representative of Law Week 2000. It was moved and seconded that the Board accept the nominations. Motion Passed. The Law Week 2000 program was featured in De Novo – "A Lawyer and Judge in Every School" (May 8-12, 2000).

h. Lisa discussed a suggestion from former Board members that the Equality in Practice Committee include as part of its agenda issues regarding disabled young lawyers. After lengthy discussions, it was determined that WYLD will seek additional information regarding areas that WYLD can be of help and will table the issue until the December meeting.

i. Washout/Mid-year 2000: The Washout will occur on August 24-25 at Quinault Beach Resort near Ocean Shores. Mid-Year 2000 will take place at Sun Mountain on the weekend of May 5. WYLD is still seeking a person to chair the Mid-Year Committee. Sheri Borgford announced that the WSBA CLE office would assist WYLD with the administrative tasks associated with the CLE portion of this year's mid-year. Lisa will continue to seek nominations or volunteers to act as committee chair. Sheri Borgford announced that the location of the 2001 Mid-Year must be chosen in the near future.

j. Lisa announced that the Legislative Committee Chair position is still vacant. The persons that she has contacted were interested in participating on the committee but could not commit to chair the committee. Lisa will continue to accept nominations for the position and will continue to seek volunteers.

k. John Brangwin wrote a letter requesting that the Board reconsider the current geographic districting of the WYLD Board Members. The issue was discussed at length. The issue was tabled for further discussion once John B. has the opportunity to review materials available through Sheri Borgford. Lisa appointed John as the chair and David Trujillo, Steve Marsalis and Tom Quinlan as members of a committee to consider the issue and make a presentation to the Board. Sheri will provide John with the information relied upon by the previous WYLD Board in reaching the decision regarding the current geographic districting of Board Members.

    6.   Report of the President-Elect:

a. Budget: Tom reported that he would complete and forward to all of the Budge committee members a draft of the 2000-2001 budget for their consideration. He also reported that the budget planning is on tract and there is nothing new to report. Lisa reminded Board members to tell their committee chairs to turn in their action plans for next year for purposes of drafting the budget.

b. Nominations Committee: Tom stated that the purpose of the nominations committee was to nominate someone to serve as president-elect of the WYLD. The committee has not yet made any determinations.

c. There was a lengthy discussion regarding preparation for the panel discussion with the law school deans. Lisa will contact Barrie Althoff about objective data regarding lawyer discipline.

d. At 5:28 p.m., after a short break the Board went into executive session. At 5:55 p.m. the meeting was adjourned.

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