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Volume X, Issue V From the EditorEvan Loeffler is the editor of De Novo. Some of his articles and editorials appear below. Send your comments regarding De Novo and this website to the editor at EvanL@concentric.net De Novo Takes Second De Novo, the official publication of the Young Lawyers Division of the Washington State Bar Association is now the Award-Winning De Novo. The American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division awarded the publication second place in the annual newsletter competition. The newsletter judging criteria graded each newsletter on article selection, writing, overall design, and choices given design constraints (layout of articles, use of photos and graphics, etc.). Publications were divided into divisions depending on their budget and the size of their target audience. De Novo was in one of the more competitive categories since it has an above average budget and one of the larger target audiences. In its division, De Novo ran a very close second to a Maryland publication. A Virginian newsletter received an honorable mention. De Novo was the only tabloid-style publication in its division. This was the first national award for De Novo, and hopefully the first of many to come. On a more personal level, the recognition was especially gratifying considering that the award comes barely a year after the publication was almost shut down. An erratic publication schedule led to a declining audience and a dissatisfied Board of Trustees. When I took over the paper, then president-elect Tim Szambelan told me he planned to do away with the paper when he took over the presidency of the WYLD. The people who can take the most credit for De Novo’s resurgence are Managing Editor Stella Edens, who during the last two years balanced her editing duties with opening a solo practice in Seattle and then moving to Walla Walla from which she now commutes daily to the Wenatchee firm of Rettig, Osborne, Forgette, O’Donnell, Iller & Adamson; Editorial Advisory Board Chair Robynne Parkinson, who used the best arm-twisting tactics to not only get members of the EAB to attend her meetings, but even got some of the members to write stories for the paper; and Angela Jones-Morehouse who not only made editing an exciting adventure by spelling words using occasional bonus consonants ("immifration"?) and once continuing one of my articles into oblivion, but also had the initiative to recognize when the overall design of De Novo needed a facelift. Other people who contributed substantially to De Novo’s recognition were the many people who wrote for the publication, and the readers who took the time to voice their concerns, criticism, and praise. Immediate Past President Tim Szambelan, who had the foresight not to pull the plug on De Novo, will receive a plaque from the ABA recognizing the publication for its achievement. He has promised me a photocopy. Our plans for De Novo for 1998 are largely the same as they were for 1997: to continue publishing a timely, informative, and entertaining newspaper that young lawyers can look to for well-written articles, sound advice, and the occasional photograph of my car. In the mean time, we at De Novo bask in the knowledge that, out of all the publications that lost the 1996-97 newsletter competition to those knuckle-draggers in Maryland, De Novo was the best.
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