Seattle Lawyer Carl J. Carlson Elected to WSBA Board of Governors

Seattle, Washington, October 5, 2001 —Seattle lawyer Carl J. Carlson has been elected to the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors. His three-year term expires in September 2004.

Mr. Carlson is a 1976 graduate of Stanford University Law School and practices commercial litigation with the Seattle firm Carlson & Fabish. His WSBA service includes working as a fee arbitrator and a special disciplinary counsel, and serving on the Rules of Professional Conduct Committee and the President's Initiative Task Force. Mr. Carlson also serves as a cooperating attorney with the Northwest Women's Law Center, and is on the Board of Directors of the Resource Center for the Handicapped. He recently completed a three-year term on the King County Bar Association Board of Trustees.

The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington Supreme Court to license the state's 26,500 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, it administers the bar exam, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. 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 13-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district, one from each of the other eight districts, plus two at-large members. 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 its 28 standing committees; 23 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.