Solicitor General Narda D. Pierce Receives WSBA Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service

Seattle, Washington, September 13, 2001 — Solicitor General Narda D. Pierce will receive the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service today in Seattle. The award was named in honor of the late Angelo R. Petruss, a senior assistant attorney general who passed away during his term of service on the WSBA Board of Governors.

As Solicitor General of the State of Washington, Ms. Pierce leads a small group of senior attorneys in coordinating appellate and amicus practice of the 430 lawyers who serve in the Attorney General's Office (AGO). The Solicitor General Division oversees Attorney General Opinions, prepares ballot titles and summaries for initiatives and referenda, and coordinates legal advice on issues of statewide interest. She was an early member of the AGO's ethics committee and serves as its chair. Under her direction, the committee has developed significant expertise in issues of professional responsibility, provides continuing legal education to the AGO, and serves as a primary resource for addressing ethical issues in the practice of public service law. Ms. Pierce has facilitated the efforts of other lawyers within the AGO to provide volunteer legal services, and has supported the efforts of other legal service programs.

Ms. Pierce joined the AGO in 1980 where she worked with Angelo Petruss representing the state in tort and civil rights actions. In her nomination letter, Washington Attorney General Christine O. Gregoire wrote: "To this day in dealing with a thorny problem, Narda often will ask herself how Angelo would have approached it, focusing as he did not only on what is legally sound, but also on what is right and what is fair.… Narda exemplifies for the Attorney General's Office, and for our profession more broadly, what every attorney should strive to be — generous of time, talent and spirit in the service of the legal system and the public interest."

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.