Washington Young Lawyers Division Receives WSBA Affirmative Action Award

Seattle, Washington, September 13, 2001 — The Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) will receive the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Affirmative Action Award today in Seattle. This award is given in recognition of significant contribution to affirmative action in the employment of ethnic minorities, women and the disabled in the legal profession. WYLD President Thomas P. Quinlan and President-elect Sherri Jefferson will accept the award.

Over the past few years, the WYLD has made a concerted effort to increase the level of diversity within its leadership. Through its outreach efforts, the WYLD has actively recruited young lawyers of different backgrounds, gender, ethnicity and race. The WYLD board of trustees now has the most diverse membership of any WYLD board since the division was created in 1986. Of the 15 trustees, five are African-American, two are Hispanic, and six are women.

All WSBA members are also automatically members of the WYLD for the first five years of practice or until the end of their 36th year, whichever is later. The division assists new lawyers in achieving personal and professional development, and implements and supports numerous public-service programs.

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.