Walter R. Krueger Receives WSBA President’s Award

Seattle, Washington, September 12, 2002 — Kirkland lawyer Walter R. Krueger has received the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) President’s Award. He will be honored at a dinner tonight in Seattle . This award is given annually for special accomplishment or service to the WSBA during the term of the current president.

Walt Krueger has been a tireless advocate for free Internet access to court opinions. His efforts were realized when earlier this year, www.LegalWA.org was launched. This Web site was created cooperatively by the WSBA, Municipal Research and Services Center , and the Washington State Office of the Code Reviser. The site offers free access to Washington State Supreme Court Opinions from 1939 to the present; published Court of Appeals opinions from 1969 to the present; and links to the RCW, WAC, and 70 county and city municipal codes.

Twelve years ago, an electronic bulletin board was created that included some case law and the RCW. That system was effective for several years, but Mr. Krueger and other lawyers saw a need for expanded information to be easily available at no cost to the public. Mr. Krueger’s and the WSBA’s ultimate goal is to have all official case law posted on the Washington State Supreme Court Web site. He sees the new LegalWA site is an interim measure, and continues to work with the Court to find a cost-effective way to achieve that goal. Mr. Krueger was recently appointed to the Commission on Supreme Court Reports to explore how the court might implement such a program.

The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state’s 26,600 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.