Everett Attorney Deane W. Minor to Receive Local Hero Award

Seattle Washington, December 4, 2002 — On December 6, at a reception with the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors and the Snohomish County Bar Association, WSBA President J. Richard Manning will present Deane W. Minor with the WSBA Local Hero Award. As the Board of Governors meets around the state, the Bar recognizes local lawyers who have made extraordinary contributions to their communities.

Deane Minor, who has a family law practice in Everett, is well known for his work in adoptions. He is committed to making the procedure a pleasant and memorable experience for his clients, and especially enjoys explaining courthouse procedure to the children.

Since the mid 1980s, Mr. Minor has volunteered with the Snohomish County Legal Services, and for the past several years, he has served on its board. Mr. Minor has taken on numerous time-consuming and difficult cases on a pro bono (free) basis.

His dedicated community service includes serving on the Board of Directors of the Everett Public Schools Foundation and the Everett School’s Site Facilities Committees. In addition to giving presentations to local schools on legal subjects, he regularly allows students who are interested in becoming lawyers to "shadow" him for a day, so they can see what the practice of law is like. Mr. Minor is also an active and enthusiastic youth soccer coach, who has on occasion coached more than one team at a time.

His commitment to serving his community also includes long-time service as a member of the Everett Providence Foundation Board. Additionally, he formerly served on the board of Operation Improvement, a local nonprofit job-training organization, and has served on the board of directors for his church.

His law partner, C. Thomas Tuohy, wrote: "Deane is the person we would like everyone in our community to be, honest, caring and positive. Deane is a local hero for his commitment to his clients, his profession and his community."

The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington Supreme Court to license the state’s 27,300 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.