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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Bellingham July 25-26Seattle Washington, July 18, 2003—The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting July 25-26 at the Hotel Bellwether in Bellingham. Governor Jon Ostlund, who represents members in the 2nd District, will welcome the board to Whatcom County. The meeting will be held from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Friday, and 9:00 a.m. to noon on Saturday. It is open to the press and public. Judge Marlin Appelwick, who, with former Superintendent of Public Instruction Judith Billings, co-chairs the Council on Public Legal Education, will make a presentation to the board. Judge Appelwick will propose a charter and bylaws for the council. The council's mission is to promote public understanding of the law and civic rights and responsibilities. It pursues this mission by conducting, coordinating, encouraging, and publicizing public legal education efforts in Washington state. Spokane attorney Jerry Boyd, chair of the WSBA Court Rules and Procedures Committee, will present the committee's recommendations for proposed rule changes. Also on the agenda for action is a resolution calling on Washington's congressional delegation to co-sponsor and support the adoption of the States' Rights to Medical Marijuana Act. The resolution will be presented by Governor Ken Davidson. Ellen Dial and Peter Ehrlichman, representing the Ethics 2003 Committee (a special committee formed to evaluate Washington's Rules of Professional Conduct), will present an interim formal ethics opinion clarifying lawyers' obligations of client confidentiality in light of the SEC's recently enacted Sarbanes-Oxley regulations. The WSBA Rules of Professional Conduct Committee joins with the Ethics 2003 Committee in recommending adoption of the opinion, and the board will consider its approval and adoption. Renton attorney Dwight Williams, chair of the Student Loan Crisis Task Force, will present the task force's final report. The task force was charged with developing action recommendations to lessen the unfavorable impact student-loan burdens may have on access to justice, specific practice areas, pro bono (volunteer) service, and professional development. With the election, at the June meeting, of Ronald Ward as WSBA president-elect, the 8th-District governor position became vacant. A new 8th-District governor will be elected at the Bellingham meeting. Additional business includes adoption of the WSBA's 2003-04 budget. Joining the board for lunch on Friday will be members of the Whatcom County Bar Association. The luncheon provides an opportunity for lawyers and judges to meet informally with members of the Board of Governors and discuss topics of mutual interest or concern, as well as their "likes and dislikes" about the Bar. Highlights of the luncheon will be the honoring of two Whatcom County lawyers as "local heros," and paying tribute to the Whatcom County lawyers who served in Iraq. The board will also welcome guests from Canada—members of the Canadian Bar Association (British Columbia Branch) and the Law Society of British Columbia will address board members Friday afternoon and join them for a social event that evening. The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington Supreme Court to license the state's 27,600 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. The governance of the WSBA is vested in its 14-person Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large members, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The current president is J. Richard Manning of Seattle, and the president-elect is David Savage of Pullman. 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 23 standing committees; 24 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees. # # # |