FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 30, 2003

CONTACT
Judith Berrett 
Director of Member & Community Relations
206-727-8212
e-mail: judithb@wsba.org

WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Seattle February 6

Seattle Washington , January 30, 2003 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting February 6 at the WSBA office in Seattle . The meeting will be held from 9:00 a.m. to noon , and is open to the press and public.    

WSBA Chief Disciplinary Counsel Joy McLean will update the Board on Washington 's lawyer discipline system. She will also ask the Board to appoint a chief hearing officer, adopt a revised aspirational timeline, and nominate a conflict review officer for Supreme Court approval. Donald Horowitz, chair of the Access to Justice Board Technology Bill of Rights (TBoR) Project will report on the project's first-year accomplishments. (See http://www.atjtechbillofrights.org for more information.) WSBA Legislative Director Gail Stone will discuss pending Washington legislation, including tort reform bills. The Board will also consider appointment of a chief hearing officer and nomination of a conflict review officer for Supreme Court approval.   

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.

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 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.