Breean Beggs to Receive the Washington State Bar Association's Local Hero Award

Seattle Washington, July 23, 2003 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) today announced that Bellingham attorney Breean Beggs will receive the WSBA's Local Hero Award. The Local Hero Award is presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. WSBA President J. Richard Manning will present the award to Mr. Beggs July 25 at the Board of Governors meeting in Bellingham.

Mr. Beggs, who received his J.D. in 1991 from the University of Washington School of Law, is currently a partner at Brett & Daugert and an adjunct professor at Fairhaven College. Since moving to Bellingham in 1991 to begin his law practice, Mr. Beggs has volunteered tremendous amounts of time to such projects as the LAW Advocates Street Law Program, a program he started nine years ago in which local attorneys provide free legal advice every Saturday afternoon during the summer at a downtown street corner; and the Whatcom Civil Rights Project, which Beggs co-founded in 2001 to bring together the volunteer efforts of local attorneys, college students, and community volunteers to provide legal assistance and advocacy to victims of discrimination and civil rights abuse in Whatcom County.

In addition, Mr. Beggs volunteers for Law Day each year, volunteers his services to LAW Advocates (often handling three cases at a time), and, as a volunteer, was instrumental in obtaining $4 million from criminal fines in the Olympic Pipeline case to fund a nonprofit pipeline safety and educational trust. He is co-founder of and a volunteer for Excellence Northwest, a nonprofit group focusing on personal and professional development; a frequent speaker at local high schools and colleges about constitutional rights; a mentor to pre-law students and new attorneys; a youth soccer coach; and a volunteer in his church nursery.

A former vice president of the Whatcom Literacy Council Board of Directors and former president of the Whatcom County Chapter of the ACLU, Mr. Beggs served on the review team for the Whatcom Community Foundation's MATRIX program that provided intensive evaluation and training for 12 Whatcom County nonprofit organizations.

"Breean gives so much back to this community," said Katti Telstad Esp, who nominated Mr. Beggs for the award, "and his energy and enthusiasm are unsurpassed."

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 every six weeks at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the WSBA is carried out through its 23 standing committees, 24 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.

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