Seattle Lawyer J.D. Smith Sworn in as President of the Washington Young Lawyers Division of the Washington State Bar Association

Seattle Washington, September 23, 2003—The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced that Seattle Lawyer J.D. Smith was sworn in as president of the Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) of the WSBA. The ceremony took place at the WSBA's Annual Awards Dinner, held September 11 in conjunction with its Annual Business Meeting at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle. WSBA President-elect Ronald R. Ward swore in the new president.

J.D. Smith is a senior associate in the Seattle law firm Gordon, Thomas, Honeywell, Malanca, Peterson & Daheim LLP; his primary areas of practice are gastric-bypass surgery, wrongful death, medical-device litigation, catastrophic injury, and maritime personal injury. He received his J.D. in 1997 from Wesleyan University School of Law, where he was Moot Court Honors Program chair, National Order of Barristers chancellor, and Student Bar Association vice president.

Besides his WYLD activities, in May 2003, Mr. Smith was appointed to the American Bar Association House of Delegates by the WSBA Board of Governors, and the same month was also appointed to the Board of Trustees of the King County Bar Foundation.

He is a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates and Litigation Section, an Eagle Member of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA), and a member of the Bar Leadership Institute. He was 2002-2003 vice-president of the Loren Miller Bar Association, a member of the Washington Defense Trial Lawyers (WDTL) 2001-2002 Board of Trustees, and 2000-2001 WDTLA New Lawyers Committee Chair.

About the Washington Young Lawyers Division
The WYLD provides programs and services of special interest to young lawyers, to the public, and to those denied access to the justice system. In particular, the WYLD sponsors Continuing Legal Education seminars of interest to young lawyers; publishes De Novo, a quarterly publication serving young lawyers; sponsors programs that benefit high school students, including the YMCA Mock Trial Competition; and sponsors seminars addressing questions facing young lawyers as they balance professional and personal lives. Any active member of the WSBA is a member of the WYLD until December 31 of the year in which the member attains the age of 36 or until the December 31 of the fifth year in which the member has been admitted to practice in any state, whichever is later.

About the Washington State Bar Association
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 David W. Savage of Pullman, and the president-elect is Ronald R. Ward of Seattle. 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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