Randolph I. Gordon Elected to Fill WSBA Board of Governors Eighth District Vacancy

Seattle, Washington, August 11, 2003 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors announced its election of Bellevue attorney Randolph I. (Randy) Gordon as governor for the Eighth Congressional District —which includes the region east of Lake Washington to the Cascades and much of rural Pierce County east of Tacoma. Mr. Gordon will fill the vacancy created by the election of Ronald Ward as 2003-2004 WSBA president-elect. Mr. Gordon will be sworn in September 11, 2003, and will serve the remaining two years of Mr. Ward's three-year term.

A principal in the Bellevue law firm of Gordon Edmunds Elder PLLC, Mr. Gordon earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1978 and has been practicing law in Washington state ever since. He has represented clients before a United States Senate subcommittee and in federal and state trial and appellate courts, including the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit and the Washington State Supreme Court.

I have now spent half my life — 25 years — as a lawyer," he said. "And to quote Mark Twain, speaking of his days as a Mississippi riverboat pilot, 'I can think of no work I have loved so well.' I consider my election to the Eighth District seat a natural outgrowth of my longstanding commitment to our profession."

Mr. Gordon has long been active in the East King County Bar Association, serving two terms as trustee, a term as vice president, and a term as president. He also served as a trustee for the King County Bar Association from 1996 to1999. He was founding editor of the East King County Bar Newsletter, and is a regular contributor to Washington State Bar News, and a columnist for the King County Bar Bulletin. Appointed to three terms as a special district counsel for disciplinary matters for the WSBA, he is currently serving on the Hearing Officer Panel. In 2001 he was appointed to then-WSBA President Jan Eric Peterson's President's Initiative Task Force and has served as arbitrator under the King County mandatory arbitration program in dozens of cases.

Known for his dedicated and enthusiastic work in promoting public service within the profession, Mr. Gordon has been a volunteer for the Eastside Legal Assistance Program since its inception, and over the years has worked tirelessly to ensure access to justice. "The challenges that face the law are daunting. Civil justice has, as a practical, financial matter, become out of reach for the average citizen. Entanglement in a lawsuit is, for most, a financial disaster. But I am an optimist — for good or ill — to the core. I believe that innovative strategies can and must be devised to make justice affordable and accessible to everyone."

Mr. Gordon has for years been a passionate, outspoken advocate for pride in the legal profession. "I no longer laugh at lawyer jokes," he wrote in a 1999 Bar News article. "I know we [lawyers] are integral to what makes the American experiment work. I am proud of the work we have done. I am proud of our contribution to the public discourse and the analysis we bring to issues of public concern. . . . I am proud of our work on behalf of civic and charitable organizations, however humble. I am proud of our support for the rights of our clients, the rights of the public, and the court system. I am proud of our work on behalf of the dispossessed, the disempowered, the oppressed. I am proud of being part of a collective noun with my colleagues: a justice of lawyers."

Besides his law practice and volunteer activities, Mr. Gordon is an adjunct professor of law at Seattle University School of Law. He received the WSBA's 2001 President's Award, and the Washington State Trial Lawyer's Association 1998 Public Justice Award and 2001 Professionalism Award.

"I believe that Randy Gordon will be a great asset to the Board of Governors," said fellow attorney Jerrilynn Hadley. "He brings with him strong leadership skills as well as vast amounts of energy and the ability to communicate well with people from different walks of life. He also has an uncanny ability to analyze problems from every angle and see practical solutions that most would miss."

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 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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