King County Housing Justice Project Receives Washington State Bar Association Young Lawyers Division Outstanding Affiliate Organization Award

Seattle Washington, October 9, 2003—The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced that the King County Housing Justice Project (KCHJP) received the Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) Outstanding Affiliate Organization Award. The Outstanding Affiliate Organization Award is given annually and recognizes affiliate organizations in this state that have generously committed time and effort to providing legal services for the public good, and to making significant contributions to the professional community, especially in the development and training of young lawyers. Nominees must be active professional legal organizations in the Washington with members who qualify as young lawyers (defined as 36 years of age or younger, or admitted to practice for no more than five years, whichever is later), who have made a demonstrable commitment to the provision of pro bono services to those in need, and/or significant contributions to the professional community through member services or the professional development of young lawyers.

The KCHJP is a volunteer-based pro bono project sponsored by the King County Bar Association, Columbia Legal Services, the Legal Action Center, the Northwest Justice Project, and the Tenants' Union. More than half its attorney volunteers qualify as young lawyers. Volunteers provide free legal services to low-income tenants involved in eviction proceedings in King County courts, and assist tenants by providing counseling, assisting in negotiations, and representing tenants in eviction proceedings, both at the show-cause hearings and in full trials. Last year, KCHJP volunteers represented more than 400 low-income tenants who otherwise would have been unrepresented opposite experienced landlord attorneys. It also provides mentoring to new lawyers in client-interviewing techniques, negotiation tools, developing proficiency in direct and cross-examination, and legal-argument skills.

"Working with the Housing Justice Project has provided me great training in terms of learning to think quickly on my feet," said Perkins Coie attorney Zoe Philippides. "I have learned critical skills in terms of making quick assessments based on the information before me that enable me to make the best possible arguments in support of my clients' cases. I also appreciate that I am making a difference for low-income clients who would otherwise be forced to appear in court without a lawyer."

The KCHJP "facilitates the provision of critical legal services to low-income clients in our community and makes significant contributions to our professional community by training and developing young lawyers," said attorney Julia Parsons Clarke, who nominated the KCHJP for the award.

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 president is David W. 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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