Seattle Lawyer James E. Baker to Serve on the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors

Seattle Washington, August 30, 2004 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that Seattle Lawyer James E. Baker will serve on its 14-member Board of Governors, representing lawyers in the 9th District, which includes portions of King, Pierce, and Thurston Counties. He will be sworn in September 16 at the WSBA Annual Meeting, and will serve a three-year term.

Mr. Baker, who grew up in Ephrata, received his J.D. in 1979 from Gonzaga University School of Law, where he graduated cum laude. Upon graduation, he served as the first law clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Smithmoore P. Myers of the U.S. District Court in Spokane. From 1980 to 1985, he was a lawyer at the law firm of Lyon, Beaulaurier, Weigand, Suko & Gustafson in Yakima. While living in Yakima, he began a monthly CLE program for members of the Yakima County Bar Association, served on the Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) Board of Trustees, and edited the WYLD newsletter.

In 1985, Mr. Baker opened a law practice in Port Townsend, and one year later was hired by the Seattle law firm of Miracle & Pruzan, where he continues to practice (the firm is now known as Miracle, Pruzan, Pruzan & Baker), focusing primarily on the representation of injured patients in medical-negligence actions. A member of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association (WSTLA) since 1982, he is a former editor of WSTLA's Trial News and served on WSTLA's Board of Governors. In 1987, he received WSTLA's Certificate of Appreciation.

Mr. Baker contributes a substantial amount of his time to pro bono work, including the representation of disabled veterans before the Board of Veterans Appeals; he recently obtained a favorable opinion from the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims in a case involving service-connected disability.

Currently serving on the Access to Justice Board's Impediments to Access to Justice Committee, Mr. Baker has also served on numerous other federal, state, and county bar committees and is a member of the board of directors of the Foundation for Washington State Courts. He is also a member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Amnesty International, the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the American Bar Association, Trial Lawyers for Public Justice, and the Democratic National Committee.

About the WSBA
The Washington State Bar Association is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 28,400 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, 23 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.

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