Vancouver Attorney Joni R. Kerr Appointed 2004-2005 Treasurer of the Washington State Bar Association

Seattle, Washington, October 29, 2004 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that its Board of Governors confirmed the appointment of Vancouver, WA, attorney and WSBA governor Joni R. Kerr as WSBA treasurer for 2004-2005. The confirmation took place at the October 22-23 Board of Governors meeting in Richland.

Governor Kerr, who represents the 3rd Congressional District on the Board of Governors, was elected to the Board of Governors in 2002. A solo practitioner whose practice focuses on representing public school districts in Washington, she earned her J.D. from the Ohio State University College of Law in 1979 and was admitted to practice in Ohio the same year. From 1979 to 1981, she clerked for the Ohio Fifth District Court of Appeals. Governor Kerr then returned to her native Nebraska and was in private practice in Omaha from 1981 to 1989. In 1989, she and her husband, Greg Hallas, moved to Steilacoom. She was admitted to practice in Washington in 1990, and became a shareholder with Vandeberg, Johnson & Gandara in Tacoma. In 1997 she moved to Vancouver and joined Horenstein & Duggan. In 1999 she went into solo practice.

Governor Kerr served as president of the State Board of Washington Women Lawyers from 1998 to 1999, and as its liaison to the WSBA Board of Governors from 1999 to 2000. She also served two terms on the Board of the Washington Council of School Attorneys. She and her husband have two children, Emma (14) and Andrew (11).

"Governor Kerr is an esteemed and respected voice on the Board of Governors and eminently worthy of assuming the position of treasurer of the WSBA," said WSBA President Ron Ward. "She pays meticulous attention to detail, an attribute every treasurer should bring to the stewardship of member resources. I am proud of my appointment of her, and it is abundantly clear that her fellow members of our Board share my opinion."

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, and 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 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, 23 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.

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