Seattle Attorney Receives National Award for Career in Law-Related Education

Seattle Washington, February 2, 2004—Margaret E. Fisher of Seattle was recently honored by the American Bar Association with its 2004 Isidore Starr Award for Excellence in Law-Related Education. The award was presented during the ABA's National Law-Related Education Leadership Seminar, held January 15-17 in Philadelphia.

Mr. Starr, for whom the award is named, is also a Seattle resident and known nationally as "the father of law-related education." Both Ms. Fisher and Mr. Starr are members of Washington state's Council on Public Legal Education, housed at the Washington State Bar Association.

Ms. Fisher has worked in the field of law-related education for more than 25 years. From 1986-87, as Senior Fulbright Scholar, she brought the work of Street Law, Inc., into the African country of Lesotho and wrote a curriculum based on South African law and customary (tribal) law that is still used in South African schools today.

In the United States, her work has supported law-related education in a number of ways. Ms. Fisher has developed law-related education curriculum materials that are used nationwide, including an award-winning Youth Court Volunteer Training Curriculum and law-related teaching materials for use in corrections and mental health facilities. She recently updated the 7th edition of the national Street Law materials. In addition, she conducts 80 hours of law-related education classes each year across the country for jail and probation personal.

In Washington state, Ms. Fisher has been instrumental in numerous initiatives to strengthen the quality and reach of law-related education. She helped create the Council on Public Legal Education in 2000, and has forged a model partnership between the Council and the Washington Judges Foundation to increase the number of youth courts in the state and involve judges in high school classrooms as volunteer instructors.

Ms. Fisher currently serves in the state's Administrative Office of the Courts, where she delivers law-related education programs for the domestic violence community and fosters judicial participation in law-related education programs. Since 1988, she has served as the Washington state coordinator for Youth for Justice, a national law-related education program supported by the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. She is also an Adjunct Professor at the Seattle University School of Law.

The American Bar Association created the Isidore Starr Award in 1983 to celebrate outstanding achievements in law-related education. For more information about the Isidore Starr Award, contact Michelle Parrini at the ABA Division for Public Education at 312-988-5739 or parrinim@staff.abanet.org.

About the CPLE
The Council on Public Legal Education was created in 2000. Its 30-plus members include lawyers, judges, educators, elected officials, journalists and community representatives. Its mission is to ensure that the people of Washington have the knowledge they need to participate effectively in the justice system and government, by creating, coordinating and encouraging many kinds of legal education programs ranging from a media resource guide to teacher-training workshops to a comprehensive law-related Web site for the general public. For more information about the CPLE, visit www.plecouncil.org.

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 28,200 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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