Yakima Judge Michael E. Schwab to Receive Washington State Bar Association's Local Hero Award

Seattle Washington, June 9, 2004 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) today announced that Yakima County Superior Court Judge Michael E. Schwab has been chosen to receive the WSBA's Local Hero Award. The Local Hero Award is presented to lawyers or judges who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. Robert Boggs, WSBA governor for the 4th District, will present the award to Judge Schwab Thursday evening, June 10, at the Restaurante El Mirador in Yakima.

In September 1969, just after receiving his J.D. from Georgetown University and passing the New York State Bar Exam, Judge Schwab arrived in Yakima as a VISTA (Volunteers In Service To America) lawyer, where he was assigned to work with migrant farm workers. He immediately immersed himself in the local community, building a law firm and becoming a promoter and patron of artistic, cultural, and social-justice agencies. Between 1969 and 1990 he developed, organized, and was otherwise involved in the Yakima County Legal Aid Society, the Yakima County Public Defender Program, the Yakima County Bail Project, and the Yakima County Work Release Program, all of which exist today.

In 1974 he entered private practice as a partner in Schwab, Kurtz, Hurley & Lara, handling a wide range of civil and criminal cases, with emphasis on domestic relations and criminal defense. Sixteen years later, in August 1990, he applied for and was accepted to be a court commissioner for the Yakima County Superior Court. He also at that time returned to VISTA. "I felt then that I was ready to resume the full-time public service I had begun in VISTA," he explained. "I also felt that the decade of the 1990s would see an explosion of juvenile and family law issues, and I wanted to be involved in the development of local responses to those issues."

First and foremost of the issues he tackled was "the aging and decrepit condition of the juvenile court system, physically and programmatically." He organized a major effort to build a new Juvenile Justice Center for Yakima County, which opened in July 1995 and now serves not only Yakima but also, by contract, neighboring counties and the State of Washington.

Since August 1990, Judge Schwab has presided over nearly 10,000 juvenile court dependency and criminal cases, as well as hundreds of other cases, including dissolution of marriage, domestic violence, mental commitments, and adult felonies. He has also worked with colleagues and agencies to upgrade the professionalism of the juvenile court and increase its efficiency. In addition, Judge Schwab's commitment to diversity, access to justice, the juvenile-justice system, family law, and the residents of Yakima County has led him to organize, develop, and assist in the creation of community accountability boards, foster-care citizen-review boards, full-time guardian ad litem services for abused and neglected children, and truancy programs — as well as to develop partnerships with public schools, business groups, law-enforcement agencies, and fraternal organizations.

Judge Schwab has been a Yakima County Superior Court judge since 1998, and is a member of the American Judges Association, the Washington State Superior Court Judges Association, the American Inns of Court Foundation, the National Judicial College, and the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. He also serves on the boards of the Yakima-Morelia (Mexico) Sister City Association, the Yakima Memorial Hospital Foundation, and Volunteer Attorney Services for Yakima County, Inc., and is a former board president of the Yakima County Work Release Program and Yakima County Planned Parenthood.
"I would just like to say that it is an honor to be able to give this award to Judge Schwab," said Governor Boggs. "Judge Schwab has gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the Yakima community and to promote access to justice for everyone."

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 28,200 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, 23 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.

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