FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
September 11, 2006    

Contact Den้ Canter
Member and Community Relations Department
206-727-8213; denec@wsba.org

Olympia Attorney Penny L. Allen Receives 2006 WSBA Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service

Seattle, Washington, September 11, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association announces that Olympia attorney Penny L. Allen will receive the 2006 WSBA Angelo Petruss Award for Lawyers in Public Service. Named in honor of the late Angelo R. Petruss, a senior assistant attorney general who passed away during his term of service on the WSBA Board of Governors, this award is given to a lawyer in government service who has made a significant contribution to the legal profession, the justice system, and the public. 2005-2006 WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor will present the award to Allen at the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner, to be held on September 14, 2006, at the Madison Renaissance Hotel in Seattle.

A 1989 cum laude graduate of the University of Puget Sound School of Law, Allen has been an assistant attorney general (and now senior counsel) for the state of Washington for 16 years. During this time, Allen has also consistently represented low-income clients in Thurston County. Although the Attorney General's Office encourages its employees to engage in pro bono law practice, it cannot provide resources in support. Allen has a set of forms and standard documents for her pro bono practice, but there are no automated systems or dedicated staff support available for her use. She also must meet her clients outside of her regular work hours and outside of her office. Though Allen must work with her pro bono clients on her personal time and with her personal resources this does not deter her. Once a case is resolved, she contacts Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services and accepts another case.  

"Over the years, one case at a time and one client at a time, she has made a significant difference in the lives of the individuals she has represented . . . and in the way she has inspired others to undertake pro bono representation," wrote the Attorney General's Office Pro Bono Committee in her nomination.

Allen's hard work and dedication to pro bono service provides an example to other attorneys in her office and around the state. Always willing to share her experiences with others and to assist them in pro bono efforts, she leads by example.

"She keeps such a low profile — just works away at pro bono as well as everything else. She has also been instrumental in getting the L&I Division to be regular volunteers at the legal clinic. There is way more enthusiasm for pro bono work in the Labor and Industries Division than I have experienced in other divisions — and I think that's because of Penny," commented her division chief in her nomination.

About the WSBA

The WSBA is part of the judicial branch, exercising a governmental function authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 29,800 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 admission process, including the bar exam; provides record-keeping and licensing functions; and administers the lawyer-discipline system. 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 2006-2007 president is Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle, and the 2006-2007 president-elect is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee.

The Board meets regularly (every six weeks) at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the Bar is carried out through 23 standing committees; 26 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.

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