FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
September 11, 2006      
        
Contact Judith Berrett
Director of Member and Community Relations
206-727-8212; judithb@wsba.org

Governor Gregoire Receives 2006 WSBA Outstanding Elected Official Award

Seattle, Washington, September 11, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that Governor Christine Gregoire will be honored with the Outstanding Elected Official Award, presented to an elected official in recognition of outstanding service to the citizens of Washington state and special contributions to the legal profession. 2005-2006 WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor will present the award to Governor Gregoire at the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner, to be held on September 14, 2006, at the Madison Renaissance Hotel in Seattle.

Governor Gregoire is being honored for her extraordinary leadership in mediating a compromise between the medical and legal communities on SHB 2292, a hotly contested medical-malpractice-reform bill. The Legislature ultimately passed the compromise bill (also called “Plan B” during the 2005 legislative session) as amended through this historic process, which has helped improve healthcare by increasing patient safety, reducing medical errors, reforming medical-malpractice insurance, and resolving medical-malpractice claims. WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor wrote: “Credit must go to Governor Gregoire for her extraordinary leadership in arranging and mediating this process. She chaired all five sessions, and there was never a hint of partisanship in her conduct of the meetings. What did come through loud and clear was her knowledge of the complex issues on the table, and her passion for affordable, accessible health care. She certainly did not need to risk any precious time or political capital in what was obviously a high-risk venture. We should all be grateful she was willing to take the risk.”

Prior to serving as governor, Governor Gregoire served three distinguished terms as attorney general — the first woman to be elected to the position in Washington state. She worked tirelessly on a variety of important issues and had many successes, including working to pass a tough new ethics law for state government and to find alternatives to litigation in resolving legal disputes. After the landmark tobacco settlements in 1998, she was named the most influential attorney general in the country by the Campaign for Tobacco-free Kids.

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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