FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE      
September 12, 2006      

Contact
Judith Berrett
Director of Member and Community Relations
206-727-8212; judithb@wsba.org

Spokane Attorney William D. Hyslop Receives 2006 WSBA President's Award

Seattle, Washington, September 12, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association announces that Spokane attorney William D. Hyslop will receive the 2006 WSBA President's Award. The President's Award is given annually in recognition of special accomplishment or service to the WSBA during the term of the current president. 2005-2006 WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor will present the award to Hyslop at the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner, to be held September 14, 2006, at the Madison Renaissance Hotel in Seattle. Hyslop is a principal in the law firm of Lukins & Annis P.S. and is a former United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.

A commitment to service has characterized both the professional career and personal life of Bill Hyslop. He has actively participated in innumerable major public projects in the Spokane community over the past 20 years, in addition to his active involvement in, and exemplary service to, the legal community.

Hyslop's special service to the WSBA during the past several years has been in his role as co-chair of the WSBA Committee on Public Defense, a very active committee that was established to implement the recommendations of the WSBA Blue Ribbon Panel on Criminal Defense (appointed by the Board of Governors in spring 2003 as a first step in addressing concerns about the quality of indigent defense services in Washington).

A former member of the WSBA Board of Governors where he represented the 5th Congressional District, Hyslop has numerous other current and former leadership positions and activities to his name, including serving as an active member of the American Bar Association; president, officer, and trustee of the Spokane County Bar Association; vice president, officer, and trustee of the Federal Bar Association of the Eastern District of Washington; trustee of the Legal Foundation of Washington; member of the Washington State Supreme Court Task Force on Equal Justice Funding; vice-chair and member of the Advisory Council of the Equal Justice Coalition, on whose behalf he has made several trips to Washington, D.C., to meet with Washington state's congressional delegation on legal-services funding; and secretary-treasurer and charter member of the Charles L. Powell Inn of the American Inns of Court.

In addition to his outstanding service to the legal profession, Hyslop's list of community memberships, activities, and honors is as varied as it is impressive. He currently serves on the board of Morning Star Boys Ranch, and was also a founding board member of its foundation. Former activities include serving as co-chair of the community campaign that led to the formation of Spokane's Public Facilities District and to the construction of Spokane's new Arena; as president of the Washington State University Alumni Association; on the Spokesman-Review Newspaper Advisory Council; as director of the Rotary Club of Spokane; as assistant scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts of America; and on the Citizens for Spokane Schools Leadership Team, where he co-chaired successful school levy and bond-issue campaigns. He has been active in political campaigns, and has served as chair of the Spokane County Republican Party and delegate to several Republican National Conventions. Honors include the WSU Alumni Achievement Award "for Professional and Civic Achievement and for Exemplary Volunteer Leadership" and WSU's President's Award "for Excellence in Leadership and Service."

Said WSBA President Brooke Taylor: "Throughout his quarter-century career as a lawyer, Bill has consistently provided distinguished leadership and extraordinary service to his profession and his community. It is my privilege to recognize Bill with this year's President's Award."
 
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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