FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

December 5, 2007

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

WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Everett December 7-8

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting on December 7 and 8 at the Inn at Port Gardner in Everett. The public meeting will be held on Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a break from noon to 1:30 p.m. Saturday's public session will be held from 9:30 to noon. The WSBA governor for the Second District, G. Geoffrey Gibbs, will welcome the Board to Everett.

First on the agenda will be the Governors' and Liaisons' Forums, during which governors and others in attendance may bring non-agenda items to the attention of the Board. This will be followed by a recommendation from the WSBA Legislative Committee. In preparation for the upcoming legislative session, a recommendation that the WSBA sponsor legislation that would harmonize Washington Business Corporation Act notice requirements with new SEC "e-proxy" rules will be presented to the Board for approval. Legislative Committee Chair Klaus Snyder and WSBA Director of Justice and Diversity Initiatives Gail Stone will be joined by two members of the WSBA Business Law Section, Eric DeJong and John Reed, to discuss the recommendation with the Board.

Immediately following lunch, WSBA Leadership Institute (WLI) Advisory Board Chair Ronald Knox and WLI Advisory Board member Judge Mary Yu will update the Board on the activities of the WLI. They will be joined by 2007 WLI fellows Dainen Penta and Aaron Reiman. The mission of the WLI is to recruit, train, and retain Washington attorneys who have been admitted to practice for three to 10 years for leadership positions in the legal community and in the WSBA. For more information about the WLI, see www.wsba.org/lawyers/leadership_institute.htm.

Washington State Bar Foundation President Kristin Olson and Washington State Bar Foundation Trustee and former WSBA President Ronald Ward will present the Foundation's annual report. The Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose focus is to improve the delivery of legal services to all segments of the public; foster improvement of relations among the Bar, the judiciary, and the public; advance programs related to new-lawyer development; support diversity efforts; and promote the administration of justice. For more information about the Foundation, see www.wsba.org/lawyers/wsbf.htm.

Rounding out Friday's agenda are a preliminary discussion about program review (one of the WSBA's 2008-2011 strategic goals is a systematic review of all WSBA programming), and a discussion of fiscal matters led by WSBA Treasurer Douglas Lawrence and WSBA Deputy Director of Finance and Administration Julie Mass.

Friday evening, from 5:30 to 7:30, the Board will host a reception for WSBA members from Snohomish County. Jennifer Gogert is president of the Snohomish County Bar Association. A highlight of the reception will be the presentation of the Local Hero Award to Joyce Woods, executive director of the Snohomish County Bar Association, by WSBA President Stanley Bastian. As the Board travels around the state for its meetings, this award is presented to an individual from the legal community who has made noteworthy contributions to his or her community.

On Saturday morning, Local Rules Task Force Co-Chair Lish Whitson will update the Board about the work of the Task Force. The Task Force was created to review the purpose and function of local rules; the impact of local rules on courts, litigants (both pro se and represented), and the trial bar; and possible means to mitigate the detrimental effects of the ever-increasing number of local rules on lawyers practicing in multiple courts.

Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) President Mark O'Halloran will update the Board on the WYLD's recent activities. The purpose of the Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) is to encourage the interest and participation of young lawyers in WSBA activities, to develop and conduct programs of value to young lawyers and the public, to improve the legal system, and to enhance the quality of the legal profession. Nearly a quarter of the WSBA's active members are members of the WYLD. For more information about the WYLD, see www.wsba.org/lawyers/groups/wyld/default.htm.

Other items on the agenda include President-elect Mark A. Johnson leading a discussion about the use of metadata and a formal opinion on this subject issued by the American Bar Association (ABA); President of the Latina/o Bar Association of Washington M. Lorena Gonzalez talking about a former WSBA formal opinion addressing immigration issues; and WSBA Executive Director Paula Littlewood reporting on the results of an ABA survey on the "Pulse of the Profession."

About the Washington State Bar Association
The WSBA is part of the judicial branch, exercising a governmental function authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 30,850 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, the WSBA 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 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 Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee. The president-elect is Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle; and the immediate past-president is Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle. 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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