FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
October 25, 2006

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

WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Spokane, October 27

Seattle, Washington, October 25, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting on October 27 at the historic Davenport Hotel in Spokane. Peter Karademos, who represents members in the Fifth District, will welcome the Board to Spokane. The public meeting will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. This will be the first Board meeting presided over by new WSBA President Ellen Conedera Dial, who was sworn in last month at the WSBA's Annual Awards Dinner and Meeting.

On Thursday, the Board of Governors will participate in "Celebrate Diversity Eastern Washington Style," co-sponsored by the Board of Governors, WSBA Committee for Diversity, Spokane County Bar Association, and Gonzaga University School of Law. The panel and group discussion will take place on Thursday from 1:00 to 5:15 p.m., with a reception immediately following — both held at Gonzaga.

Friday's agenda includes a proposal from President Ellen Conedera Dial about a "Pipeline Project," which would encourage the development of programs that serve young people in communities or groups that are currently or have been historically underrepresented in the legal profession, with the goal of increasing diversity in the legal profession. Treasurer Eron Berg, of Mount Vernon, will give a financial report. The annual report of the Washington State Bar Foundation will be presented by Spokane attorney Joseph Nappi Jr., who serves on the Foundation's Board of Trustees.

WSBA Legislative Director Gail Stone will give the Board a preview of the upcoming legislative session, including the Justice in Jeopardy initiative. This initiative, with its four focuses — trial-court operations, civil legal aid, indigent criminal defense, and parents' representation in dependency cases — is the most direct and cohesive effort ever undertaken to substantially alter and improve the funding of our Washington courts.

Also on the agenda are a progress report on the WSBA's December move to its new headquarters; a presentation about the Mandatory Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) rule about law-firm in-house CLE seminars by Seattle attorney Fredric Tausend, and a response from the MCLE Board chair, Brush Prairie attorney Mark Baum; and a presentation about the Executive Director Search Task Force (WSBA Executive Director Jan Michels has announced her retirement this coming May).

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 29,900 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 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. The 2006-2007 president-elect is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee, and the immediate past-president is S. Brooke Taylor, of Port Angeles. 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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