FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
July 18, 2006      

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

WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Port Angeles, July 21

Seattle, Washington, July 18, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting on July 21 at the Red Lion Hotel in Port Angeles. The public meeting will be held from 9:30 to noon, and from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m. WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor, who is a Port Angeles native and has practiced law in Port Angeles since his admission to the Bar in 1968, will welcome the Board to his home town. Also welcoming the Board to Port Angeles will be Governor Salvador Mungia, of Tacoma, who represents WSBA members in the Sixth District.

Seattle attorney J.D. Smith, WSBA delegate to the American Bar Association (ABA) and former president of the Washington Young Lawyers Division, will present a resolution from the ABA Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession, and request the WSBA's cosponsorship of the resolution. Also on the agenda for Friday morning is a report from Spokane attorney and former WSBA Governor William Hyslop. Mr. Hyslop, who serves as co-chair of the WSBA Committee on Public Defense, will update the Board on the work of the Committee.

Joining the Board for lunch will be members of the Clallam County Bar Association. The President of the Clallam County Bar is Brent Basden. A highlight of the luncheon will be the presentation of the WSBA Local Hero Award. As the Board of Governors holds its meetings around the state, the Local Hero Award is presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities.

WSBA Court Rules and Procedures Committee Chair David Swartling, who practices in Seattle, and WSBA Assistant General Counsel Douglas Ende will present the Committee's recommendations for court rule changes. Board-approved recommendations will be forwarded to the Washington State Supreme Court for action. Among the recommended rule changes are modifications to General Rule 14, citations to unpublished opinions, and Superior Court Civil Rule 45 and Criminal Rule 4.8, both concerning subpoenas. The Board will thank Mr. Swartling for three years of dedicated service as chair of the Court Rules and Procedures Committee.

WSBA Treasurer Mark A. Johnson, who practices in Seattle and represents members in the Seventh-West District, will present the WSBA's 2007 budget for adoption. The WSBA's new fiscal year will begin in October. The WSBA will be moving its office in December, and WSBA President-elect Ellen Conedera Dial, of Seattle, who served as chair of the WSBA Facilities Committee, will update the Board on plans for the move.

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 2005-2006 president is S. Brooke Taylor, of Port Angeles, and the 2005-2006 president-elect 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.