FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   
January 9, 2007 

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

WSBA Board of Governors to Meet in Tumwater January 11

Seattle, Washington, January 9, 2007 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) Board of Governors will hold its next meeting on January 11 at the Tumwater Valley Lodge. Kristal Wiitala, of Olympia, who represents members in the Third District, will welcome the Board to Tumwater. The public meeting will be held on Thursday from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a break from noon to 1:00 p.m. On Friday morning, the Board will have its annual private meeting with the Washington State Supreme Court.

On the agenda for Thursday’s meeting will be a discussion of new Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15A, Safeguarding Property. Members of the WSBA Real Property, Probate and Trust Section have proposed an amended version of the rule and will be on hand to discuss their proposed changes. WSBA Treasurer Eron Berg, of Mount Vernon, will give a fiscal report. Also on the morning agenda is a report from WSBA Director of Lawyer Services Barbara Harper.

In the afternoon, Lael Echo-Hawk, of Tulalip, and Frederick “Rick” Rasmussen, of Seattle, who serve as co-chairs of the WSBA Committee for Diversity, will report on the activities of the Committee. WSBA Legislative Director Gail Stone will provide the Board with a report of the legislative session to date and review the WSBA’s positions on several bills. The legislative agenda of the Board for Judicial Administration will also be presented.

Immediate Past-President S. Brooke Taylor, of Port Angeles, will report on the work of the Executive Director Task Force (WSBA Executive Director M. Janice Michels is retiring in May). WSBA General Counsel Robert Welden will present information about the WSBA cosponsoring a resolution to be submitted to the American Bar Association House of Delegates to adopt the Model Rule on Provision of Legal Services Following Determination of a Major Disaster. He will also present information about how such a rule might work in Washington.
 
On Friday, the Board will be joined for lunch by members of the Thurston County Bar Association and the Government Lawyers Bar Association. Co-presidents of the Thurston County Bar are Paul Meyer and William B. Pope, both of Olympia, and president of the Government Lawyers Bar Association is Anthony P. Mauhar Jr., also of Olympia. At the luncheon, the Local Hero Award will be presented to Thurston County District Court Judge Clifford L. “Kip” Stilz Jr., and a posthumous Local Hero Award will be awarded to Bernie Friedman.

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 30,900 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 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 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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