FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 10, 2005
Contact: Alfredo Tryferis
Communications Specialist
206-733-5932; alfredot@wsba.org
Wenatchee Lawyer John M. Brangwin Elected President-Elect of the Washington State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division
Seattle Washington, June 10, 2005 — The Washington State Bar Association's (WSBA) Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) announced today that its Board of Trustees has elected Wenatchee lawyer John M. Brangwin to serve as its 2005-2006 president-elect. His term as president-elect will begin October 1, 2005, and end September 30, 2006. Mr. Brangwin will begin his one-year term as president on October 1, 2006.
Mr. Brangwin received his law degree from Gonzaga University. After law school, he went to work for the Bell Law Office (formerly Bell & Safar) in Wenatchee. While there, Mr. Brangwin represented indigent defendants accused of crimes and developed his labor-and-industries and personal-injury practice. In 2002 he formed the Wenatchee law firm of Woods & Brangwin with University of Washington Law School alumnus Steven W. Woods.
A member of the WSBA since 1997, Mr. Brangwin is active in legal and community affairs. As a WYLD Board member, he represents the young lawyers of North-Central Washington. He is a member of the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association and the Washington Defender Association. Mr. Brangwin is also active in the Wenatchee Downtown Kiwanis Club and chairs its Revitalization of Methow Park Committee.
As WYLD president-elect and president, Mr. Brangwin envisions leading the WYLD to re-establish a statewide young-lawyer conference, focus on member service by assisting young lawyers with professional marketing techniques, and continue its current membership and public-service activities and programs. Mr. Brangwin also hopes to address student-loan debt, which he sees as the primary challenge facing young lawyers today.
"We can help young lawyers practice profitably," says Mr. Brangwin, "and assist them in balancing their practice with their personal lives."
About the WYLD
The WYLD provides programs and services of special interest to young lawyers, the public, and those denied access to the justice system. In particular, the WYLD sponsors continuing legal-education seminars of interest to young lawyers; publishes De Novo, a bimonthly publication serving young lawyers; sponsors programs that benefit high school students, including the YMCA Mock Trial Competition; and sponsors seminars addressing questions facing young lawyers.
Any active member of the WSBA is a member of the WYLD until December 31 of the year in which the member attains the age of 36 or until December 31 of the fifth year in which the member has been admitted to practice in any state, whichever is later.
About the WSBA
The WSBA is a private, nonprofit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 28,800 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 exam, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. 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 president is Ronald R. Ward of Seattle. The board meets every six weeks at various locations around the state, and its meetings are open to the public. Much of the work of the WSBA is carried out through its 23 standing committees, 24 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division.
