FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
   
March 8, 2010      

Contact: Stephanie Perry
Communications Specialist/Website Editor
206-733-5932; stephaniep@wsba.org

Lynn Fleischbein Receives WSBA Local Hero Award

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that it has awarded Silverdale attorney Lynn K. Fleischbein with its Local Hero Award. The Local Hero Award is presented by the WSBA Board of Governors as it travels around the state to those who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. The WSBA Board of Governors met in Bremerton on March 5–6. WSBA President Salvador Mungia presented the award at a luncheon on March 5, attended by members of the Board of Governors and many members of the local bench and bar.

Fleischbein began her legal career at the age of 16, when she became a legal secretary for several local attorneys while still in high school and, later, while attending Olympic College. After receiving an associate’s degree in science, she transferred to Western Washington University. While completing her undergraduate degree in psychology degree, she took a year-long break, during which she returned to the Kitsap legal community, working for former Kitsap County Superior Court Judge William J. Kamps, then in private practice, who encouraged her to attend law school. After an eight-year career as a contract administrator/financial manager for BAESystems, Fleischbein enrolled in law school in 1996. 

While at Seattle University School of Law, Fleischbein continued to work part-time for BAESystems and began working with her future partners — J. Michael Liebert and John D. Morgan — as a Rule 9 legal intern.  After graduation, she joined the firm as an associate, eventually becoming a partner and the firm’s manager. She is now in solo practice, focusing on family law, estate planning, and probate. She has been recognized twice as a Rising Star by Washington Law & Politics Magazine, and by Kitsap Legal Services for her pro bono service efforts.

In addition to her legal work, Fleischbein has devoted much of her time to the community. She currently serves on the board for Kitsap Humane Society, Kitsap Legal Services, and the Olympic College Foundation. She is a former board member of the Kitsap YWCA and the Dispute Resolution Center of Kitsap County, and a former treasurer for the Kitsap County Democratic Central Committee. She has also donated many hours of pro bono services to low-income clients.

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 33,900 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, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The president is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma. The  president-elect is Steven G. Toole, of Bellevue; and the immediate past-president is Mark A. Johnson, 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 its numerous standing committees, 27 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division with its many committees.

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