FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
  
January 17, 2008     

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

Cheryl E. Handy Receives Washington State Bar Association Local Hero Award

(SEATTLE) — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that it has presented Olympia attorney Cheryl E. Handy with their Local Hero Award for her work with the Government Lawyers Bar Association. The Local Hero Award is presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. The WSBA Board of Governors met at the Tumwater Valley Lodge in Tumwater on January 17, where the award was presented by WSBA President Stanley Bastian at a luncheon attended by members of the WSBA Board of Governors, Thurston County Bar Association, and Government Lawyers Bar Association.

Handy was born and raised in Utah. She received her undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from Weber State University in 2000.  She graduated from Gonzaga Law School magna cum laude in 2004. During her third year of law school, Handy was a law clerk in the Spokane office of the Attorney General’s Office, Labor and Industries Division.

Handy served as judicial clerk to the Honorable Judges John E. Bridges, Lesley A. Allan, and T.W. Small on the Chelan County Superior Court. She started working for the Labor and Industries Division of the Attorney General’s Office in Olympia in November 2005, where today she litigates industrial insurance and employer services cases. Handy also serves on the Board of the Government Lawyers Bar Association.

"[Handy] is a zealous volunteer at our Mason County clinic and also at the Housing Justice Project," said Nancy Koptur, 2007 president of the Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services Board. "She has been involved in direct representation, the local Thurston County clinics, and has recently joined the Thurston County Volunteer Legal Services Board."

The Government Lawyers Bar Association Board selected Handy for her dedication in providing no-cost legal services to low-income individuals.  The WSBA and its members are committed to serving the public, championing justice, and improving access to the legal system.
 
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 31,850 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 2007-2008 president is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee. The 2007-2008 president-elect is Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle, and the immediate past-president 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.

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