FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
January 17, 2006      

Contact: Alfredo Tryferis
Communications Specialist
206-733-5932; alfredot@wsba.org

Olympia Attorney Richard W. Hemstad Receives Posthumous WSBA Local Hero Award

Seattle, Washington, January 17, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced that the late Olympia attorney Richard W. Hemstad, who died December 12 at the age of 72, was honored with the WSBA's Local Hero Award, presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor presented the award to Mr. Hemstad's widow, Micki Hemstad, at a luncheon with members of the WSBA Board of Governors, Government Lawyers Bar Association, and Thurston County Bar Association on January 13 at the Phoenix Inn Suites in Olympia.

Mr. Hemstad, a former state senator and 12-year member of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), was one of three commissioners regulating private investor-owned utilities in Washington. He was originally appointed by former Gov. Mike Lowry to the three-member panel in 1993, and reappointed by former Gov. Gary Locke in 1998.

Prior to his UTC appointment, Mr. Hemstad practiced law in Olympia and served as legal counsel to former Gov. Dan Evans, who named him the first director of the Office of Community Development in 1973. Mr. Hemstad was elected to the state Senate in 1980 and served one term. He is a former professor at the University of Puget Sound Law School.

The son of Norwegian immigrants, Mr. Hemstad graduated from St. Olaf College in Minnesota and received his law degree from the University of Chicago. He moved to the Northwest in 1957, joining a Seattle law firm, and in 1967, relocated to Olympia to serve as legal counsel for the new Republican legislative majority.

"Dick was one of the most dedicated public servants this state has ever known," said former Gov. Dan Evans. "He was a long-time valued colleague and friend. He exemplified the very best in his devotion to public service."

About the WSBA
The Washington State Bar Association is an instrumentality of the state 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; 24 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.