FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 9, 2007
Contact: Stephanie Perry
Communications Specialist/Website Editor
206-733-5932; stephaniep@wsba.org
WSBA Young Lawyers Division Elects Jaime Hawk 2007-2008 President-Elect
Seattle, Washington, July 9, 2007 — The Washington State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) is pleased to announce that Spokane attorney Jaime Hawk has been unanimously elected president-elect for the 2007-2008 term in an uncontested election held on June 23. Ms. Hawk will become president of the WYLD for the 2008-2009 term.
Hawk serves as an assistant federal public defender for the Eastern District of Washington. Prior to this position, she worked as a public defender for the Washington State Office of Public Defense (OPD) as part of its pilot project in Grant County.
She received her undergraduate and law degrees from Gonzaga University. While at Gonzaga Law School, Hawk interned with the United Nations, Columbia Legal Services, and was later a judicial extern to Chief Judge B. Lynn Winmill of the United States District Court of Idaho. Following law school, she was an attorney fellow on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee staff of Edward M. Kennedy in Washington, D.C.
Hawk is the Washington Defender Association representative to the Washington State Bar Foundation Loan Repayment Assistance Program, serves as an executive committee member of the WSBA World Peace Through Law Section, and is a member of the WYLD Public Service Committee and Membership Committee. She has served as the chair of the Criminal and Juvenile Justice Committee, and vice-chair of the Individual Rights and Responsibilities Committee, for the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division. She was co-president of the Grant County Volunteer Lawyers Program, and serves on the executive board of King County Washington Women Lawyers. An experienced public speaker, Hawk has given a variety of presentations throughout the state and internationally on topics such as women's human rights and juvenile justice.
"Jaime's experience as a rural public defender, as well as her work on human rights and civil legal issues both in Washington and throughout the country, make her uniquely qualified to represent the diverse elements of young lawyers of the state of Washington," said OPD Public Defense Services Manager George Yeannakis in his letter of recommendation.
"I hope to strengthen the WYLD further into the most respected and active entity within the WSBA," wrote Hawk in her application materials. "I believe that we should continue to build better bar coalitions statewide, especially with minority bar associations, county bar associations, individual firms, and government agencies... I look forward to expanding our service opportunities for our members and becoming a valuable and respected public-service arm of the WSBA."
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 30,600 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 2006-2007 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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