FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
October 13, 2006 

Contact: Judith Berrett
Director of Member and Community Relations
206-727-8212; judithb@wsba.org

Washington Residents Receive Compensation from the Washington State Bar Association's Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection

Seattle, Washington, October 13, 2006 -- In fiscal year 2006, the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection (Fund) of the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) made gifts totaling nearly $468,700 to 65 applicants who were the victims of either dishonest conduct or failure to account for client funds by 26 lawyers. The misuse of clients' money happens rarely, but when it does, the Fund is there to provide compensation.

The Fund is financed solely by Washington's 26,000 active lawyers -- no tax dollars are used. It is administered by the WSBA pursuant to rules of the Washington State Supreme Court.

This year, individual gifts from the Fund ranged from a few hundred dollars to $75,000. The majority of these applications concerned unearned fees paid to lawyers who abandoned their practice, or who failed to perform the services for which they were employed, and who failed to refund advanced fees and costs. A smaller number of the applications involved outright theft or conversion of client funds for the lawyer's own purposes. Areas of practice involved included family law (dissolutions, child support, and paternity actions), probate and trusts, personal injury, criminal law, and others.

The names of recipients of gifts from the Fund are kept confidential to protect their privacy. The following is the list of lawyers who caused the losses compensated by the Fund (the number in parentheses after the lawyer's name is the number of approved applications).

Today, every state in the union maintains funds like the WSBA Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection. The WSBA "indemnity fund" was one of the first, established in 1960. Since then, it has given away more than $3,000,000 to the victims of the few dishonest lawyers in this state. Gifts from the Fund have been made to more than 750 persons to compensate them for their losses.

A full copy of the Lawyers' Fund for Client Protection 2006 Annual Report and further information about the Fund is available here, or by contacting the WSBA Service Center at 800-945-WSBA, 206-443-WSBA, or questions@wsba.org.

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 29,900 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 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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