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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Alfredo Tryferis Seattle Attorney Barbara C. Clark Receives WSBA Award of Merit, Its Highest Honor
Ms. Clark received her law degree from Seattle University in 1975 and joined the WSBA in 1977. After law school, Ms. Clark went to work for the Charlottesville-Albermarle Legal Aid Society in Charlottesville, Virginia, where she was a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow. From 1977 to 1979, she was a staff attorney with the Clallam-Jefferson office of Evergreen Legal Services, and from 1979 to 1984, she was a regional attorney for the Seattle office of Legal Services Corporation, where she evaluated federally funded legal-services programs to ensure the delivery of free, quality legal services to the poor in seven states. Since 1984, Ms. Clark has been the executive director of the Legal Foundation of Washington (LFW), which funds organizations and supports policies that enable the poor and the most vulnerable to overcome barriers in Washington state's civil-justice system. Under her leadership, the LFW has distributed tens of millions of dollars to civil legal services and education programs throughout Washington state. "Barbara Clark…has worked tirelessly to ensure a reliable and uncompromised source of funding for programs providing assistance and representation to America's least fortunate," wrote past LFW president Dwight Williams in recommending Ms. Clark for the award. "Her task has been fraught with obstacles and hardships, but she has endured." Ms. Clark's many volunteer activities include work with the Access to Justice Board, the Equal Justice Coalition, and the King County Bar Association. She has been a member of the Continuing Legal Education, Law School Liaison, and Public Relations committees of the WSBA. Ms. Clark's hard work and dedication have earned her many honors. In 2005, she received the Access to Justice Board Leadership Award and the King County Bar Association (KCBA) Friend of the Legal Profession Award, and in 2000, the KCBA honored her with its President's Award. As she prepares to step down as executive director of the Legal Foundation of Washington at the end of the year, Ms. Clark leaves behind a legacy of innovation, service, and leadership. Due in part to Ms. Clark's career-long efforts on behalf of low-income clients, Washington state is today recognized as a national leader in the access-to-justice movement. About the WSBA 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.
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Seattle, Washington, September 21, 2005