FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
December 6, 2005      

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

Bremerton Attorney John F. Mitchell Receives WSBA Local Hero Award

Seattle, Washington, December 6, 2005 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced today that Bremerton attorney John F. Mitchell is the latest recipient of the WSBA Local Hero Award, presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor will present the award to Mr. Mitchell at the WSBA Board of Governors meeting on December 9 at the Kitsap Conference Center in Bremerton.

Mr. Mitchell — a Seattle native and a graduate of the University of Puget Sound School of Law — is being honored with the Local Hero Award for his distinguished 29-year career as an attorney and his two decades' service as a judge pro tempore of the Kitsap County Superior Court and District Court, and for his substantial community service.

Mr. Mitchell is a long-time member of the Bremerton Elks Lodge and a director of the Admiral Theater Foundation, the Bremerton Historic Ships Foundation, and the Harrison Hospital Foundation, a nonprofit organization that raises and manages charitable gifts for the benefit of Harrison Memorial Hospital. In 1988, he served as the president of the Kitsap County Bar Association. A member of the WSBA since 1976, Mr. Mitchell served on the WSBA Board of Governors Professional Development Committee from 2002-2003 and on the WSBA Adjunct Investigative Counsel Panel from 2003-2004.

A partner with the Bremerton law firm of Sanchez, Paulson, Mitchell & Schock, Mr. Mitchell's areas of practice include personal-injury matters, insurance-coverage cases, and estate planning, as well as a general civil-trial practice.

In nominating Mr. Mitchell for this prestigious award, Kitsap County Bar Association President Ron Anderson wrote, "John's dedication and commitment to community service over many years is a sterling example for all lawyers…. By his dedication, care and commitment, John has honored himself and our profession."

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 29,200 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.