FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 17, 2007

Contact: Stephanie Perry
Communications Specialist/Website Editor
206-733-5932; stephaniep@wsba.org

David W. Savage Receives Washington State Bar Association's 2007 Excellence in Diversity Award

Seattle, Washington, September 17, 2007 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that WSBA Past-President David W. Savage, of Pullman, will be honored with the 2007 Excellence in Diversity Award, presented to a lawyer, law firm, or law-related group that has made a significant contribution to diversity in the legal profession's employment of ethnic minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and other persons of diversity. WSBA President Ellen Conedera Dial will present the award at the WSBA Annual Awards Dinner, to be held on September 20, 2007, at the Grand Hyatt Seattle Hotel.

Savage received a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and his law degree from the University of Idaho. Licensed in Washington, Idaho, and Montana, he practices in the areas of personal injury, personal injury defense, civil litigation, and alternative dispute resolution, frequently serving as an arbitrator and mediator.

Savage was one of the first at-large governors elected to the WSBA Board of Governors. He later served as WSBA's president in 2003-04. As part of his work with diversity, he instituted the annual "Celebrating Diversity" meeting, now in its fourth year, and was instrumental in creating the full-time diversity advocate position at the WSBA. In addition, Savage, along with his spouse, Sally Savage, also an attorney, conceived of and contributed the initial funds for the Presidents' and Governors' Diversity Scholarship Fund, which is intended to assist young people who aspire to a career in law.

Savage worked with WSBA Past-President Ronald R. Ward to help establish and develop the WSBA Leadership Institute, a program that develops and prepares young lawyers for leadership roles, with an emphasis on persons of color, women, and traditionally underrepresented groups. Now completing its third year, the program received two national awards in its first two years, and several other states are working toward adopting similar programs in their own bar associations.

In 2005, Savage was awarded the Loren Miller Bar Association's President's Award in recognition of his achievements in diversity.

"My association with [Savage] has been one of the finest in my personal and professional life," commented Ronald R. Ward in his nomination letter. "He is a human being of character, integrity, sensitivity, and commitment... Savage has been the epitome of 'excellence in diversity.'"

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 30,700 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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