FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       
October 21, 2005      

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

Clark County District Court Judge James P. Swanger Receives Washington State Bar Association's Local Hero Award

Seattle, Washington, October 19, 2005 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced today that Clark County District Court Judge James P. Swanger is the latest recipient of the WSBA's Local Hero Award. The award is presented to lawyers who have made noteworthy contributions to their communities. WSBA President S. Brooke Taylor will present the award to Judge Swanger on October 28 at the WSBA Board of Governors meeting at the Heathman Lodge in Vancouver.

Judge Swanger, a third-generation resident of Clark County, received his law degree from the College of Law at Willamette University in 1979. He served as an intern in the Clark County prosecuting attorney's office from 1978 to 1979 and as a felony deputy prosecuting attorney from 1981 to 1984. In 1990, after more than 14 years in private practice, Judge Swanger began serving as primary pro tem judge in District Court. In 1999, he was appointed Clark County District Court commissioner and was appointed judge in July 2005.

Judge Swanger has established several programs to better serve the community and improve the courts, including the Fort Vancouver Student Traffic Court, Mitigation by Mail, Deferred Findings, and Small Claims Mediation. He has also been active in community education. The Washington Judges' Foundation presented him with the 2004 Judge William Nevins Award in recognition of his distinguished service in public legal education and for displaying extraordinary dedication to the judicial branch of government.

Judge Swanger teaches a Street Law class (a national participatory education program that instructs high-school students about law, democracy, and human rights) at Hudson's Bay High School, his alma mater. From 1994 to 2005, Judge Swanger served on the adjunct faculty at Clark College in Vancouver, and in 1999, was awarded the Business Division Teacher of the Year Award. In 2003, he received the Clark County DUI Task Force's Community Leadership Award. He has been involved in the local Red Cross Disaster Committee, the Special Olympics, and the meals program at the Valley Homestead Shelter. 
 
"Judge Swanger is held in the highest regard in the Clark County legal community," wrote Jean M. McCoy in nominating Judge Swanger for the award. "The Clark County Bar Association is proud to have him contributing to our judicial system."

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.