FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 17, 2007

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

The Honorable Gregory J. Tripp Receives 2007 Outstanding Judge Award

Seattle, Washington, September 17, 2007 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announces that Spokane County District Court Judge Gregory J. Tripp will be honored with the 2007 Outstanding Judge Award. This award is presented for outstanding service to the bench and for special contribution to the legal profession at any level of the court. 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.

Judge Tripp joined the Washington State Bar in 1973, and served for two years as a deputy prosecutor for Clark County (Vancouver), Washington. For the next 22 years, except for a year in Seattle, he engaged in the general practice of law in Spokane, working in small firms and as a solo practitioner.

Judge Tripp has served on all civil and criminal dockets of the Spokane District and Municipal Courts. Currently, he presides over cases assigned to the Spokane Municipal Department. His principal duties are criminal trials, probation violation hearings, and related law motions. In addition, he is the presiding judge of the Cheney Municipal Court, in accordance with the County Districting Plan.

Judge Tripp has been active in a wide variety of community-service and bar association activities. He has served as chair of the Spokane Sports, Entertainment, Arts, and Convention Advisory Board (SEACAB), and currently serves on the Eastern Washington Historical Society Board of Directors. He has also served as chair of the WSBA General Practice Section, and as president of the Legal Foundation of Washington. He currently serves as chair of the Washington State Access to Justice Board, and is a member of the Spokane County Bar's Volunteer Lawyer Program Advisory Committee. Additionally, since becoming a judge, he has been active in technology issues related to court management

“As a judicial leader in this state, Judge Tripp has led by example, and has worked hard to encourage his colleagues on the bench to play leadership roles in the resolution of these challenging [access to justice] issues,” wrote Daniel S. Gottlieb, chair-elect of the Access to Justice Board. “Judge Tripp has been generous with his time and his talents, and has continued to impress Board members and others with his passion and commitment to improving our justice system.”

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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