FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2006
Contact: Stephanie Perry
Communications Specialist/Website Editor
206-733-5932; stephaniep@wsba.org
Seattle Attorney Sarah Dunne Receives 2006 WSBA Young Lawyers Division Professionalism Award
Seattle, Washington, November 20, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) announced that Seattle attorney Sarah Dunne received the Washington Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) 2006 Professionalism Award for balancing a professional portfolio with a commitment to pro bono and other community service. The award will be presented at an upcoming ceremony.
Ms. Dunne graduated from the University of Chicago Law School. She served as a legal intern to the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; as a legal intern to the Office of White House Counsel; as a student attorney for an employment discrimination project with the Mandel Legal Aid Clinic; as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Richard A. Paez of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California from 1998-99; and as an award-winning trial attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, from 1999-2003. She is currently the legal director for the ACLU of Washington.
Among her many community activities, Ms. Dunne is a legal committee member of the Northwest Women's Law Center; vice-president of the Board of Directors of Passages Northwest; has served as an auction committee member for Seattle Works in 2004 and 2005; has served as team captain for Seattle Works Day in 2005 and 2006; and was a tutor at Thurgood Marshall Academy Charter School from 2001-03. In 2005, Ms. Dunne volunteered more than 200 hours of pro bono work.
"Sarah treats her Board membership and her commitment to the community very seriously, and she approaches it with great professionalism and joy," wrote Katie Hultquist, executive director of Passages Northwest. "She goes above and beyond the call of duty to support the organization in whatever way possible."
About the WYLD
The WYLD provides programs and services of special interest to young lawyers, the public, and those denied access to the justice system. In particular, the WYLD sponsors continuing legal-education seminars of interest to young lawyers; publishes De Novo, a bimonthly publication serving young lawyers; sponsors programs that benefit high-school students, including the YMCA Mock Trial Competition; as well as a variety of seminars addressing issues facing young lawyers.
Any active member of the WSBA is a member of the WYLD until December 31 of the year in which the member attains the age of 36 or until December 31 of the fifth year in which the member has been admitted to practice in any state, whichever is later.
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 29,900 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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