FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 26, 2006
Contact Alfredo Tryferis
Communications Specialist
206-733-5932; alfredot@wsba.org
Seattle Attorney Mark W. D. O'Halloran Elected President-elect of the
Washington State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division
Seattle Washington, June 26, 2006 — The Washington State Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division (WYLD) announces that its board of trustees has elected Seattle attorney Mark W. D. O'Halloran to serve as its 2006-2007 president-elect. Mr. O'Halloran's term as president-elect will begin on October 1, 2006, and end September 30, 2007, at which time he will begin his one-year term as president.
A 2002 graduate of Seattle University School of Law, Mr. O'Halloran is currently a WYLD trustee representing King County and, since the summer of 2004, an associate at the Gosanko Law Firm in Seattle, where he focuses on civil tort cases. He has also worked as corporate counsel for Network Commerce, Inc. and RealNetworks, and as an associate at Bishop Law Offices in Seattle.
In the few short years since being admitted to the Bar, Mr. O'Halloran has amassed an impressive history of service in the legal community. As a former committee chair and liaison to the WYLD Public Service Committee, he introduced the "We the Jury" public-education program and helped implement it in dozens of high schools, supervised free immigration clinics that assisted hundreds of people with legal needs, and wrote a successful grant application to the American Bar Association that helped fund a free family-law clinic. He has also been active in the King County Bar Association, the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association, the American Bar Association, and the Association of American Trial Lawyers.
As WYLD president-elect, Mr. O'Halloran says his focus will be two-fold: increasing the public's awareness of the WYLD's community involvement and its many public-service projects, and getting more members excited about volunteering.
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 WSBA
The WSBA is part of the judicial branch, exercising a governmental function authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 29,800 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; 26 sections; and a Young Lawyers Division, with its many committees.
