FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 19, 2009

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

The Honorable Mary I. Yu Named 2009 Norm Maleng Award Recipient

(SEATTLE) — The WSBA Board of Governors takes great pleasure in announcing that Seattle Superior Court Judge Mary Yu is the 2009 recipient of the WSBA Norm Maleng Award. The award was presented on June 6 at the Access to Justice/Bar Leaders Conference at the Yakima Convention Center in Yakima, Washington. Judge Yu is being honored for her leadership in the court system and her work in advocating for access to justice.

Judge Yu was appointed to the bench by then-governor Gary Locke in 2000. Prior to her appointment, she served as deputy chief of staff to King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng, and director of the Peace and Social Justice Office for the Archdiocese of Chicago. She earned her undergraduate degree in theology from Dominican University in Illinois; a master’s degree in religious studies from Mundelein of Loyola University in Chicago; and her law degree from the University of Notre Dame School of Law.

Judge Yu is well known for her extensive community service. She serves as co-chair of the WSBA Leadership Institute Advisory Board; on the Board of Directors for FareStart, an organization dedicated to assisting homeless individuals develop job skills in the culinary industry; on the Board of Trustees for the King County Law Library; on the State of Washington Minority and Justice Commission; and on the Board of Directors for the Future of the Law Institute of the King County Bar Association. She is also the 2009 Dean for the Washington State Judicial College.

Judge Yu is a dedicated mentor to students and has mentored dozens of students and new lawyers. She offers internship opportunities not only to law students, but also to high school and college students, many of whom complete their internship with an interest in pursuing a legal career.

Previously, Judge Yu has been the recipient of the 2008 Judge of the Year by the Asian Bar Association; the 2008 President’s Award from Washington Women Lawyers; the 2005 Judge of the Year Award from the Washington chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates; and the 2005 Reah Whitehead Public Leadership Award from the Seattle University School of Law.

The late Norm Maleng said of Judge Yu: “When you look at [Judge Yu’s] legal skills, she is top-notch. But the other thing you need to bring to bear is a real feeling of justice. She has a feel for people, a feel for the broader justice issues.... It’s that sense of justice that pulls it all together.”

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 33,200 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, 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 Board of Governors. There are three governors from the seventh congressional district; one from each of the other eight districts; and three at-large, one of whom represents the Young Lawyers Division. The president is Mark A. Johnson, of Seattle. The 2008-2009 president-elect is Salvador A. Mungia, of Tacoma; the 2009-2010 president-elect is Steven G. Toole, of Bellevue; and the immediate past-president is Stanley A. Bastian, of Wenatchee. 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 its numerous standing committees, 27 sections, and a Young Lawyers Division with its many committees.

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