Our bar association is recognized as one of the best in the country. How do we accomplish that? We rely on hundreds of hours of participation each year by our Board of Trustees to represent your interests, set policies and establish programs to advance the practice of law and administration of justice in King County. As you begin to think about which candidates to elect to the various open board positions this spring, I thought it important to share with you some examples of the dedication of this group of people to the King County Bar Association.
Presidents Today and Tomorrow. Our most visible board members are naturally the president and two vice presidents. Each serves a three-year term, first being elected second vice president and then automatically assuming the first vice presidency and ultimately the presidency in their third year.
Eileen Concannon (Riddell Williams) is completing her term this spring and has been a tireless champion of the bar. In addition to her work as a partner in one of our area’s busiest law firms, Eileen devotes uncounted hours leading the bar’s many initiatives. Whether she is negotiating complicated coalition politics or mentoring a young lawyer on ways to be an effective leader, KCBA members know that Eileen is their advocate to ensure that the bar is advancing its mission. Her visibility in the legal community is unparalleled, from representing KCBA at bench-bar liaison meetings to organizing a rally of attorneys in support of the rule of law in Pakistan. Eileen has been an outstanding president for the bar.
Standing in the wings are two additional outstanding leaders. Daniel Gandara (Vandeberg Johnson & Gandara) and James Andrus (K&L Gates) serve as KCBA’s first and second vice presidents, respectively. Dan has long had a high profile in the Seattle legal community, including board service with the Washington State Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association, and the Legal Foundation of Washington; look for a focus on member service initiatives during his presidency.
James is a past president of the Loren Miller Bar Association and a graduate of West Point; he has significant experience in the area of continuing legal education. Both Dan and James are putting in many hours of their volunteer time learning about the programs and goals of KCBA so that they can each help the bar achieve great things during their presidencies. In addition to volunteer time, they are both giving three business days out of the office this spring to attend a training program organized by the American Bar Association for bar leaders. Those are a lot of billable hours being donated to KCBA!
Every Good Idea Deserves a Task Force. In addition to their service on the Board, the 14 other trustees and officers of KCBA devote many hours to leading and participating in scores of special committees and task forces, in addition to service as liaisons to all the KCBA sections and standing committees. For example, Trustee Andrew Maron (Short Cressman & Burgess) has just completed work leading a task force charged with evaluating the effectiveness of KCBA’s CLE programs; his group’s findings will guide the bar’s education initiatives for many years to come.
Trustee Carl Forsberg (Forsberg & Umlauf) served as co-chair of the 2006 Bench-Bar Conference at Seattle University, working in partnership with Superior Court Judge Michael Trickey to develop a well-received, daylong forum that looked at the many challenging issues facing the bar in Washington in the coming years. Trustees’ work is not limited to board meetings.
Crossing Lakes and Enduring Traffic. Participation in board meetings and committee assignments as a trustee isn’t a matter of a quick walk down the block for three of our trustees. Did you know that the KCBA bylaws require that two board members be based in East King County and one be based in South King County? The bar is well served in these positions by trustees Loretta Story (Peterson Russell Kelly), Jeffrey James (Sebris Busto James) and Michael Ditchik (Hanis Greaney).
Each has to either cross Lake Washington or endure unpredictable traffic on I-5 to attend our biweekly noontime board meetings, not to mention spend another 15 minutes driving through the bowels of KCBA’s office building in search of that last available parking space of the day in order to be on time for their meeting commitment. Yet patience and good humor prevail for these dedicated board members, who ensure that the special needs of our members outside of downtown are fully represented in all KCBA deliberations.
Many More People To Thank. As I begin to run out of space on this page, I note that these quick snapshots of outstanding board members represent only about half of our trustees. You can rest assured that Joan Tierney (Seattle University), Richard Mitchell (Governor’s Office), Mark Weiss (Law Office of J. Mark Weiss), Carllene Placide (Foster Pepper), Terence Scanlan (Skellenger Bender), Anne Daly (SCRAP), Andrew Guy (Stoel Rives), Felix Luna (Peterson Young Putra) and Nancy Williams (Perkins Coie) are hard at work as well, volunteering hour upon hour of their valuable time leading KCBA. They deserve your appreciation and thanks for being dedicated stewards of the bar.
Hopefully this brief recognition of our board leaders gives you a renewed appreciation for the tremendous leadership provided by a small but exceptional group of attorneys. These are people who are doing important work on your behalf and we all owe them our sincere appreciation.
Andrew Prazuch is executive director of the King County Bar Association. He can be reached by email (AndrewP@KCBA.org) or phone (206-267-7100 ext.7061).
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