The following are highlights from the KCBA Board of Trustees meetings held on March 20, convened by KCBA President Karen Orehoski.
By Michelle Pham
After President Karen Orehoski called the meeting to order, the Board approved the meeting minutes for the Board meeting on February 21, 2024.
KCBA has a few events coming up, including the following:
- New Lawyers Division Spring Soiree on April 4th at the Rainier Club;
- Breakfast with Champions on May 8th at The Westin Seattle with ACLU President, Deborah Archer, as the keynote speaker; and
- Neighborhood Legal Clinic’s 50th Anniversary celebration on September 24th.
President Orehoski invited the Trustees to attend the events above and to serve as table captains for the Breakfast with Champions, as is traditional for KCBA Trustees. As for the Bar Bulletin, she noted that there were no recent comments about February’s Bar Bulletin and the next step is to create the Communications and Bar Bulletin Taskforce. She also added that responses to March’s Bar Bulletin have been positive and gave special recognition to KCBA staff (Christina Coad, Kathleen Jensen, Bridget Schuster, Mayra Vidrio, and Sophie Petersen) for all their hard work. She also noted that the contract with the third-party editor for the Bar Bulletin has ended.
Updates. Treasurer Theresa Wang highlighted how KCBA’s revenue is higher than budgeted while the expenses are slightly lower than expected, and she referred the financial memo submitted to the Board for more details.
Member Services Director Bridget Schuster presented the highlights from her report and ABA Delegate Kathleen Hopkins briefed the Trustees on the work that is being done on implementing the Code of Ethics for the Supreme Court.
Decisions. The Board approved the 2024-2025 KCBA Board Slate, which includes Erin Overbey (President), Sidney Tribe (First Vice-President), Mary Sakaguchi (Second Vice-President), Neal Black (Treasurer), Trustees (Colin Mieling, Lisa Ann Sharpe, Tommy Tobin, and Theresa Wang). Thanks to the hard work of the Leadership Development and Nominations Committee, including the Chair Cynthia Jones, Jennifer Payseno, Stew Cogan, Paris Kallas, Eric Lansverk, Robert Flennaugh II, and Shashi Vijay.
The Board also approved the creation of the Communications and Bar Bulletin Taskforce to help implement editorial guidelines and best practices for the Bar Bulletin.
Discussion Items. Housing Justice Project Taskforce Chair Neal Black briefed the Board on the spin-off process. The Board discussed and raised questions about the timeline and the possibility of a spin-off. In addition, the Trustees asked for more details from the Taskforce and Jan Glick and Associates regarding what the “go and no-go” options would look like to better understand the implications involved.
With regard to strategic planning, President Orehoski provided a brief history on the progression of the strategic planning process to date. KCBA is working with a new consulting firm, Tricia McKay Consulting, who requests the Board participate in an upcoming half-day retreat (date TBD) for strategic planning. King County Bar Foundation and KCBA New Lawyers Division members were also asked to attend and participate at the retreat.
With no further business before the Board, President Orehoski adjourned the meeting.
