Editor’s Note
At a recent WSBA staff meeting during Employee Appreciation Week, we watched a video that revealed the unique talents and accomplishments of many WSBA employees. For example, I learned that one of my colleagues has summited the highest mountain on every continent, one is an expert tuba player, one met Julia Child four times, and one is a local mountain biking legend.
It was a very nice reminder, especially in the era of virtual meetings and interactions, that people are so interesting, adventurous, skilled, and kind—often more than we know.
As another example of human goodness, take a look at Washington’s most recent pro bono numbers. In 2020, nearly 2,500 WSBA members contributed about 178,000 hours of pro bono legal services. That’s a lot of free legal help. (The names of those who contributed at least 50 hours last year can be found on the Pro Bono Publico Honor Roll on page 30).
Continuing with that theme (pro bono week is celebrated each October), read more about the state of pro bono work in Washington on page 26, and find opportunities to get involved on page 29. You can also learn about a number of the legal professionals who are involved with the WSBA’s Moderate Means Program on page 34.
Also in this issue: a Q&A with new WSBA President Judge Brian Tollefson (Ret.) (page 12), brief introductions to the members of your Board of Governors (page 14), an article by Rania Rampersad about the Joint Minority Mentorship Program that she founded in 2019 (page 44), an ethics column about representing clients with diminished capacity (page 20), and more.