Current Job Title: Associate Tax Professor at Central Washington University, Tax Attorney, CPA
Job Location: Des Moines
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Volunteers with:
WSBA Adjunct Disciplinary Counsel Panel
Volunteer Role: Adjunct Disciplinary Counsel
Fabio Ambrosio
Q: What has been the proudest moment or favorite memory so far as a WSBA volunteer?
A: My proudest moments have been working as a practice monitor in the diversion program. It has been a pleasure to see fellow lawyers come back from certain errors or difficult points in their lives to return to their fullest potential. I recall working with a lawyer who, at the beginning of our work together, doubted this career choice and was disillusioned with the practice of law. Two years later, the lawyer had found passion and determination for this work and seemed like a completely different person. It was a joy to see the change.
My favorite memories have been my interactions with WSBA staff. They are amazing, helpful, and always supportive. The WSBA does phenomenal work and employs phenomenal people. I am particularly grateful for my interactions with Member Wellness Program Manager Dan Crystal and Senior Disciplinary Counsel Francesca D’Angelo. Their commitment to what they do and to the lawyers and the public they serve amazes me. Every time I interact with them I feel proud to be part of this profession.
Q: Did you have any misconceptions about volunteering before you began this role and have they changed?
A: I did not have any misconceptions about volunteering. However, I personally experience civil volunteering differently from professional volunteering. I believe that we are privileged to practice this noble profession and volunteering for the Bar Association is something about which I feel particularly devout. As lawyers, we don’t just have careers or jobs. While running a law practice is an enterprise, what we do extends beyond ourselves. Our work impacts our clients, the community, and society as a whole. Lawyers have the power to shape the world to be a better place! We owe a lot to the people we serve and to the state that entrusts us with a license to represent others. I believe it is fundamental to maintain the highest standards of practice and safeguard the integrity and credibility of our profession. In this respect, volunteering for the Bar Association is very different from any other volunteering because it builds a community of lawyers and fosters a system of self-governance and self-accountability.
Q: What have you learned from volunteering? Has it changed your approach to your work outside of volunteering?
A: I learned that, like everyone else, lawyers experience a range of difficulties in their lives, such as health problems (whether physical or mental), relationship problems, economic hardships, substance use issues, etc. It has been a humanizing experience to interact with good lawyers going through rough patches—fellow lawyers who just need help. Unfortunately, I also learned that some lawyers fall short of their obligation to this profession and do not quite appreciate the nature of the legal profession as different from any other job or business. This has increased my appreciation for the tireless efforts the Bar Association makes to protect the public, while educating, rehabilitating, mentoring, and even disciplining lawyers, where necessary. I now see lawyers for who they are, not for what they do. I empathize a lot more with other lawyers. Suddenly, the notion of opposing counsel feels different, as the impliedly antagonistic element is removed. I simply see people committed to their work, experiencing life, and sharing a passion for this profession.
Pronouns: she/her
Current Job Title: Retired from Washington State Attorney General’s Office
Job Location: While employed, based in Olympia
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Volunteers with:
WSBA Committee on Professional Ethics (CPE)
Volunteer Role: Chair
Pam Anderson
Q: What has been the proudest moment or favorite memory so far as a WSBA volunteer?
A: I have served on the Committee on Professional Ethics (and its predecessor), the Client Protection Fund Board, and the Character and Fitness Board. Although each position has had many rewarding moments, I always felt especially happy when the Character and Fitness Board considered an applicant who had some troubling history, and after intense scrutiny was able to conclude that the candidate had been rehabilitated and was fit to take the bar exam. The Board members worked very hard to give fair consideration to each candidate, while protecting the public. I believe that many of the practitioners we approved will be passionate, empathetic advocates for clients who have undergone similar life experiences.
Q: Did you have any misconceptions about volunteering before you began this role and have they changed?
A: I don’t think I had any real misconceptions about volunteering. I’ve been fortunate to work with great individuals and dedicated staff at the WSBA. I don’t think most members of the Bar realize what a high level of support they receive from WSBA staff.
Q: What have you learned from volunteering? Has it changed your approach to your work outside of volunteering?
A: I’ve learned quite a bit of substantive law while considering issues related to the Rules of Professional Conduct. (This knowledge rarely appears in our advisory opinions, though, because the CPE avoids opining about issues of substantive law.) The most important thing I’ve learned is how many diverse ways folks in Washington engage in the practice of law. Coming from a government practice background, it’s been a treat to share committee work with law professors, criminal law practitioners, solo practitioners, in-house counsel, etc. That experience has broadened my way of thinking about legal issues and the Rules of Professional Conduct and how they affect different constituents in different ways.
Pronouns: she/her/ella
Current Job Title: Community Advocate
Job Location: Statewide
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Volunteers with:
Access to Justice (ATJ) Board
Volunteer Role: Public Member
Esperanza Borboa
Q: What has been the proudest moment or favorite memory so far as a WSBA volunteer?
A: I am most proud of having been part of creating the ATJ Community Advisory Panel (CAP). Although there have been countless similar instances over the past decades, the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers ignited a call for racial justice that touched all corners of these United States. Given that these injustices can be traced to the founding of our country, I and some others on the ATJ Board concluded that we must take the time necessary to create real and lasting change. It was imperative that we work side by side with communities who have been most harmed and have the lived experience of injustice. They should lead this very important work. CAP is made up of people from around the state who know best the issues that are holding their communities down and have ideas for solutions. The ATJ Board and CAP began meeting in fall 2020 to address the disparities and injustice in our legal system. The first step was building trust and defining certain terms to make sure we are speaking the same language. This is the work that has been missing.
Q: Did you have any misconceptions about volunteering before you began this role and have they changed?
A: I hid my nervousness and reluctance in volunteering on the ATJ Board very well. I have served on a few boards throughout my life; however, the name of this board, its mission, and purpose drew me to apply. One misconception I had was since I was not an attorney, I would not be taken seriously and would need to fight to get my voice heard. Another was that as a woman of color, I would be navigating through another group that was majority white, which meant dealing with micro-aggressions and making sure I was not made a token for my race.
What has changed for me is knowing there are so many more good people in this legal community who are fighting the good fight for race equity. People who understand that we can’t make real change unless we collaborate with those most harmed and let them lead the way. I do not have faulty thinking or understanding about the challenge that racism poses on our legal system. It is oftentimes painfully clear how much work there is yet to do. However, what I am clear on is that Washington has some of the most courageous, loving, and brilliant legal professionals who are joining their broader communities to do the hard work of making our legal system one truly rooted in the principle of justice for all.
Q: What have you learned from volunteering? Has it changed your approach to your work outside of volunteering?
A: While I have known from a young age that our legal system and our laws have not served us well, my eyes have been opened more since volunteering. I have learned how disjointed and fractured our state legal system actually is. I have learned how process and procedure have often been prioritized over justice for individuals trapped in the system. I have learned that the lack of people of color at all levels of our judicial system is a great hinderance to achieving the goal of justice and race equity.
I am an “outsider” looking into a system that for me has represented fear, hopelessness, and anger. It is a system that represents family separation, trauma, violence, disempowerment, and poverty. My work and that of many others has been to pay attention, learn, and change those things about us that get in the way of doing good work. This is not about volunteer work versus work outside of volunteering. There is only the work. To achieve justice, we have to take the time to build authentic collaborations and partnerships with the community. There are those who don’t believe this or want this, so don’t let them stop us. Let’s continue to educate ourselves and others as we go about doing the work.
Pronouns: she/her
Current Job Title: Assistant Dean, Gonzaga University School of Law
Job Location: Spokane
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Volunteers with:
WSBA Small Town and Rural (STAR) Committee
Volunteer Role: Gonzaga University School of Law Member
Laurie Powers
Q: What has been the proudest moment or favorite memory so far as a WSBA volunteer?
A: Over the course of my 30-year legal career, I have been involved with the WSBA in many capacities. During my recent work with the Small Town and Rural (STAR) Committee, I was particularly proud when the three-phase approach developed by the Pipeline Subcommittee that I chair was adopted as the work plan for the STAR Committee as a whole. After several years of discussion, ideation, and collaboration, we are now moving forward with concrete steps to advance opportunities for STAR practice. Last fall we held the first STAR practice information session for all Washington law students and attorneys, and in March we held the first STAR Virtual Interview Day for law student internships and attorney positions. These are small steps, but they are definite ones that we hope become annual events and allow us to move ever forward in providing the incentives and support needed to expand successful legal careers in STAR communities. As an Eastern Washingtonian, I am deeply committed to access to justice in these legal frontiers. I am grateful for the work of the STAR Committee and the support of Gonzaga University School of Law in hosting these inaugural events.
Q: Did you have any misconceptions about volunteering before you began this role and have they changed?
A: I am a doer and a tad impatient. I have no interest in tedious meetings on repeat. I have been on different rural community task forces over the years and was afraid the STAR Committee might be a waste of time. Also, as can be the case with volunteer service, I was concerned that the needs for service would quickly outstrip my bandwidth. Fortunately, our committee receives excellent administrative support and guidance from WSBA staff. I find it tremendously helpful to have that structure to keep us on track and moving forward, even as the composition of the committee changes from year to year.
Q: What have you learned from volunteering? Has it changed your approach to your work outside of volunteering?
A: Having practiced in Western Washington for many years before relocating to Spokane in 2004, I was taken aback by how disconnected I felt from WSBA activities once I was on the eastern side of the state. While I deeply appreciate the many Seattle-area colleagues I have worked with over the years, King County does not dominate the work of the STAR Committee. We have practitioners from all over Washington, from private practice, legal aid, government, and public defense coming together to look at the practice needs for STAR communities statewide. I have been energized by engaging with this cross section of dedicated WSBA members. There have been elements of design-thinking in our approach as we look closely and broadly in coming up with innovative solutions. I carry that learning forward in my daily work.
Pronouns: she/her
Current Job Title: Administrative Law Judge, Office of Administrative Hearings
Job Location: Spokane Valley
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Volunteers with:
WSBA Board of Bar Examiners
Volunteer Role: Co-Chair
Cathy Helman
Q: What has been the proudest moment or favorite memory so far as a WSBA volunteer?
A: My proudest moment as a WSBA volunteer is every time our board finishes an exam grading conference, knowing that we’ve given each exam careful, thoughtful, and fair consideration. Also, I believe behind every exam is a qualified and hard-working applicant, and I feel pride for those who have met challenges and overcome obstacles to sit for the exam. It’s a big accomplishment.
Q: Did you have any misconceptions about volunteering before you began this role and have they changed?
A: My biggest misconception about volunteering on the Board of Bar Examiners is that there wouldn’t be much collaboration between me and the other board members since our board usually meets only twice a year to quietly grade exams. However, I’ve discovered that there is a lot of great collaboration between grading teams, and that this collaboration is crucial to a successful grading conference. I also didn’t realize how much I would enjoy the grading process and spending a weekend reading hundreds of answers. I think most, if not all, members of the Board of Bar Examiners would express how oddly enjoyable this can be and it’s why we all continue to volunteer.
Q: What have you learned from volunteering? Has it changed your approach to your work outside of volunteering?
A: Volunteering on the Board of Bar Examiners has reinforced my belief that there are many different ways to communicate a message. When grading exams, answers to the same question can be presented differently. There are differences in formatting, vocabulary, tone, organization, etc. It’s very important not to have any preconceptions or make assumptions when reviewing an answer and instead grade based on what is presented. I use this same approach with my personal interactions outside of the WSBA, especially as an Administrative Law Judge on a caseload with primarily unrepresented participants.