Can you believe the WSBA is turning 125 years old? It doesn’t look a day over 30, even though it’s actually older than General Motors, IBM and the Boy Scouts of America. But as announced here, the Bar has a year’s worth of events to commemorate its founding and first century and a quarter of service.
At NWLawyer, we’ll be doing our part to honor and celebrate the WSBA, too. Beginning with the December/January issue, which will hit your mailboxes and the WSBA website in early December, we’ll be publishing anniversary-related articles in each issue through November 2015.
In the December/January issue, we introduce our coverage for the year and include several articles that we believe you’ll find fascinating. Seattle lawyer and WSBA Editorial Advisory Committee member Isham Reavis, one of the few Bar members who can trace his family roots directly back to the founding of the WSBA, wrote a brief history of our Bar. (Reavis is a distant relative of James B. Reavis, one of the Bar’s 35 founders.)
Kurt Kruckeberg, another Seattle lawyer and EAC member, will transport you back in time with true stories unearthed from the dusty archives of WSBA’s disciplinary files. Relive the days of lawyers unashamedly defaming judges, pilfering clients and getting unceremoniously disbarred — and in one case, promptly un-disbarred for apologizing nicely.
You’ll also find a recap of the annual luncheon saluting those who have served 50 years as WSBA members. Accompanying the piece are quotations from 50-year honorees sharing their reflections on how the Bar and the profession have changed in the past half-century. Meanwhile, this issue’s “Literary Lawyer” column reviews several of the best nonfiction books that address Washington’s historical and legal milestones.
We have more anniversary features planned for each issue. These will include profiles of Washington’s legal pioneers in diverse fields, a peek into the de facto time capsule of words and pictures that has collected in the WSBA archives, and the shared thoughts of WSBA members regarding the organization and the profession.
Our staff, regular contributors, and Editorial Advisory Committee are heading up the NWLawyer anniversary effort. But we welcome article ideas, article drafts, and feedback from all of you. In particular, we would love to hear some great stories or see historical photographs regarding the profession’s 125 years’ worth of practice in the state.
Please submit your ideas and feedback to nwlawyer@wsba.org.
Michael Heatherly. Michael is the editor of NWLawyer. He practices law in Bellingham and owns Northwest Dispute Resolution Group, a mediation and arbitration organization.
