[WSBAPT] Fw: Fwd: [section-leaders] Will the WSBA be split up?....

Thu Sep 27 08:39:54 PDT 2018

Thank you for your focused representation.  Without your information flow,
I, like many others, would not know what is taking place with the Bar.

Tom

On Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 7:55 PM jacyphers at gmail.com <jacyphers at gmail.com>
wrote:

>
>
>
> *-------Original Message-------*
>
> *From:* Paul S <pswegle at gmail.com>
> *Date:* 9/26/2018 11:08:03 AM
> *To:* undisclosed-recipients:,
> *Subject:* Fwd: [section-leaders] Will the WSBA be split up?....
>
> Hello fellow WSBA Members,
>
> I just sent this out via the Section Leaders listserv.
>
> Feel free to forward as you wish.
>
> Paul Swegle
> Governor, Dist 7N
> Washington State Bar Association
>
> *__________________________*
>
> Paul Swegle
>
> General Counsel
>
> (206) 300-7165
>
> Startup GC Blog <http://www.startupgc.us>
>
> *Contract Drafting and Negotiation for Entrepreneurs and Business
> Professionals*
> <https://www.amazon.com/Contract-Drafting-Negotiation-Entrepreneurs-Professionals/dp/0692138307>
>
>
> [image: Observa]
>
>
>
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Paul S <pswegle at gmail.com> <section-leaders at list.wsba.org>
> Date: Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 11:03 AM
> Subject: [section-leaders] Will the WSBA be split up?....
> To: WSBA Section Leaders <section-leaders at list.wsba.org>
>
>
> Dear WSBA Section Leaders,
>
> As a member of the WSBA Board of Governors, Immediate Past Chair of the
> Corporate Counsel Section, and a Member of the Business Law Section's
> Securities Law Committee, I am very interested in the continued vitality
> and independence of our 29 Sections.
>
> As some of you may know, following attempts by WSBA leaders to confiscate
> the Sections' legally mandated/protected financial reserves, I ran for the
> Board of Governors and have been working with others on the Board to reform
> the WSBA in ways that would reduce the unhealthy concentration of power
> within the WSBA and restore greater democracy and transparency for the
> benefit of the Members and the Sections.
>
> Our reform efforts have been resisted aggressively and unpleasantly by
> entrenched interests and they have now been suspended by a letter from the
> Washington State Supreme Court last Friday, attached here for your
> reference.
>
> In my view, and with all due respect, this letter lays bare the extent to
> which the Members of the WSBA, and hence the Sections, have lost their
> rights to influence WSBA governance and leadership. It seems to me that the
> authority of both the WSBA Bylaws and the Board of Governors are subject to
> suspension and revision at any time and that the Bar Act, which provides
> for Member representation within the WSBA, has become a fiction.
>
> In its letter, the Court orders Bylaw amendment processes suspended
> pending the Court's "comprehensive review of the structure of the Bar."
>
> Some of you might also recall President Bill Pickett's surprise
> announcement at the most recent Section Leaders Meeting where he discussed
> his desire to "restructure" the WSBA and the Sections.
>
> While I and fellow reformers on the Board generally do not favor any WSBA
> restructuring that separates the regulatory/licensing/discipline side of
> the WSBA from the professional association side, it is important for the
> Sections to realize that the concentration of power and current
> disenfranchisement of the Members is real and that dominant forces could
> seek to restructure the WSBA without your meaningful input.
>
> In my view,* if *bifurcation must occur for legitimate legal reasons,
> meaning that the professional association side of the WSBA must be
> separated from the regulatory/mandatory side, that restructuring should
> probably involve *a complete break* from the WSBA.
>
> I am concerned that an alternative structure will be engineered by those
> in power where the professional association side of the WSBA continues to
> be saddled by the WSBA's extremely high cost structure and oppressive
> governance.
>
> That adverse outcome could be engineered with a system of long term,
> inter-entity administrative services and "cost-sharing" agreements between
> the WSBA and a newly created entity, under which Members continue to bear
> the same high costs ($22 million per year) while still suffering from
> wholly fictitious autonomy. I believe this is along the lines of what
> President Bill Pickett was envisioning when he unilaterally announced a
> potential restructuring of the Sections at the Section Leaders meeting.
>
> If the professional side of the WSBA is to be "restructured," I would
> almost certainly favor a complete break, featuring some or all of these
> elements.
>
>    - Mandatory dues are slashed to a fraction of their current levels.
>    - WSBA staffing is substantially reduced to focus *solely *on
>    licensing, discipline and other regulatory functions.
>    - WSBA headquarters are relocated to smaller, less expensive in
>    Olympia.
>    - All "professional association" functions and benefits, including the
>    Sections, are re-established under a new, wholly democratic, non-governmental
>    umbrella organization outside of the current high-cost, low-democracy power
>    structure.
>    - Combined dues for the mandatory Bar (WSBA) and the new voluntary
>    professional association are equal to or less than current WSBA dues.
>    - The WSBA transfers to the newly separated Sections all of their
>    accumulated financial reserves.
>    - The WSBA website includes a permanent and prominent link to the new
>    voluntary professional association.
>
> These are just some very preliminary thoughts and I'm sure many of you
> will have excellent ideas that differ from mine. We can look at other
> voluntary bars for guidance on what would work best for the Members. The
> key point is that the structure and features of any newly separated
> professional association must be driven and determined primarily, if not
> entirely, by the needs and interests of the Members.
>
> As a fellow Section Leader, I ask that you pay close attention to
> developments at the WSBA, including attending the Board of Governors
> meetings this Thursday and Friday in person or by webcast. Chief Justice
> Fairhurst has said she is attending and I hope she will respond to any
> questions Members have about the Court's unprecedented actions.
>
> Lastly, please do not be deceived by misrepresentations currently
> circulating about our reform efforts. The most prominent misrepresentation
> circulating is that we are trying to do away with the minority
> representation requirements of the At-Large Governor seats. *We merely
> want them to be elected by the Members and not be appointed by the Board -
> basic democracy and transparency*.
>
> Misrepresentations like those are intended to confuse the issues and
> protect the current power structure by casting doubt on the proposed
> reforms. Our proposed reforms are ALL positive for the Members and the
> public - greater democracy, restoration of balanced governance and complete
> transparency. Those are the only *threats* we pose. I personally still
> hope and believe that the WSBA can be reformed and legally maintained as an
> integrated bar association with roots tracing back to 1888.
>
> Members who wish to get on my email list to stay abreast of these
> developments independently of centrally controlled WSBA messaging, please
> email me at pswegle at gmail.com.
>
> And feel free to share this email with any fellow WSBA Members who may be
> interested.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Paul Swegle
> Governor, Dist 7N
> Washington State Bar Association
>
> *__________________________*
>
> Paul Swegle
>
> General Counsel
>
> (206) 300-7165
>
> Startup GC Blog <http://www.startupgc.us>
>
> *Contract Drafting and Negotiation for Entrepreneurs and Business
> Professionals*
> <https://www.amazon.com/Contract-Drafting-Negotiation-Entrepreneurs-Professionals/dp/0692138307>
>
>
> [image: Observa]
>
>
>
> ---
>
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-- 
Thomas E. Gates
Gates' Law, PLLC
651 Strander Blvd., Suite 209
Tukwila, WA 98188-2953
253-332-7899
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