WSBA Board unanimously approves renaming Young Lawyers committee and broadening membership to 'new members'

At a meeting of the Washington State Bar Association Board of Governors, the board unanimously approved a bylaws amendment to change the Young Lawyers Committee’s name and expand who qualifies for membership. The amendment replaces the phrase “young lawyers” with “new members,” extends the eligibility window from five years to 10 years of admission in Washington, and explicitly includes limited-license legal technicians (LLLTs) and LPOs as part of the new-members definition.

The change is intended to increase inclusivity and member engagement by opening committee participation and related WYLC programs to more entrants to the profession. "We have chosen to remove the age restriction and increase the number of years from 5 to 10 years," Mason, a member of the Washington Young Lawyers Committee, told the board. "That is our proposed definition." Janta Steele, Pierce County representative for the WYLC, said the effort is part of a roughly five-year project "to enhance member engagement, to promote diversity and inclusion and access to justice, and to extend the reach of the WYLC's resources and programs and services to as many members as possible." Julianne Unite, WSBA member services and engagement manager, told governors she has worked on the proposal since 2019 and supported the amendment.

Why it matters: presenters said the change could increase the pool of people eligible for WYLC governance, section liaison roles and programs that are currently free to young lawyers. Mason said current WYLC membership counted about 6,600 professionals (as of the cited December snapshot) and that, by the proposal’s definition, that number would rise to roughly 12,470. The committee presented survey results from 2020 and a May survey showing increased support for removing age limits and focusing eligibility on years of practice; presenters also noted that other states vary in their approaches (22 states using a 10-year threshold as the most common practice and 15 states having removed age restrictions altogether).

Key details from the discussion: board members and presenters clarified implementation and limits of the change. Presenters told governors the amendment focuses on WSBA membership status and years of admission in Washington state; practice counted only under recognized Washington admission, not years spent solely practicing in tribal court jurisdictions. "If say you're only in tribal courts before and you come into the state of Washington, you would be at 0 — you would start the clock in now," a presenter said when asked about tribal-court practice counting toward the 10-year window.

Presenters emphasized that the WYLC is not seeking to change the WSBA continuing legal education (CLE) discount policy tied to the first five years of admission; presenters said that CLE-discount rules remain separate and the committee did not propose changes to general WSBA dues or to the CLE discount. The committee recommended implementation either by October 1 or by January 1, 2026, but said final timing is dependent on approval from the Washington Supreme Court.

Board action and outcome: Governor Jordan Couch moved to approve the amendment; the roll call vote recorded unanimous approval and the measure "passes unanimously," according to the clerk. No amendments to the motion were recorded on the floor. Presenters and staff received the board’s thanks after the vote.

Background and process notes: committee members said the project began in 2019–2020, including a 2020 survey and further outreach. The committee analyzed other jurisdictions’ definitions (including whether transferring lawyers count from their date of admission to the particular bar) and proposed aligning WYLC membership with WSBA member categories to include transferring lawyers, LLLTs and LPOs, and later entrants to the profession.

Implementation next steps and limitations: presenters told the board the change requires administrative updates to bylaws and a Supreme Court filing (presenters described themselves as "at the mercy of the Supreme Court" for final implementation). They also described plans to do outreach to members who were uncertain or opposed to inclusion of nonlawyer legal professionals, and to coordinate with WSBA diversity, equity and inclusion efforts. The committee said it expects no direct impact on WYLC’s existing budget line items for outreach, awards and scholarships and that core WYLC programs would remain free to new members.

Speakers quoted and attributed in this article are drawn from the meeting transcript and from presenters' remarks during the discussion and vote.