BLSA honors two graduates who serve vulnerable communities

February 7, 2017

The Black Law Student Association (BLSA) at Seattle University School of Law will celebrate two graduates who have devoted both their professional lives and volunteer hours to helping vulnerable people and communities. 

The BLSA Alumni Awards Reception will be held Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m. in the Second Floor Gallery. All are welcome.

Erin McIntire
Erin McIntire

Erin McIntire '15, receiving the BLSA Alumni Award, is a civil rights attorney with a deep commitment to serving marginalized communities in ways that establish global, social, and economic equity. Upon graduation, McIntire worked as a legal consultant for Casey Family Program where she developed a legal taxonomy and coding system for subsidized guardianship assistance programs. She then temporarily clerked for Justice Steve González at the Washington State Supreme Court and now works as a civil rights analyst for City of Seattle's Office for Civil Rights.

While in law school, she received recognition for performing an outstanding number of community service hours through the Access to Justice Institute's pro bono pledge program. She also received the 2015 BLSA Chapter Leadership award and the 2015 Philip L. Burton Memorial Scholarship from the Loren Miller Bar Association.

McIntire served as the Notes and Comments Editor for the Seattle Journal of Environmental Law. She also represented the interests of over 350 black law students across the west coast as the western regional chair of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA). As the recipient of a Public Interest Law Foundation summer grant, McIntire worked on federal anti-racial profiling legislation in Washington, D.C. during her fellowship with the Congressional Black Caucus.

LaKeysha Washington
LaKeysha Washington

LaKeysha Washington '10, receiving the Vanguard Leader of the Year Award, works as a deputy prosecuting attorney at the King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, where she handles cases involving sex crimes against children and women as a member of the trial team for the Special Assault Unit.  Washington previously served in the U.S. Army for 10 years, where she worked in prevention of domestic violence and suicide.

During her time at the law school, she served as the BLSA president and on the Moot Court Board. She participated in the NBLSA Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial National Competition, where her team won third place and she won Best Oral Advocate.

She now volunteers for the King County Family Law and the Pierce County Low-Income clinics, providing legal services for marginalized communities and domestic violence victims. Washington also stays involved with the law school by coaching BLSA's moot court and mock trial teams.

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