Fleeson Gooing attorney William L. Townsley III was honored with the Wichita Bar Association’s Howard C. Kline Distinguished Service Award at the WBA awards luncheon held on May 9, 2023, at the Wichita Botanical Gardens.
The award, named for late Sedgwick County District Court Judge Howard C. Kline, is given to a WBA member who, through the years of his or her practice, has exemplified integrity, professionalism, and service to the bar. The criteria for the award directs that the recipient should be one whose qualifications and accomplishments are undeniably exemplary and whose services are widely acclaimed as having made significant contributions to the honor and practice of the law. The award recognizes longstanding service rather than the accomplishment of a single task.
Bill has had a distinguished legal career, during which he has devoted countless hours to the service of the legal profession. He has served as president of the WBA, Kansas Association of Defense Counsel, and Wesley E. Brown Inn of Court, and on the governing boards of the Kansas Bar Association, Wichita Bar Foundation, Kansas Bar Foundation and Kansas Legal Services, Inc.
Bill was honored at the awards luncheon with a video that
included “tributes” from Fleeson Gooing attorneys Bill Tretbar and Lyndon Vix, as well as a somewhat more legitimate tribute from Laura Ice, senior vice president and general counsel at Textron Financial Corp.
The firm congratulates Bill on this prestigious and well-deserved award.
Bill Townsley is pictured above with his wife Karen, and to the right with outgoing WBA President Aaron Breitenbach.