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Today’s huge challenge of funding civil legal aid in Washington creates a fitting purpose to honor legendary Seattle attorney Ken MacDonald who is admired by lawyers and non-lawyers alike for his career-long dedication to the very principles embraced by the Endowment for Equal Justice.

The Ken MacDonald Legacy Fund is a special named-fund within the Endowment for Equal Justice, honoring the long and illustrious career of Ken MacDonald, whose career as a civil rights champion has been an enterprise he never separated from his friendships with other lawyers, with judges, with clients and with a rich and diverse representation of citizens from our entire community.

While the Ken MacDonald Legacy Fund honors the long career and hard work of Ken MacDonald, it also extends far beyond one lawyer’s life as a monument to the aspiration to serve justice that are held by members of the bar and non-lawyers who care about the legal profession’s most fundamental role in society.

In law practice, in teaching and in civic endeavors, Ken has never wavered in his passion for equal justice nor for the right of people in every station, condition and circumstance to enjoy the benefit of legal representation. The Ken MacDonald Legacy Fund is an ideal means to continue and expand what Ken himself has forged as his own life’s commitment: making our community a better, fairer, more just place for all.

For his commitment to civil equal justice for low-income families and individuals, Ken received our sister-organization, the Legal Foundation of Washington’s 2001 Charles. A Goldmark Distinguished Service Award. The Goldmark Award is named in honor of another iconic Seattle lawyer, Charles Goldmark, who played a singularly important role in the creation of the interest on the lawyer’s trust account (IOLTA) program in Washington State.

The Endowment for Equal Justice is honored to be hosting the Ken MacDonald Legacy Fund project and aims to raise more than $1 Million in this fitting tribute to Ken.