Mission

The Legal Foundation of Washington is a nonprofit organization created at the direction of the Washington Supreme Court to distribute IOLTA funds to legal aid organizations across the state. LFW has more than 35 years of experience raising, managing, and distributing funds to achieve equal civil justice for low-income people. We envision a society where poverty and race are not impediments, and seek to ensure access to civil legal aid for all people in Washington and to improve equity in the civil justice system. Our work contributes to breaking cycles of poverty and ensuring equal opportunity. We serve tens of thousands of low-income people each year by investing in civil legal aid organizations across Washington. We bring expertise about our state civil legal aid system to ensure thoughtful grantmaking. We receive support from public and private partners who are committed to equal justice and system reform. We responsibly steward and strategically distribute these funds throughout the state. Since 1984, LFW has distributed more than $200 million to Washington’s legal aid community.