Social Justice

Smith & Lowney looks for opportunities to represent clients in pursuit of social justice. Attorneys and staff at Smith & Lowney are committed to using our legal skills on a broad array of social issues. 

The following are representative cases: 

No New Youth Jail Campaign.  In our firm’s long history, our largest pro bono project was the fight against Dow Constantine’s proposal for a new youth jail in Seattle.  We represented End Prison Industrial Complex (EPIC) in challenging multiple permits.  The decision against EPIC exemplified our judicial system’s corruption and institutional racism.   

Displaced Tenants v. Triad.  This started as a pro bono lawsuit on behalf of low income tenants, but it became a front-page scandal when the developer tried to bribe a city council candidate to make the lawsuit go away.  The candidate, Jon Grant, went public, leading the City to cut ties with the developer.  After 24 hours of mediation, the displaced tenants group achieved a settlement that required Triad to pay $5.5 million into a housing fund administered by the Social Justice Fund.  This tale of corruption is one reason why there remains a giant hole in the ground across from the Seattle City Hall. See press. 

Initiative 940 / De-escalate Washington.  We represented Not this Time to draft Statewide Initiative 940, which reformed State law to allow the prosecution of police officers who commit wrongful killings.  

Eviction and Tenant Reform.  We drafted the successful Federal Way Stable Homes initiative, which enacted a just cause eviction law, and also the Seattle ordinance that prohibits slumlords from raising the rent (commonly called the “Carl Haglund law”).  

Junction City Redevelopment Group v. Sierra Pacific Industries. We represented 18 mostly low-income families whose properties had been negatively impacted by a lumber mill in Aberdeen, Washington. The case was settled through mediation in 2004 after litigating several lawsuits and permit challenges, resulting in a multi-million dollar buy-out of clients’ properties.   

» For more information or to request a case evaluation, click here.