Washington Legal Foundation

The Washington Legal Foundation (WLF) was established in 1977 to "fight activist lawyers, regulators, and intrusive government agencies at the federal and state levels, in the courts and regulatory agencies across the country" [1]. WLF is classified as a national, non-profit, tax-exempt public foundation under section 501 (c) (3) of the Internal Revenue Code.

Mission

The foundation gives its mission as follows [2]:

"The Washington Legal Foundation has one goal: to defend and promote the principles of freedom and justice. Since it was founded 25 years ago, WLF has developed into the nation's preeminent center for public interest law, advocating free-enterprise principles, responsible government, property rights, a strong national security and defense, and balanced civil and criminal justice system.

WLF is a unique institution with three essential cornerstone programs:

• shaping public policy through aggressive litigation and advocacy
• publishing timely legal studies
• educating policy-makers and the public through extensive communications outreach

[...] With this unique approach, litigating precedent-setting issues in the courts and before government agencies, publishing and marketing timely and relevant legal studies, and ensuring maximum exposure for its work with policy-makers and the media, the Washington Legal Foundation is able to shape public policy and work with allies in government and our legal system to strengthen America's free enterprise system."

Funding

The foundation has received donations from the tobacco industry and has run quarter-page ads in the New York Times, opposing what it calls "junk science."

• Philip Morris
  • 1995: $250,000 [3]
  • 1996: ??
  • 1997: $275,000 [4]
  • 1998: $250,000 [5]
  • 1999: $200,000 (budgeted) [6]

• The Tobacco Institute
  • 1995: $35,000 [7]
  • 1996: $35,000 [8]
  • 1997: $35,000 [9]
  • 1998: $20,000 [10]

Attacking IOLTA legal assistance

Interest On Lawyers' Trust Accounts (IOLTA) legislation is enacted in almost all US states and allows the interest on money held by lawyers on behalf of a third party to go to good causes. The system generated over $148 million dollars in 2002, the funds being used to assist poor people in obtaining legal representation.

The WLF began filing suits in a number of states to prevent IOLTA from receiving the interest on lawyer trust accounts. Among the suits was one persued all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States with a potential recovery of $20. The reasoning behind this was outlined in a fundraising letter by the WLF Chairman Daniel Popeo:

"We are finally in a position we've fought more than a decade to reach...a position where we can deal a death blow to the single most important source of income for radical legal groups all across the country"

Among the foundation's adversaries in the litigation, Popeo continues, are groups dedicated to the homeless, to minorities, to gay and lesbian causes. It seems the WFL will spend hundeds of thousands of dollars to litigate a $20 case to the Supreme Court of the United States if doing so provides an opportunity to "deal a death blow" to a program that allows poor people access to justice.

Contact information

Washington Legal Foundation
2009 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20036
phone: 202-588-0302
info@wlf.org
http://www.wlf.org/

Links and further reading

• Media Transparency, Washington Legal Foundation
• P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism, "The Outrageous Washington Legal Foundation"