Barbara Clark Leaves Strong Foundation Behind and Looks Ahead
By Jane Noland
Asteel spine and a velvet manner. Dogged in her commitment to access to justice. Surrounds herself with the best and the brightest. Understated. Unsung hero. Loyal. Strategic. Smart. Can do. Funny and warm. Caring.
These are some of the phrases that people use to describe Barbara Clark, who retired in November after almost 21 years as the Legal Foundation of Washington’s (LFW) first executive director.
Clark left an impressive legacy. She may be one of the few who is surprised by this. She was hired in December 1984 as the Foundation’s first director and nurtured the agency from infancy to secure and vital adulthood.
The Foundation was created to receive the interest collected on lawyers’ pooled trust accounts (IOLTA) when each client’s funds could not earn sufficient interest to warrant a separate account. Prior to IOLTA, the banks received the interest. These funds are now used to increase the availability of legal services for those who cannot afford them.
In 1984, the Washington Supreme Court signed the order approving IOLTA and in early 1985 the Legal Foundation of Washington organized to become the conduit for the interest funds. That first year, LFW collected $1.7 million and distributed it to programs that provide access to justice for the poor in Washington.
The concept of IOLTA has not been trouble free. Since its inception, it has met challenges in Washington and nationally. Fluctuating interest rates often wreak havoc with LFW’s allocation and with recipients’ program capacity.
What enabled Clark to provide the long-term strategic leadership necessary to nurture and grow this organization? She would say it has been the board members, the legal community, many in the financial community and others in Washington and across the country who support legal services. All of that is true, but her success has been unique. Some of those who have worked with her have provided insights.
First and foremost, Clark’s professional driving force has been her absolute commitment to access to quality legal services for everyone, regardless of ability to pay. This has been true since law school. I can still remember late night conversations (usually during exam week) when Clark would talk about a world in which everyone could actually seek, much less receive, redress through the courts.
Clark has worked as a tribal judge for the Nisqually Indian Community and she spent several years as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow working for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Legal Aid Society. She worked for legal service programs for seven years before coming to LFW; first as an attorney in the Port Angeles office of Evergreen Legal Services and then as a regional attorney for the Legal Services Corporation in Seattle.
She says that dealing with the problems of her clients on a day-to-day basis was emotionally very draining and her epiphany came while she was working for the Legal Services Corporation. For her, the grant-making side of legal services was much more satisfying than day-to-day legal practice.
Respected Seattle attorney and charter LFW board member Rita Bender observed that Clark’s “fire, the absolute commitment to quality legal services for the poor, has continued undampened over time.”
Even as she retires from LFW, Clark will continue this journey. She will serve on the Office of Civil Legal Aid Oversight Committee, which was created by the Washington Supreme Court in 2005 to allocate state funds for legal aid in Washington.
Second, Clark is skilled in thinking strategically and taking risks when necessary. She did not come by these traits naturally and credits legal services leader and guru Greg Dallaire, U.S. Court of Appeals Judge and former LFW board member Margaret McKeown, and Chuck Goldmark, among many others, with teaching her this skill.
Judge McKeown describes Clark’s tenure as “marked with innovation and risk taking, including the creation of a rainy day endowment fund in the form of the Goldmark fund and the willingness to spearhead the national litigation that saved IOLTA.”
Judge Paul Bastine, another board member and noted member of the Spokane bar, said, “She has succeeded not just at the Legal Foundation but in the legal community and particularly the access-to-justice community because she has the vision needed to keep looking to the future. She has usually been two steps ahead of the leaders in the legal community but [few] know it because she does not flaunt it.”
Interestingly, one only has to look to the new director to understand Clark’s strategic aspect. Good managers groom their successors. They do not risk losing the ground they have covered. Clark mentored Caitlin Davis Carlson. She competed in a national search and is the LFW’s new executive director.
Third, Clark’s leadership style is quiet and collaborative. She does not seek headlines; she seeks -- and gets -- results.
Judge Bastine described Clark’s leadership style this way: “Barbara is disarmingly like the neighbor next door. I am always caught off guard by her reserved, non-pretentious appearance and approach. She is really a dynamo with an understated entrepreneurial and visionary personality.”
Judge McKeown adds that “she was a quiet yet forceful leader who never sought recognition or credit but had plenty to spread around for her staff, her board, her lawyers and other volunteers. The recent public recognition of Barbara is long overdue and emblematic of her belief that you are judged by your deeds, one by one.”
When asked about her heroes, Clark points to the LFW board members. She says board members often suffered much criticism as well as support at crucial times in the Foundation’s life.
A few of the many people Clark mentioned for this article, beginning with the staff, included Rita Bender, whom she credits with helping improve her writing skills; Greg Dallaire, for anything having to do with the equal justice community; and Judge McKeown, who taught her that the glass could be half full instead of half empty. “What a mind-blowing concept that was,” Clark exclaimed.
Clark says that her biggest supporter is her husband. She says he taught her how to laugh at herself, and this has been key to working with people on a day-to-day basis, especially in times of stress.
The most difficult times at LFW were the early years, according to Clark. She was not sure she was up to the job, but she said that she learned “that with a strong mission and persistence to fulfill that mission, I did have something to bring to the equal justice community.”
What were some of her highlights during her tenure? Aside from survival of the agency (no small feat) and the chance to work with so many wonderful people, the strategic step of administratively merging with LAW Fund -- the private fundraising organization for LFW grantees--has been gratifying for Clark.
Another rewarding experience was the development and administration of the Equal Justice Coalition, the educational arm of the access-to-justice community. The EJC works with state and federally elected officials and others to ensure public funding for civil legal aid.
How did she keep her sanity during tumultuous times? Clark says her staff is responsible. “I felt we were absolutely a team. I had their backing and they had mine. It was empowering and it was fun. They are a feisty, hardworking and creative crew.”
The unique aspects of Clark’s leadership style: her commitment to access to quality legal services; her ability to learn new skills and use them well; her kindness and humor; her support of those who worked with her; and her lack of need to be in the limelight, are the essence of her special ability to lead.
Clark never lost sight of the big picture of access to justice. She figured out the best way she could contribute. She decided the glass was more than half full. We have all benefited from her hard work and we all owe her our deep gratitude. People in Washington and across the nation are better off because of Barbara Clark. n
