David Lawson

David Lawson represents foundations, nonprofit healthcare organizations, trade associations, universities, social service providers, and businesses, helping them find innovative ways to more effectively benefit their communities. His knowledge encompasses a variety of topics relating to federal tax exemption, state nonprofit and charitable trust laws, and laws governing lobbying and issue advocacy. 

David has completed dozens of complex transactions, from spinoffs of major programs to multiparty mergers to hospital joint ventures, and has helped several nonprofits resolve difficult governance matters. For more than a decade he has engaged productively with the federal and state regulators that supervise nonprofit organizations, including successful resolution of significant Internal Revenue Service examinations and attorney general investigations. 

David serves as the chair of the Nonprofit Corporations Committee of the Washington State Bar Association’s Business Law Section. As the committee’s recorder, he played a primary role in drafting Washington’s new Nonprofit Corporation Act, which took effect at the beginning of 2022. 

A longtime volunteer for Communities Rise and its predecessor organizations, David serves as a director and board secretary.