Washington State Association for Justice

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237068627
IRS 990 coverage
2016–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Seattle, WA, USA
Phone
2064641011
Rating confidence
Limited

Reported finances

Revenue
$3,823,275
Expenses
$3,185,228
Assets
$8,621,159
Liabilities
$1,655,792

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

44 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • ELIZABETH HANLEY (PRESIDENT)
  • HARDEEP S REKHI (PRESIDENT-ELECT)
  • COLLEEN DURKIN PETERSON (IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT)
  • JJ THOMPSON (VICE PRESIDENT EAST)
  • KATHRYN KNUDSEN (VICE PRESIDENT WEST)
  • ELIZABETH MCLAFFERTY (VICE PRESIDENT CLE)

Highest reported compensation

  • SARA CRUMB (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $313,241 total reported compensation
  • LAURENCE SHANNON (GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DIRECTOR): $216,625 total reported compensation
  • KELLI CARSON (GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS DEPUTY DIRECTOR): $193,576 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

We stand up in the courtroom and halls of government for real people. We defend your constitutional rights, including the right to have your day in court. We hold corporate and other powerful interests accountable. We are a community creating and sharing resources for our members to secure justice.

What it reported doing in 2024

We are a membership organization serving civil plaintiff attorneys to aid them with their practice to better serve their clients. We serve over 2,000 members statewide.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 94% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 61
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.7%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.71; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 26.7%; rating input score 7; 7th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 124.2% per year; rating input score 100; 99th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.7% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 19% per year; rating input score 100; 82nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 40 of 40 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $313K · 44 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 11 of 11 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 8 filing years from 2016 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 2 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 7/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.