The last of a dying breed — the pro bono attorney fighting against government corruption, greedy developers and irresponsible business owners. That’s how others might describe Ridgefield attorney David McDonald, but that’s not how he would describe himself.
“I would suggest I can’t be pigeonholed into a particular advocacy role. I think the thing that best describes me is that I try to look at a broad vision for the county,” he said.
A former criminal defense attorney at a Portland law firm, McDonald has always done pro bono work on environmental- and development-related cases.
“I did criminal defense work to feed my addiction to pro bono environmental work,” he said.
Representing clients charged with a crime might seem completely different from challenging a local government or corporation over environmental laws or development regulations, but for McDonald, there is a common thread.
“I find it fascinating that I can use tools to help in the defense of the people who don’t have the funds to defend themselves,” he said.
McDonald has represented Friends of Clark County, Friends of the Columbia Gorge and others in challenging zoning and development applications, such as Granite Construction’s proposed gravel mine near Chelatchie. He said his goal in taking on these and other court cases is to make sure the county’s approach to growth leads to “a vibrant, viable community that doesn’t eat itself alive by sprawling across the county.”
A bumpy road
McDonald encountered potholes on his path to becoming an attorney. Growing up primarily on the East Coast, he said he always knew he wanted to be either a politician or an attorney. But, McDonald said, the world didn’t want him to be either. After graduating from Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., with what he called “gentleman Cs,” he was denied admission to a master’s program. He said he “tanked” the law school admission test exam, so he got a teaching certificate to support himself.
“When I got out of college, I hitchhiked from North Carolina to New England,” McDonald said. “I ended up hitchhiking down the (Columbia River) Gorge with a guy who had worked on building all the dams on the Columbia.”
He and the driver stopped at Bonneville Dam where they watched the salmon fight their way up the fish ladders.
“I slept under the Morrison Bridge for a couple of days, and then I ended up heading farther down to (Los Angeles). But I liked it here. I liked Portland, I liked the Gorge and I liked the mountains. I wanted to be an environmental lawyer … that’s why I applied to a school that had an environmental law program.”
McDonald applied to 11 law schools before getting waitlisted and then accepted into Lewis and Clark School of Law in Portland. After graduating, he was admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 1986 and passed the Washington state bar exam in 1989. He has argued cases at every level, from District and Superior courts to federal district courts, appellate courts and the state Supreme Court.
Legal work
Despite sharing the same name, McDonald said he isn’t always the little guy in those “David versus Goliath” cases.
“I have worked with the government many times. I’ve been on the same side of the government, even parts of the last comprehensive (growth) plan update in 2016. I have served on multiple committees from when the Growth Management Act was passed (in 1990) all the way up through the last (Clark County) vacant buildable lands committee,” he said, adding he’s also worked in conjunction with developers.
Ann Christian began working with McDonald in Portland in 1986, where both worked as public defenders. When Christian became ill, McDonald took over her caseload. She and her husband have been close friends with McDonald and his wife, Karin, ever since.
When it comes to representing his clients, Christian said McDonald is “selfless, passionate and dogged … whether it’s his environmental work, his criminal defense work, his personal relationships, his nonprofit work.”
In 2023, the Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association gave McDonald the Ken Morrow Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2021, he received the Ross Shepard Award for Lifetime Service from the same group. He was also named best criminal defense attorney in Portland many times during his career.
Christian said it’s unusual for an attorney to receive both awards, but that just shows how good of an attorney he his.
Along with working on specific cases, like the Granite Construction challenge, McDonald is also working on issues related to growth management. One area he is especially focused on is ensuring the county’s agricultural lands don’t disappear. McDonald said he recently discovered that a lot of site-specific zoning requests have been filed during the current 20-year growth plan update that would impact agricultural lands.
“I’m working with Friends of Clark County to identify those parcels, and we will be making a generalized request of no net loss of ag lands in Clark County. Every comp plan update we take in more rural and ag lands and turn it into … residential developments,” he said.
Ann Foster from Friends of Clark County has known and worked with McDonald for more than 15 years. She said he’s great at battling developers and builders “who have bullied their way into local government.”
“He won’t give up … much like a pit bull,” she added.
But like many pit bulls, she said McDonald can also be gentle, emotional and incredibly funny.
Clark County Councilor Sue Marshall first met McDonald at a Friends of Clark County board meeting. She said she had just moved up from Oregon and was invited to learn more about the group and its work on the growth plan update.
During his time living in Clark County, Marshall said McDonald “has been on the forefront of implementation of the Growth Management Act from the early ’90s.”
“I would credit David with really understanding the legal protections that are in place under the Growth Management Act, for resource lands in particular. Friends of Clark County, with David as their attorney, have been very successful in protecting agricultural lands from development,” Marshall said. “He’s also a really charming guy and a very loyal friend.”
Chelatchie resident John Nanney met McDonald through Friends of Clark County. Nanney and many of his neighbors are challenging the county council’s approval of a mining overlay district in the Chelatchie Bluff mineral lands. The residents have also filed complaints with the county and state and federal agencies related to alleged misdeeds by Portland-Vancouver Junction Railroad, similar to complaints filed by the Friends of Central Vancouver.
While the Chelatchie Prairie Coalition hasn’t hired McDonald, Nanney said he has been a good sounding board and an invaluable resource, as McDonald is for many residents.
“I think what he’s done for Clark County is immeasurable as far as … forcing Clark County and industry and those who would like to come in and do whatever they want to reconsider and do things a little bit more by the law,” Nanney said. “I’ve had conversations with him where he’s kind of brought me back towards center. I think that speaks volumes.”
A looming question
Although McDonald, 66, considers himself semi-retired, he still frequently puts in a 40-hour work week filing briefs, responding to motions, researching case law, meetings with clients and appearing in court. He has no plans to stop practicing law anytime soon, but the day will come eventually. Is there an attorney ready to pick up the mantle and carry the torch?
“I don’t see another David McDonald in the wings, coming in to take over,” Nanney said. “Good land management lawyers, growth management lawyers are expensive.”
Christian said she doesn’t know what will happen when McDonald quits practicing the law entirely.
“When you think of all he does, oh my gosh,” she said. “But David never complains. He’s just a warrior.”
