"Lawrence R. McDonough '83,
Called Minnesota's housing law leader,'"
100 Who Made Difference
(A Centennial Publication of William Mitchell College of Law)
By Amy Lindgren
"Larry McDonough, an attorney at the Legal Aid Society of Minneapolis since 1986, has been called Minnesota's housing law leader' and a backbone of public interest law. A review of his work makes that sound like faint praise. In less than two decades, McDonough has substantially improved the legal climate for Minnesotans in poverty by drafting housing bills, writing the widely used manual Residential Unlawful Detainer and Eviction Defense, and taking on hundreds of cases in defense of low-income tenants.
An adjunct professor at William Mitchell 1988-1990 and the University of Minnesota since 1997, McDonough has worked hard to influence future generations of attorneys to serve the poor. He is the creator of the university's housing-law clinic and the creator and professor of its poverty law course. He also is a primary trainer of the Annual Housing Law Institute, which he founded in 1991.
Many attorneys would burn out on the intensity of poverty issues, but McDonough loves his work. For me the romance is still there. My attitude hasn't changed from the first day I started,' he recently told a Minneapolis reporter.
Perhaps that's because he has another passion. A lifelong musician, McDonough is well-respected as a jazz pianist and vocalist and has played at local venues since the 1970s. His newest compact disc, Small Steps (Marx Music, 2000), is available at Twin Cities music stores."
