Helen Donigan
Visiting Professor of Law
B.S., University of Nebraska
J.D., Gonzaga University
Courses:
Trusts and Estates
Helen Donigan, a former legal services attorney, is a visiting professor from Gonzaga University School of Law, where she taught for 30 years. Her teaching assignments at Gonzaga included Wills and Trusts, Family Law, Payment Systems, and Professional Responsibility. She also served as associate dean for academic affairs from 2003-2006.
Professor Donigan’s primary focus has been bar association and family law matters. She was appointed by Washington governors and the Washington Supreme Court to serve on a variety of commissions and task forces. She chaired the Washington State Child Support Schedule Commission, which created a standardized approach for the establishment of child support. The schedule was subsequently enacted into the Washington state code. She was a member of the Washington State Gender and Justice Commission for eight years, and served as a commissioner on the Washington State Human Rights Commission for two terms. She also served as chair of the Washington State Supreme Court Task Force on Dissolution.
Her bar activities include memberships on the Public Legal Education Council, Committee on the Law of Commerce in Cyberspace, Access to Justice committees, and the Domestic Relations Task Force on Mandatory Forms. She was a member of the Family Law Section executive committee for 11 years, including a term as chair. She received the section’s Professional of the Year Award in 1989. She has been a member of the editorial board for the Washington Family Law Deskbook for more than 20 years, and is the principle author of two chapters.
Profession Donigan was a founding member of the Spokane Task Force on Race Relations, and the Spokane County YWCA gave her the Leadership Award for work in government. She received the Myra Bradwell Award from the Gonzaga Women’s Law Caucus, which honors alumni who have furthered women’s issues through the law.