Laurie Powers

Laurie Powers joined Gonzaga Law in 2011 to establish the Moderate Means Program and serve as the Assistant Director of the Center for Law in Public Service. Dean Powers has led the Center for Professional Development since August 2012.  After teaching as an adjunct professor in the Externship program for many years, she assumed responsibility for the Externship Program in 2020 and now oversees the joint operation of the Center for Professional Development and Externships (CPDEx.)  

A licensed attorney for over 30 years, Dean Powers enjoys using her vast legal network to connect law students with career opportunities. After five years in private practice, she worked as a civil legal aid attorney representing survivors of domestic and sexual violence and unemployed workers seeking benefits. She has directed multiple legal aid programs and been repeatedly recognized as a Top Lawyer by Spokane-Coeur d’Alene Living Magazine and as a “Local Hero” by the Washington State Bar Association. 

After receiving her B.A. in Philosophy and Economics-Accounting from Gonzaga, she served with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps in Kansas City, MO before working with King County Judicial Administration to implement WA’s Domestic Violence Prevention Act and draft King County’s first Domestic Violence Comprehensive Plan. She then earned her JD at the University of Washington School of Law.

Dean Powers is on the boards of Legal Employers Advancing Diversity in WA and the Campaign for Equal Justice, the WSBA’s Small Town and Rural Practice Committee, and co-chairs the national Law School Career Chiefs Interest Group.

She married her law school mock trial partner who is now a Superior Court Judge and they are inordinately proud of their three adult children. She has rooted for the Zags since the 1970’s.