by Brian Magness

Tom Lindley (left) and SERC Director Tuck Hines. (Credit: Brian Magness/SERC)

Tom Lindley has been a regular donor and invaluable friend of SERC since joining its Advisory Board in 2007. As one of the nation’s top environmental attorneys, Lindley was a partner at Perkins Coie LLP, where he chaired their Environmental, Energy & Resources (EER) practice. In that role, Lindley led nearly 100 EER attorneys in offices stretching from Anchorage, Alaska, to Washington, D.C. In 2015, his practice was selected as the environmental law practice of the year by U.S. News & World Report.

“As an attorney focusing on environmental issues, I was accustomed to every party in every dispute hiring its own environmental consultant to support that party’s position,” Lindley recalls. “SERC instead is a world-class source of unbiased scientific research, and its Advisory Board is a team of very educated and thoughtful volunteers who help keep bias away. I wanted to be a part of that wonderful world.”

As a member of SERC’s Advisory Board, Lindley was instrumental in its formation and recruitment of new members. His wise counsel helped Director Tuck Hines through many challenging situations and charted a path for SERC’s future success. In February 2023, Lindley stepped down from the SERC Advisory Board, but not before making one more valuable contribution—a planned gift that will come to SERC in the future.

“While I make small donations each year, my wife and I want to help secure the future of this great, unbiased research organization. However, because my wife and I both have serious health issues, we cannot risk giving away a significant amount when we might unexpectedly need it for healthcare,” Lindley said. “By using a planned gift to give a share of our estate to SERC, my wife and I can support SERC fully without concerns.”