Patrick Klemz has been practicing corporate and nonprofit law for more than 10 years and is currently Vice President of the Washington, D.C. law firm Quinn, Racusin & Gazzola Chartered.
Klemz represents nonprofits operating in spaces ranging from the arts and sciences to community building and poverty alleviation. Patrick has a particular interest in wildlife conservation and public resource management stemming from his pre-law career as an environmental issues and politics reporter in San Luis Obispo, California and Missoula, Montana. During this time, Patrick received honors for best environmental reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. Patrick also currently serves on the board of directors for an organization conducting research in urban forestry.
Patrick grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and earned his B.S. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2005. He studied law at Lewis & Clark Law School, graduating with a J.D., cum laude, in 2012. He wrote his thesis on property law issues concerning the rights of Alaska Natives and worked in the summers for a land use attorney in Portland. He also helped draft a report to the Oregon Legislature suggesting improvements to public streamside access laws in the state. After graduating from law school, Patrick clerked for the Hon. Ilisa Rooke-Ley in Eugene, Oregon. He began practicing in the D.C. Metro Area in late 2015 and is an actively barred in D.C. and Maryland.
Patrick has previously served on the board of directors for a low-income housing cooperative. He
is a former AmeriCorps service member, having served with a community-building organization
on the South Side of Chicago.