The Krutch Lindell community mourns the loss of our partner, Jeff Jones, who passed away in early 2025.
Jeff was involved in representing the families of victims of numerous major aviation disasters, including the crash of Alaska Airlines Flight 261, the Reno Air Race disaster, and the Aero Ferrinco Let 410 crash in Mexico, which took the lives of 16 University of Washington football fans. In addition to his aviation practice, Jeff represented clients injured or killed as a result of government misconduct, construction site accidents, motor vehicle collisions, and other incidents.
Before entering private practice, Jeff worked as a public defender and tried numerous murder and other Class A felony cases. Among Jeff’s most high-profile cases is the representation of an innocent man who was wrongfully convicted based on an improperly conducted police investigation and witness line-up. Working with Paul Henderson and the Seattle Times, Jeff convinced the trial court judge to order a new trial because the attorney who represented his client at trial was improperly ambushed by surprise testimony that contradicted the police’s investigative report. A police officer from a different jurisdiction followed the case in the news and developed a new lead that led to the arrest of another man who eventually confessed to the crime. Paul Henderson won a Pulitzer Prize for his reporting and inspired the book Predator: Rape, Madness, and Injustice in Seattle. Jeff’s work not only obtained justice for his client, but also protected the community from the actual perpetrator, who was later connected to numerous other rapes and related crimes.
Jeff received his law degree from the University of Washington School of Law. Prior to law school, Jeff graduated magna cum laude from Seattle University, where he also captained the soccer team. Jeff was raised on Beacon Hill and addended O’Dea High School, where a memorial scholarship has been established in his name: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/jGBwPE4Nq9qaibF_AqwPcA
