Attorney, Advisor, and Experienced Practitioner in Historic Preservation and in Nonprofit Management, Governance, & Legal Services

With a career spanning more than 35 years, Paul Edmondson has deep experience in both historic preservation law and nonprofit management, governance, and legal services. Most recently, he served as President & CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the nonprofit leader of America's historic preservation movement. Before being named to the CEO position in 2019, Paul led the National Trust's legal team for more than two decades as the organization’s Chief Legal Officer & General Counsel. 

Throughout his career, Paul has been a strong advocate to ensure the enforcement and effective interpretation of preservation laws at the federal, state, and local levels. He has worked with developers, property owners, and local preservationists to find effective solutions to preservation challenges, and advance creative strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability of historic properties and cultural landscapes across the country. In addition, as principal in-house counsel for the National Trust, Paul was responsible for overseeing the full range of nonprofit corporate legal services for the organization, as well as its nonprofit and for-profit subsidiaries.

Paul received his undergraduate degree from Cornell University in 1976 in Anthropology/Archaeology, and his J.D. from American University in 1981. He is a member of the District of Columbia Bar.  

Paul currently is a member of the board of directors of Partners for Sacred Places, a nonprofit organization focused on advancing the preservation of historic religious properties nationwide, where he serves as chair of the board’s governance committee. He also serves on the board of the Finca Vigía Foundation, established to preserve the home and collections of Earnest Hemingway in San Francisco de Paola, Cuba. He also is a member of the board of the Committee of 100 on the Federal City, a nonprofit organization advocating for sound land use planning, preservation, and open space conservation in the nation’s capital.

Historic Preservation:  Paul has years of experience as an advocate and problem-solver working to protect and preserve America’s historic places. Now in private practice, he is available to provide advice and assistance to support individual property owners, nonprofit organizations, local advocates, businesses, state and local government agencies, and others who wish to explore legal and operational strategies to—

• secure the long-term preservation of historic properties and cultural landscapes, whether in private or public ownership;
• address threats to historic places from insensitive or inappropriate development; 
• reconcile conflicts between development and preservation interests relating to historic sites and landscapes; 
• determine and develop legal tools to protect historic places, including regulatory measures such as ordinances and local planning, as well as private regulatory tools such as easements and covenants; and to
• support productive development and sustainable use of historic sites.

Nonprofit Legal Services & Governance Support:  With decades of experience as general counsel and corporate secretary to a complex national nonprofit corporation, Paul is also available to provide advice and legal services on the full range of legal matters related to nonprofit operations, with a particular emphasis on organizational policies, practices, and governance, to support management and to ensure effective board oversight. 

Paul can be reached at:

Email: Paul@PreservationLaw.com  

Cell or Text: (202) 270-3276