Whatcom lawyer wins ‘Local Hero’ honor
Rajeev Majumdar, Blaine’s prosecutor since 2011, wears so many other legal hats, especially with nonprofit groups, that he recently won a Local Hero Award from the Washington State Bar Association.
“My parents and the Boy Scouts instilled civic-mindedness in me,” says Majumdar, who was born and raised in eastern Idaho and came to Whatcom County in 2008. He is of Irish, Italian and Bengali descent.
Majumdar, 38, provides a hint why he’s an award-winner for his community service with the way he defines his Blaine duties: “Prosecution is the art of holding people accountable to the community for their actions.”
The Local Hero Award cites Majumdar’s work with the nonprofit Legal Assistance by Whatcom Advocates (LAW Advocates), along with his volunteer work on the boards of Northwest Youth Services, which works with at-risk youths, and of Sun Community Service, which provides housing for people with chronic behavioral issues.
As a partner at the Law Offices of Roger Ellingson, with offices in Blaine and Ferndale, he does criminal defense and civil litigation, and serves as general counsel to people starting businesses.
I believe everyone has the potential for a bright future.
Rajeev Majumdar
Blaine prosecutorMajumdar is also special prosecutor for the new Mental Health Court based in Bellingham; serves as editor of the Whatcom County Bar Journal; is an adjunct professor at Western Washington University; and serves as a pro-tem commissioner in Whatcom County Superior Court.
LAW Advocates is dear to his heart because the group provides free legal help to low-income people with urgent non-criminal issues. Majumdar has been volunteering there since 2008 and now leads the organization as board chairman.
As Blaine’s prosecutor, he deals with people facing misdemeanors and gross misdemeanors.
“I believe everyone has the potential for a bright future,” provided they accept accountability to the community, he says.
He also enjoys his work as special prosecutor with the Mental Health Court.
“We encounter people who repeatedly offend in minor ways. Criminally prosecuting these people, and trying to change their behavior with fines and jail time, does not work,” he says. “However, it is still about accountability.”
“We try to find individuals who are willing to address their mental health issues but need help,” Majumdar says. “We connect them to service providers. We’re already seeing great success with individuals taking control of their lives. We’re giving them the tools.”
Rajeev Majumdar, pre-law
Before he became a lawyer, Majumdar earned master’s degrees in international studies and public administration at the University of Washington. While in graduate school, he worked for the National Nuclear Security Administration in Washington, D.C., during the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and afterward. He worked to establish protocols of cooperation between the United States and other countries to limit the spread of technology for weapons of mass destruction. The work inspired him to earn his law degree from Seattle University.
This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 11:02 PM with the headline "Whatcom lawyer wins ‘Local Hero’ honor."