William H. Gates Hall is an academic building of the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington. William H. Gates Hall houses the University of Washington School of Law. The building is named for William H. Gates, Sr., a lawyer who served as a partner of the Preston Gates & Ellis law firm. Gates was a 1950 graduate of the UW School of Law.HistoryConception and planningBefore the construction of Gates Hall, the University of Washington School of Law, the only public law school in the State of Washington, occupied Condon Hall, located away from the main campus of UW. The building never expanded, so as the UW School of Law grew, various departments of the law school were forced to occupy other buildings.The Washington State Legislature, on two occasions, failed to provide the funds to expand the Condon building. At a later point the university decided that it could build a new administrative services building and then store extra administrative services that were previously spread across the university campus at Condon Hall. The university would use the cost savings to allow it to build a new law school.In 1993 the Washington State Legislature gave the university funds to design a new law building. After university officials began a search for potential donors, William Henry "Bill Gates III offered to be a donor. He was interested in naming a building after his father William Henry Gates, Sr. In 1995 the state legislature approved the building of a new law facility. The state legislature approved a funding for $1.1 million for the building design. It was conditional on the University being able to, by July 1, 1997, raise $10 million from private sources.
