Attorney at Law · Sausalito, California

Legal counsel for organizationsthat still have to work with the other side tomorrow.

Nonprofit governance, employment, and reputation matters — handled in a way that resolves the problem without damaging the relationships around it.

How I work Get in touch

The problem

Winning the matter isn’t always the win.

Most legal advice optimizes for one thing: winning the matter in front of you.

That works when the parties never have to speak again. It works badly in sectors where everyone knows everyone — where today’s opposing party sits on tomorrow’s funding panel, where a board dispute becomes sector gossip within a week, and where a reputation for being difficult costs more than the matter was worth.

Nonprofits, foundations, and mission-driven organizations operate in exactly that world. So do a lot of closely held businesses.

The work is finding resolutions that protect your legal position and hold up afterward — without leaving you a reputation you then spend years correcting.

Three ways in

Where to start.

Nonprofit and mission-driven clients

Governance, board conflict, employment, charitable regulation, and reputation matters for organizations whose credibility is their operating capital.

Commercial clients

Contract and vendor disputes, employment questions, and commercial matters for businesses that value a resolution over a fight.

Insights

Plain-English writing on the legal questions that come up most often for boards, executive directors, and the people who advise them.

How I work

I work as an outside general counsel rather than a traditional firm.

For most clients that means being the first call — the person who tells you whether the thing you’re worried about is actually a problem, and what it will take to deal with it. Where a matter needs specialist counsel, I bring someone in and manage the relationship. Where it doesn’t, we handle it directly.