Nonprofit and Mission-Driven Clients
A legal burdendisproportionate to size.
You are governed by corporate law, charitable trust law, tax exemption rules, employment law, and the expectations of funders and regulators who each read the same conduct differently. Most organizations discover a requirement at the point they have already missed it.
The other constraint is reputational. A commercial business can litigate a dispute and move on. An organization that depends on public trust, board goodwill, and repeat funders cannot. How a matter is handled is part of the outcome.
Governance and board matters
- Board structure, bylaws, and the practical questions bylaws never quite answer
- Fiduciary duties, and what they require in a specific decision
- Conflicts of interest, related-party transactions, and disclosure
- Deadlocked or divided boards
- Committee delegation and its limits
- Executive transitions and succession
- Board–staff boundary questions
Employment
Mission-driven organizations have employment problems commercial employers do not: staff who came for the mission and stayed through underpayment, blurred lines between volunteers and employees, and the difficulty of managing performance in a culture that treats conflict as a failure of values.
- Employment agreements, handbooks, and policies
- Performance management and separation
- Investigations into internal complaints
- Classification questions — employee, contractor, volunteer, intern
- Union matters and organizing
- Executive compensation and reasonableness
Reputation and public conflict
Organizations increasingly face public criticism from former staff, activists, funders, and press — some accurate, some not, and most of it permanent in search results. The legal question and the strategic question are different, and the legal remedy is frequently the wrong tool.
- Assessing whether a statement is actionable, and whether acting on it is wise
- Response strategy where litigation is not the answer
- Coordination with communications counsel
- Employee and volunteer speech
- Board obligations when the organization is under public scrutiny
Charitable regulation and fundraising
- California Attorney General registration and reporting
- Charitable solicitation rules
- Donor-restricted gifts, and modifying restrictions
- Fundraising platform and crowdfunding requirements
- Fiscal sponsorship arrangements
A Program of the Practice
Law For Good.
Some organizations cannot pay commercial rates for legal help, and the ones that most need governance advice are frequently the ones least able to buy it.
Law For Good is the name for the pro bono and reduced-fee work in this practice. It is not a separate organization and it is not a legal aid service — it is a commitment to reserve capacity for organizations that need counsel and cannot pay full freight.
If that describes you, say so when you get in touch.