LEGAL SUPPORT FOR TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS

Feel Empowered to Run Your Nonprofit with Confidence and Ease

With our ongoing counsel services, we meet the sophisticated legal needs of your tax-exempt organization so that your staff and board can devote energy and resources to achieving your mission. 

LEGAL SUPPORT FOR TAX-EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS

Feel Empowered to Run Your Nonprofit with Confidence and Ease

With our ongoing counsel services, we meet the sophisticated legal needs of your tax-exempt organization so that your staff and board can devote energy and resources to achieving your mission. 

 

Comprehensive Advice and Legal Services that Work Proactively for You

Tax-exempt organizations have legal issues like any other businesses – management and executive compensation, government audits, employment matters, and tax compliance.

In fact, they also have matters unique to tax-exempt groups – fiduciary duties, fundraising and grant giving responsibilities, membership voting, and conflict of interest issues.

Cullinane Law Group provides comprehensive advice and legal services for a select group of large to mid-size tax-exempt organizations, acting as outside general counsel. 

We are available to help with all of your legal needs as they arise. This may include restructuring, management, employment issues, insurance, contracts, and more. 

General Counsel Services

We work as an extension of your team, serving as your attorneys on-call to handle any issue that comes your way and  providing support to the entire organization, such as:

  • Establish legal guidelines, procedures for monitoring and reporting
  • Risk management such as indemnification policies and record-keeping
  • Corporate or tax restructuring
  • Board and staff training
  • Create HR and employment policies
  • Advise on governance issues and executive compensation
  • Review contracts, tax forms, and insurance coverage
  • Create grant-making practices for foundations
  • Earned revenue and commercial activities (including UBIT)
  • International matters such as foreign compliance
  • Legal audits and check-ups
  • Fundraising law, gift planning and charitable solicitations
  • Merger and acquisition of entities
  • Dissolution of entities
  • Structure profit/nonprofit hybrid entities
  • Association membership

Legal Audits and Checkups

This organizational check-up helps to identify risks and to fill any gaps in the operations and services. 

Legal check-ups are important for nonprofits, foundations and associations that want to stay in compliance and avoid potential legal problems. 

We advise that a legal check-up be conducted every few years, or when an organization is undergoing a change in direction or leadership.

If we did not set up your organization from scratch, we start each new client project with a legal audit.

We perform the assessment and advise the board on findings. We:

  • Review your formation articles, board minutes, governing documents
  • Ensure federal tax compliance with IRS, including verifying 501(c) status and that donors are receiving proper acknowledgement forms
  • Assess conflicts of interest, affiliations and partnership agreements, and employment relationships
  • Review risk management and insurance coverage
  • Advise on fundraising law, gift planning, charitable solicitations and social investing

 

Immediate or Time-Sensitive Legal Support for Our Clients

Sometimes organizations come across legal issues that require timely advice. Our award-winning attorneys understand and can guide you through these complex, yet delicate, matters. 

If we are your long-term attorneys, Cullinane Law Group will work with your organization through daunting times, including:

  • Federal or state audits
  • IRS examinations
  • Board fiduciary issues, liability concerns, and indemnification questions
  • Internal investigations
  • Employee disputes
  • Conflicts of interest
  • Criminal concerns
  • Insurance policy claims

These types of immediate-need services are for our ongoing, regular clients. If we did not set-up your nonprofit organization from the beginning, we will start most new legal engagements with an initial legal audit. 

Ready to leave your organization's legal matters to us?