The Educational, Religious & Tax-Exempt Organizations attorneys at Greensfelder have many years of experience addressing the unique issues faced by nonprofit organizations. We provide a full range of legal services to a wide variety of clients including schools, hospitals, nursing homes, churches, religious orders, elderly housing organizations, publishers of religious works, charity organizations and foundations.  Our team of multi-disciplinary lawyers devotes a substantial portion of their practice to representing nonprofit clients in all aspects of finance and daily operations.

Our services include:

Charitable Giving

We work with clients in planning for charitable giving from the perspective of both the donor and the recipient. Working with our Trusts & Estates and Tax Practice Groups, we draft sophisticated planned giving documents and offer legal advice to our nonprofit clients in managing their planned giving programs.

Corporate Structure & Formation

Our Educational, Religious & Tax-Exempt Organizations attorneys routinely advise organizations on local and national levels concerning the preparation and implementation of nonprofit corporations and other forms of entities. This includes advising clients on the form, structure, situs and purposes of new entities and providing assistance in organizing the new entity.

Educational & School Law

Our work with nonprofit, private schools and charter schools involves all aspects of school laws, including student issues, teacher contracts, disclosure/confidentiality of records, school violence and abuse reporting issues.

Exempt Entity Finance

We provide our clients with advice relating to both state and federal tax issues of exempt organizations including obtaining and maintaining federal tax-exempt status, advice with issues regarding unrelated business taxable income, excise, property and sales taxes, and issues relating to political activities.

Exempt Entity Operations

Our attorneys advise clients on daily operational issues which may have legal implications, including policies and procedures and strategic planning. We provide our nonprofit clients with advice on their pension and benefit plans, employee contracts and compensation issues, employee reporting requirements, hiring, disability, severance, employee manuals, policies and procedures and other workplace issues. We also assist our clients with trademark, copyright, and technology, including the areas of music, art, books, and textbook publishing.

Legislation & Public Policy

We assist clients with drafting proposed legislation and in supporting or opposing legislation being considered on state and national levels. We frequently consult with clients, governmental entities and associations in matters of public concern.

Litigation & Risk Management

We represent our nonprofit clients in all types of litigation, both as defense counsel, and when necessary, as plaintiff’s counsel. We also assist our clients with the development and operation of insurance programs, including self-insured programs, as well as with managing liability and property damage claims.

Nonprofit Mergers & Acquisitions

We advise clients regarding acquisitions, mergers and the sale or other divestiture in the nonprofit field.

Real Estate

Our attorneys assist nonprofit organizations in all types of real estate transactions including sales, purchases and leases of real estate, zoning and land use requirements, environmental regulatory issues and real estate tax exemption.

Religious Organizations

Our Educational, Religious & Tax-Exempt Organizations practice represents many religious organizations including Catholic religious orders and dioceses and have developed significant experience in understanding their special needs and requirements in addressing the variety of legal issues they face.

Regulatory Compliance

Regulatory compliance is a significant issue for nearly all nonprofit organizations. We advise our clients on a regular basis regarding financial reporting and government compliance in regulated activities. These include tax matters, Medicare and Medicaid, Certificate of Need, state departments of social service and education, and employment and labor issues.