Business Law and Corporate Law

Our non-profit lawyers routinely establish and advise organizations on how to obtain and maintain their income tax exemption. At Smith Hurst, we work with our clients to establish the right non-profit structure from an organization’s beginning in order to provide the right footing to carry out its tax-exempt mission. We have extensive knowledge and experience in corporate governance and compliance matters which allows us to serve the specialized needs of our nonprofit clients, including boards and management, on issues such as fiduciary responsibilities, conflicts of interest, directors’ and officers’ coverage, and indemnification. We help develop best practices and prepare governance guidelines, bylaws, committee charters, conflict-of-interest policies and ethical conduct statements.
We often advise clients with respect to tax-exempt fundraising and financing and on regulations governing private foundations, including self-dealing, jeopardy investment and excess business holding rules as well as the rules on domestic and foreign grant making. We also assist clients in the formation of new nonprofit organizations, reasonable compensation issues, restrictions on lobbying and political activities, unrelated business taxable income, and the rules for supporting organizations and donor-advised funds.