Non-profits come in all sizes. Many of the largest employers in any given area are legally non-profits…consider area hospitals and colleges. There are also thousands of smaller non-profits ranging from those with a very specific and active purpose, a social service provider, a community mental health agency, a library foundation, a service club or its […]
Have you done well enough that you are thinking of making a substantial gift to charity? For those seeking philanthropic flexibility and high impact, the vehicle of choice has almost always been to create a private foundation.
It was way back in 1992, when James Carville, then an advisor to then candidate President Clinton in his first campaign, coined the famous phrase, “It’s the Economy Stupid!” The premise then was that no matter what else the voters were talking about, in the end it was really the “economy” they cared about most, and that would dictate their votes.
In years past, if you had a good idea, whether it be for a for-profit venture, or more relevant to this article, for a non-profit, you would take that idea to friends and sometimes through friends, to others, and seek support. We call this “networking.” An exciting new concept burst onto the field just a […]
Recently, New Jersey became the third state to enact legislation authorizing the creation of “Benefit Corporations.” A Benefit Corporation is “for profit,” but at the same time it promotes performance accountability and transparency, and is designed to achieve a “public benefit.” Vermont and Virginia have also enacted similar legislation, and many other states are considering […]
Experts are telling us the recession is over, and it very likely is, at least by the numbers. Eight months ago, I predicted unemployment would reach ten-percent. Now, with just a couple tenths of a point to go, I am less sure, but still think it will go to about that number, and only then […]
An exciting new concept was recently born in the State of Vermont, where our firm also has an office. Vermont is the first of the 50 states to allow low profit limited liability companies to organize as a “L3C.” The basic purpose of a L3C is to signal foundations and other 501(c)(3) qualified donors that […]
Actually, it turns out what is stupid is to try and write an article about the economy right now. As I prepared for our periodic Legal Update about a month ago, I wrote an article to follow up on my article last year, providing a primer on sub-prime mortgages and the affect that they have […]
As part of our long range plan for the law firm, last year we made a decision to substantially increase the sophistication and capacities of our firm in the area of tax, trusts and estates. As a result, we decided to completely reorganize and staff what used to be called our “Estate Planning and Elder […]
Not much! At first blush, this is the clear answer to this question. That is, unless your credit is not so good and you stretched hard to get a mortgage that you really could not easily afford through a Mortgage Broker who sold your mortgage as part of a pool of mortgages. Not you, then, […]