Non-Profit Organizations and Trade Associations
Smith, Gambrell & Russell, LLP represents many nonprofit organizations as general counsel, tax counsel, antitrust counsel or trademark counsel.
These organizations include national organizations of physicians and surgeons, a national amateur athletic association, civic organizations, charitable groups, educational foundations and religious groups, including the Atlanta archdiocese of a major religious group.
Typical help for those clients includes the following:
- Tax planning to maintain tax-exempt status and to avoid unrelated business income tax
- Employment issues, including compliance with federal, state and local laws regarding employee discipline, discharge, and compensation
- Antitrust counseling to avoid claims that a trade association has violated federal and state antitrust laws in its meetings among competitors or in its standard-setting
- Trademark filing and litigation to protect the organization’s trademarks against infringement
- Assisting in governance of the organization, such as by-laws issues, membership meetings, and actions by the board of directors
- Protecting trade and professional associations and their members from disparagement and unfair trade practices
- Appearing before federal and state regulatory agencies to advance the interests of nonprofit organizations and their members
- Disputes with hotels and convention centers about meetings
- Internal dispute-resolution activities, such as arbitration among members
- Tax-exempt bond financing for nonprofit corporations
SGR also works closely with lobbyists to advance the interests of clients in the legislative process.
More than a dozen lawyers in the Firm spend a substantial part of their time assisting nonprofit organizations in legal matters.
