2015 OUTSTANDING NONPROFIT LAWYER AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED The ABA Celebrates Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyers

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1 Nonprofit Organizations Committee June 1, 2015 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: William M. Klimon (202) OUTSTANDING NONPROFIT LAWYER AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED The ABA Celebrates Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyers Washington, D.C. June 1, 2015: The legal nonprofit community today named the 2015 recipients of the annual Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyer Awards. The Nonprofit Organizations Committee of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section, recognizes accomplished and civic-minded nonprofit lawyers in the categories of Academic, Attorney, In-House Counsel, and Young Attorney. Additionally, the Committee bestows the Vanguard Award on a leading legal practitioner for his or her lifetime commitment to the nonprofit field. The 2015 recipients are: Vanguard Award for distinguished lifetime achievement in the nonprofit sector: Milton Cerny, Counsel, McGuireWoods (retired) Outstanding Academic Award for distinguished academic achievement in the nonprofit sector: Christyne J. Vachon, Assistant Professor of Law, University of North Dakota School of Law

2 Outstanding Attorney Award for distinguished service as outside counsel to nonprofit organizations: Gregory L. Colvin, Principal and Chair of the Board, Adler & Colvin Outstanding In-House Counsel Award for distinguished service by a nonprofit inhouse counsel: Suzanne S. Friday, Senior Counsel and Vice President of Legal Affairs, Council on Foundations Outstanding Young Attorney Award for distinguished service by an attorney in the nonprofit sector who is under the age of 35 or has been in practice less than 10 years: Anne K. Gerson, Associate, Tax-Exempt Organizations Practice, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP VANGUARD AWARD Milt spent his remarkable 55-year legal career tirelessly working with tax-exempt organizations. He worked for many years at the National Office of the IRS with the Exempt Organizations Division, where he was responsible for issuing private letter rulings and advising IRS field agents on the law of tax-exempt organizations. Milt served as the technical advisor to the Assistant Commissioner on Employee Benefits and Tax Exempt Organizations on major issues referred to the National Office. He also served on the U.S. Treasury Department Advisory Committee on law reform in Central and Eastern Europe. Milt later practiced nonprofit law as a partner at Caplin & Drysdale and more recently as Counsel at McGuireWoods. He also served on the IRS Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Governmental Entities (the ACT). In addition to practicing law, Milt dedicated much of his career to educating others. He was a frequent speaker on nonprofit law issues at conferences, seminar, and webinars. Milt has been a frequent contributor to law journals and publications, including writing articles for the Exempt Organizations Tax Review and making many thoughtful (and often humorous) contributions to the EO Tax Journal. He also taught law at American University Washington College of Law and the University of Richmond School of Law. After a long and distinguished career, Milt retired in His enthusiasm for nonprofit law and boundless expertise in this area were a gift to those serving with him. Page 2 of 5

3 OUTSTANDING ACADEMIC AWARD RECIPIENT Christyne is dedicated to using her legal knowledge to help others by helping nonprofits. She provides pro bono legal services to Partners for a Greater Voice and serves as the organization s director. Christyne presented at an international conference on hearing health held by the Coalition for Global Hearing Health. Her presentation offered general guidance for nonprofits seeking fundraising opportunities and collaboration with for-profits. Other nonprofits benefit from Christyne s pro bono efforts, including Help Women Heal, Inc., a 501(c)(3) that seeks to improve the health of women in Afghanistan by funding the medical and health-related education of Afghan women and Sweet Paws Rescue, a nonprofit rescuing and homing abandoned dogs. Meanwhile, she has begun another stage of her career, teaching business law classes at the University of North Dakota School of Law. Christyne teaches subjects related to the formation and running of businesses. Her students also learn about nonprofit law. Christyne speaks regularly about the nonprofit work she has done as a practicing lawyer and has even brought a local, nonprofit client into her classroom over the duration of a semester, and students under her direction provided legal research on subjects needed by the nonprofit, which is unique in legal education. Christyne also teaches students about the value of pro bono service. In addition, she has contributed to the research of law related to nonprofits and disadvantaged groups. Christyne s published works include: Scratch My Back, and I ll Scratch Yours: Scratching the Surface of the Duty of Care in Cross Sector Collaborations Are For Profits Obligated to Ensure the Sustainability of their Partner Nonprofits?, Playing in the Sandbox: Moral Development and the Duty of Care in Collaborations between For-Profit and Nonprofit Corporate Persons, Blurring. Not Fading. Looking at the Duties of Care and Loyalty as Nonprofits Move Into Commercialism, and Burma Just Around the Corner: When U.S. Corporations Employ Refugees. Her research aims to add value not just to the academic dialogue but also to serve practitioners needs. OUTSTANDING ATTORNEY AWARD RECIPIENT Greg has made significant contributions to the field and shown a strong commitment to serving the legal needs of the nonprofit sector. In the area of nonprofit lobbying and political activities, he currently serves as the volunteer Chair of the Bright Lines Project drafting committee of nonprofit-law experts that has developed a comprehensive regulatory framework, submitted to Treasury and the IRS, to distinguish partisan from nonpartisan election-related activity. The project is rooted in the belief that clear definitions of what constitutes political intervention by tax exempt groups will help strengthen American democracy and that such clarity must be associated with a zone of free speech that is wide and deep and that affords opportunity for charities and other tax exempt groups to pursue issue advocacy. Greg has advised many nonprofit clients on their election-related and legislative activities and is often sought as an expert in understanding this area of nonprofit law. He has spoken at numerous seminars and written many articles on the political and lobbying rules affecting nonprofit organizations. He is co-author of Seize the Initiative and The Rules of the Game: An Election-Year Legal Guide for Nonprofit Organizations (Alliance for Justice, 1996), as well as the legislative and political activities chapter of Advising California Nonprofit Corporations (Continuing Education of the Bar-California, 2d ed. 2008), and is a former Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Political and Lobbying Organizations and Activities of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association, , serving first with Milt Cerny and then Miriam Galston. Page 3 of 5

4 Greg also guides many nonprofit organizations on conducting fiscal sponsorship and is an innovator in this area, as well. He is the author of a leading text, Fiscal Sponsorship: 6 Ways To Do It Right (Study Center Press, 2d ed. 2005). He continues to educate tax-exempt charities through a blog dedicated to fiscal sponsorship, and he has made many presentations on the topic at nonprofit conferences, including the National Performing Arts Convention (Denver), YearlyKos Convention (Chicago), Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations (Los Angeles), Foundation Center (San Francisco), Georgetown University Law Center (Washington, D.C.), and Council on Foundations (San Diego). OUTSTANDING IN-HOUSE COUNSEL AWARD RECIPIENT What makes Suzanne so special is her passion and dedication to the idea of increasing the usefulness of charitable funds, epitomizing what Frederick Goff, the inventor of the community foundation in the early twentieth century, believed. Since Suzanne s arrival at the Council on Foundations two years ago, she has cultivated an environment where the legal team is committed to offering members legally permissible alternatives, while remaining deferential to the tax codes and regulations. Suzanne s knowledge of exempt organizations is broad and deep. She can pivot from employment law, to corporate law, to tax law in a single conversation. And with years of in-house experience, private practice, and an LL.M. in taxation, Suzanne understands how these laws are applicable in the day-to-day management of an organization, as well as how to litigate these issues. Before coming to the Council on Foundations, Suzanne served as legal counsel for the Nature Conservancy and then moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she chaired the nonprofit and estate practice of Harrisburg s oldest law firm, Nauman Smith Shissler & Hall. She became the first female partner at the firm. During her time in Harrisburg, Suzanne taught charitable organizations law as an adjunct professor at the Widener University School of Law. OUTSTANDING YOUNG ATTORNEY AWARD RECIPIENT Anne has been in legal practice since September, 2005, and has represented exclusively nonprofit clients or their donors since She is a skilled and sophisticated member of the tax-exempt organizations bar and a passionate advocate for her clients. Anne is also very active in law reform initiatives in the field. For many of her firm s nonprofit clients, Anne has found creative solutions to thorny governance issues, structures, and other tax law issues. Some examples of her work include assisting a public charity with international activities and difficult documentation challenges in restructuring as a friends of organization. For a large foundation supporting a medical school, Anne analyzed and advised on the foundation s obligations concerning a related hospital. She also helped design the three-part reorganization of three nonprofits with comparable missions related to music whereby two of these organizations merged and one of the merged organizations transferred its members to the third organization. Anne regularly counsels clients on governance issues and has drafted many different forms of bylaws for clients, advising them on legal and novel ways to structure their membership to achieve their goals. Anne has sought out work in the nonprofit sector her entire career. After working in the tax department of a large law firm in New York and participating in pro bono projects, she moved to San Francisco for the opportunity to practice nonprofit law full-time. She has been in the field ever since and, now returned to New York, is recognized by her peers as highly proficient and knowledgeable. She speaks regularly on federal tax issues affecting nonprofits. Anne holds a J.D. and an LL.M. in taxation from New York Page 4 of 5

5 University School of Law, where she was a Tax Policy Fellow. As a Fellow, she spent a semester at the Office of Tax Policy at the Department of the Treasury prior to completing her LL.M. In addition to her professional work, Anne is a director of the nonprofit organization Law Students for Reproductive Justice, and serves on two board committees for that organization. ### Page 5 of 5