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Off Topic re Attorney Referrals / Attorney "Search" on cdcbaa web site
Thank you for the amazing response and article. I guess I was not clear, this is a non-profit - 36 years old with a charitable purpose having given away close to half a million in scholarships, free CLEs, the works. Fundraisers every month. I am new to the Internet Committee, the organization is not new.
I will definitely inquire into the insurance that is already in place as a starting point. But I see no disclaimer on cdcbaa's site and so I am curious as to why, or if it's even necessary given that there is no "advertising" goal here ('cept for me!) Rather, a way to expose who our members are and what they do for informational purposes and to give context to the group in both gaining awareness, hopefully increased membership and I just assume folks will call to inquire.
I have looked at numerous (attorney) non profits with search engines and / or alpha and practice area directories - none have disclaimers.
Thanks again!
>
> Ok, lets run down the list of things to consider:
>
> (1) First, form a nonprofit, keep your records straight (no comingling) If you do it yourself it comes to about $90. ($30 to file the corporation, $30 to file state nonprofit exemption status, and $30 for a statement of officers.
>
> (2) Try 10000% to not have any paid staff. One of the big liabilities is the liability of the board members for failure to withhold taxes.
>
> (3) Ask an insurance person for a quote on OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS insurance. If the quote is in excess of 5% of your budget amount, that fact alone provides some additional liability exemption. Please see an article I wrote on this on 9/14 : http://patentax.com/library/nonprofit_liability.html
>
> (4) Generally it used to be that if your budget were under $5k per year neither the state nor the feds wanted exemption applications. Now the state wants it irregardless, but the feds are at a $5000 limit. (If the budget is low this might save you $300 on the fed side, but the second that your budget goes over $5000 you have to ask for fed exemption)
>
> (5) If the "advertising function" is similar to what you would get elsewhere, the nonprofit may attract UBIT (unrelated business Income Tax) so this should be a concern.
>
> I suggest the non-profit as you will at least get some protection from (a) the corporate entity, (b) the nonprofit mechanism I outlined above, and/or(c) purchase of the Officers and Directors insurance if you are running that large of an operation.
>
> As outlined in the article, once the budget goes over about $18k to $25k, there are other established minimums you will need for insurance in order to take advantage of two additional levels of statutory additional protection.
>
> If things go horribly wrong you can have the nonprofit go bankrupt and the rules are only slightly different. What worries me is that your seem to have an advertising goal rather than a charitable one (however, protecting the public from bad practitioners, setting standards for members, is a good goal). A naked advertising mechanism might run into trouble.
>
> If its for-profit you should still get the corp but you will have yearly expenses including minimum franchise tax, yearly tax returns to file, and, you won't be able to take advantage of the "small nonprofit" provision in the article for having a low budget.
>
> Good Luck
> Curt Harrington
> http://patentax.com
>
>
> --- In cdcbaa@yahoogroups.com, "riprapbiz" wrote:
> >
> > cdcbaa Gurus:
> >
> > I am a new board member of another group. They do not have a member listing, nothing. Not by alphabetical or by practice area. I want to help develop that with a couple of other attorneys.
> >
> > President says "We're going to get sued by someone who is unhappy no matter what! They'll choose a lawyer and sue US (the group) when they are unhappy."
> >
> > She wants us to find out (a) what it takes to insure this; and (b) what kind of disclaimer do we need?
> >
> > I see no disclaimer on bklawyers.org. Did anyone investigate this prior to adding the listing for cdcbaa? Can someone point me in the right direction?
> >
> > My plan is to:
> >
> > 1. Contact my insurance company;
> > 2. Ask a corporate lawyer I know who is involved joining and using an TAGLaw for his large firm;
> > 3. Look at NACBA and see what they have on their web site - I get PC calls from my NACBA profile all the time.
> >
> > We are not requesting to be a referral service or anything like that. But for those of us in the Association who are not "Big Law" we simply want our profile listed alphabetically and by practice area to generate calls and inform the public of who we are.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> > Thanks!
> >
> > --
> >
> > Sandra Maria Nutt, Attorney at Law
> > 5910 Van Nuys Boulevard
> > Van Nuys, California 91401
> > Tel: (818) 988-8878
> > Fax: (818) 988-8339
> > SandraNutt1234@
> > Web site: SandraNuttAttorneyAtLaw.com
> > ALU Alumni http://www.AllThingsALU.com
> >
>
The post was migrated from Yahoo.
Ok, lets run down the list of things to consider:
(1) First, form a nonprofit, keep your records straight (no comingling) If you do it yourself it comes to about $90. ($30 to file the corporation, $30 to file state nonprofit exemption status, and $30 for a statement of officers.
(2) Try 10000% to not have any paid staff. One of the big liabilities is the liability of the board members for failure to withhold taxes.
(3) Ask an insurance person for a quote on OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS insurance. If the quote is in excess of 5% of your budget amount, that fact alone provides some additional liability exemption. Please see an article I wrote on this on 9/14 : http://patentax.com/library/nonprofit_liability.html
(4) Generally it used to be that if your budget were under $5k per year neither the state nor the feds wanted exemption applications. Now the state wants it irregardless, but the feds are at a $5000 limit. (If the budget is low this might save you $300 on the fed side, but the second that your budget goes over $5000 you have to ask for fed exemption)
(5) If the "advertising function" is similar to what you would get elsewhere, the nonprofit may attract UBIT (unrelated business Income Tax) so this should be a concern.
I suggest the non-profit as you will at least get some protection from (a) the corporate entity, (b) the nonprofit mechanism I outlined above, and/or(c) purchase of the Officers and Directors insurance if you are running that large of an operation.
As outlined in the article, once the budget goes over about $18k to $25k, there are other established minimums you will need for insurance in order to take advantage of two additional levels of statutory additional protection.
If things go horribly wrong you can have the nonprofit go bankrupt and the rules are only slightly different. What worries me is that your seem to have an advertising goal rather than a charitable one (however, protecting the public from bad practitioners, setting standards for members, is a good goal). A naked advertising mechanism might run into trouble.
If its for-profit you should still get the corp but you will have yearly expenses including minimum franchise tax, yearly tax returns to file, and, you won't be able to take advantage of the "small nonprofit" provision in the article for having a low budget.
Good Luck
Curt Harrington
http://patentax.com
>
> cdcbaa Gurus:
>
> I am a new board member of another group. They do not have a member listing, nothing. Not by alphabetical or by practice area. I want to help develop that with a couple of other attorneys.
>
> President says "We're going to get sued by someone who is unhappy no matter what! They'll choose a lawyer and sue US (the group) when they are unhappy."
>
> She wants us to find out (a) what it takes to insure this; and (b) what kind of disclaimer do we need?
>
> I see no disclaimer on bklawyers.org. Did anyone investigate this prior to adding the listing for cdcbaa? Can someone point me in the right direction?
>
> My plan is to:
>
> 1. Contact my insurance company;
> 2. Ask a corporate lawyer I know who is involved joining and using an TAGLaw for his large firm;
> 3. Look at NACBA and see what they have on their web site - I get PC calls from my NACBA profile all the time.
>
> We are not requesting to be a referral service or anything like that. But for those of us in the Association who are not "Big Law" we simply want our profile listed alphabetically and by practice area to generate calls and inform the public of who we are.
>
> Any suggestions?
> Thanks!
>
> --
>
> Sandra Maria Nutt, Attorney at Law
> 5910 Van Nuys Boulevard
> Van Nuys, California 91401
> Tel: (818) 988-8878
> Fax: (818) 988-8339
> SandraNutt1234@...
> Web site: SandraNuttAttorneyAtLaw.com
> ALU Alumni http://www.AllThingsALU.com
>
The post was migrated from Yahoo.
cdcbaa Gurus:
I am a new board member of another group. They do not have a member listing, nothing. Not by alphabetical or by practice area. I want to help develop that with a couple of other attorneys.
President says "We're going to get sued by someone who is unhappy no matter what! They'll choose a lawyer and sue US (the group) when they are unhappy."
She wants us to find out (a) what it takes to insure this; and (b) what kind of disclaimer do we need?
I see no disclaimer on bklawyers.org. Did anyone investigate this prior to adding the listing for cdcbaa? Can someone point me in the right direction?
My plan is to:
1. Contact my insurance company;
2. Ask a corporate lawyer I know who is involved joining and using an TAGLaw for his large firm;
3. Look at NACBA and see what they have on their web site - I get PC calls from my NACBA profile all the time.
We are not requesting to be a referral service or anything like that. But for those of us in the Association who are not "Big Law" we simply want our profile listed alphabetically and by practice area to generate calls and inform the public of who we are.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!
Sandra Maria Nutt, Attorney at Law
5910 Van Nuys Boulevard
Van Nuys, California 91401
Tel: (818) 988-8878
Fax: (818) 988-8339
SandraNutt1234@gmail.com
Web site: SandraNuttAttorneyAtLaw.com
ALU Alumni http://www.AllThingsALU.com
The post was migrated from Yahoo.