About Us

EXPERIENCE

Before launching her solo firm, Barbara practiced nonprofit and tax-exempt organization law for five years as a partner at Kavanagh Rhomberg, LLP, and for six years as an associate and of counsel at Adler & Colvin.  At both firms, she handled the formation, dissolution, and merger of nonprofit organizations; helped new nonprofits obtain tax exempt status; drafted charitable trusts; and advised nonprofit organizations on governance matters, planned and charitable giving, unrelated business income tax, lobbying and political activities, grantmaking, and the various requirements and restrictions applicable to public charities, private foundations, and other tax-exempt organizations.

She also was an attorney in the University of California’s Office of General Counsel, representing the University on charitable giving matters and advising on the use of endowment funds, and spent two years at Greene, Radovsky, Maloney, Share, and Hennigh, where she practiced general tax and business law.

Before law school, Barbara worked as a nonprofit administrator at the Sierra Club Foundation and Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, and served as an aide to an Oakland city councilwoman. Barbara taught nonprofit organization law as an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco School of Law, and also was an instructor in USF’s Master of Nonprofit Administration program. She is a frequent speaker on topics relating to charitable giving and nonprofit organization law.   A selected list of Barbara’s speaking engagements is below.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Barbara is a member and former chair of the Nonprofit Organizations Committee of the California Lawyers Association, and is also a member of the Northern California Planned Giving Council, the California Political Attorneys Association, the American Bar Association, and the Peninsula Estate Planning Council.  Barbara serves on the Board of Directors of Community Initiatives, a 501(c)(3) organization that sponsors diverse charitable projects. She is admitted to practice law in California.

EDUCATION

Barbara received her J.D. with distinction from Stanford Law School in 2000, graduating in the top ten percent of her class and serving as an executive editor of The Stanford Law Review. She received a B.A. with honors from the University of California, Berkeley in 1988.

SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

Recent Developments in Charitable Giving, Northern California Planned Giving Council (2022)

Forming a Nonprofit Organization, co-presenter, Boston Nonprofit Affinity Group, Provisors (2021)

Canceled Fundraising Event?  How to Survive and Thrive, co-presenter, Thrive, The Alliance of Nonprofits for San Mateo County (2020)

On Second Thought: Changing the Purpose of Yesterday’s Gifts, California Lawyers Association Business Law Section Nonprofit Organizations Committee (2021), Practical Planned Giving Conference (2018), and National Conference on Planned Giving (2016)

Technical Corrections and Additional Guidance Needed for New Charitable Deduction Substantiation Regulations under §170, California Lawyers Association Taxation Section, 2019 DC Delegation (2019)

The Deduction is in the Details, Substantiating Charitable Gifts, Northern California Planned Giving Council (2019) and Stanford/SVCF Conference on Charitable Giving (2018)

Tax Law Issues for Campaign Finance Counsel, co-presenter, California Political Attorneys Association (2017, 2018)

Gift Acceptance Policies, Northern California Planned Giving Council (2018, 2012)

Endowment Law, Nonprofit Organizations Standing Committee of the State Bar of California Business Law Section (2017)

Crowdfunding for Nonprofits, California Society of Nonprofits (2015)

Fundamentals of the Income Tax Charitable Deduction, Northern California Planned Giving Council (2015)

Title to Assets: How your Donor’s Form of Ownership Affects Planned Giving, Northern California Planned Giving Council (2013)

Grantmaking Legal Issues, Bay Area Fiscal & Administrative Officers Group (2012)

The Roots of Corporate Personhood in Statutory Law, “Money Out / Voters In” Conference (2012)

PUBLICATIONS

Endowment Law, Nonprofit Organizations Standing Committee of the State Bar of California Business Law Section, September 2017

Changing the Purpose of Past Charitable Gifts, Planned Giving Today, April 2017

Gift Acceptance Policies — Why, When, What, How, and Who, Charitable Gift Planning News, March 2007

Constitutional Issues Cloud the Gift Taxation of Section 501(c)(4) Contributions, Taxation of Exempts, January / February 2004, at p.164

The Law Remains Unsettled on Gift Taxation of Section 501(c)(4) Contributions, Taxation of Exempts, September / October 2003, at p.62

The Private Foundation’s Guide to the California Initiative Process, co-author (published by Northern California Grantmakers 2003)

The Public Charity’s Guide to the California Initiative Process, co-author (published by Northern California Grantmakers 2004)

The publications and materials on this website are for general informational purposes only. They are not guaranteed to be up to date, and are not a substitute for legal counsel. You should not rely on any legal information provided on this website without seeking the advice of an attorney regarding the facts of your specific situation.