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Desktop Image: Lawson, David A.
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David A. Lawson

Counsel

T 206.757.8254 Seattle
I love my practice because I get to help my clients make our community a better place.
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David Lawson helps organizations and companies navigate the worlds of tax exemption, charitable programs, and philanthropy. His practice includes tax advice for tax-exempt organizations; corporate governance; compliance with solicitation and charitable trust rules; and business transactions involving nonprofits and nonprofit healthcare, with a special focus on emerging issues at the intersection of charity and technology. David has represented publicly traded companies involved in philanthropy; hospitals and medical research organizations; universities; arts organizations and museums, private foundations; and trade associations.

David has helped clients resolve several seemingly insurmountable governance and management issues, and successfully completed dozens of complex transactions ranging from spinoffs of multimillion-dollar programs and multiparty mergers to hospital joint ventures. He has successfully handled several major IRS examinations and state attorney general investigations, and has a decade of experience working collaboratively with federal and state regulators that supervise tax-exempt and nonprofit organizations. He enjoys finding innovative ways to allow his clients to accomplish their charitable, not-for-profit, and philanthropic goals.

Practice Highlights

Business transactions

Designing, structuring, and successfully implementing a variety of complex business transactions involving nonprofit organizations, including mergers, consolidations, reorganizations, spinoffs, redomestications, transfers of operating programs, joint ventures, and nonprofit/for-profit collaborations.

Governance matters

Assisting nonprofit organizations and corporate foundations in achieving their governance goals, including in-person board training and Q&A sessions; advice on potential conflict of interest situations; legal counseling with respect to strategic decisions and options; review and revision of bylaws and corporate policies and procedures; and timely counseling when urgent governance issues arise.

Executive compensation

Helping boards and compensation committees of tax-exempt organizations design and implement procedures for setting and approving executive compensation that establish a “rebuttable presumption” of reasonableness under the federal tax law rules in order to protect the organization, its executives, and board members.
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Admitted to Practice

  • Washington, 2013
  • District of Columbia, 2010
  • New York, 2009

Education

  • J.D., Harvard Law School, 2008
    • Online Executive Editor, Journal of Law and Technology
    • Predatory Lending Prevention/Consumer Protection Clinic
  • M.Mus., Violin, University of Washington, 2004
  • B.A., Violin, University of Washington, 1999, magna cum laude
    • Dean's Medal, Arts
    • Phi Beta Kappa
    • Concertmaster, University Symphony

Languages

  • French, German

Memberships & Affiliations

    • Tax Section, American Bar Association
    • Nonprofit Corporations Subcommittee, Business Law Section, Washington State Bar Association
    • Tax Section, Washington State Bar Association
    • King County Bar Association
    • Tax Section, District of Columbia Bar Association
    • Member of the Board of Directors, Wayfind

Background

    • Associate, Caplin & Drysdale, Chartered, Washington, D.C., 2010-2012
    • Associate, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Washington, D.C., 2008-2010
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