Thomas (Tom) Schroeder has spent his entire professional career involved with nonprofit organizations. He brings this unique experience to bear by providing practical and timely advice on complex state and federal laws and regulations so that his clients can focus on what matters to them.
Tom advises on the full range of legal issues faced by nonprofits and foundations, including: entity choice and organizational structures, formations, dissolutions and reorganizations (including subsidiary formation and operation, affiliated organizations, and mergers, acquisitions and dispositions). He also handles tax qualification and compliance for all types of tax-exemption organizations, including public charities, private foundations, social welfare organizations and trade associations. Finally, Tom counsels clients on corporate governance (fiduciary duties, conflicts of interest, board policies, and practice), executive compensation, and advocacy activities, including campaign intervention and lobbying.
Tom's significant in-house experience enables him to offer creative and pragmatic solutions to complex charitable giving issues, such as private foundation grantmaking, significant gifts to operating charities and creation and operation of donor-advised funds and supporting organizations. Tom also works with clients to navigate charitable trust law and endowment matters, including representing them before state attorneys general.
Tom speaks frequently both locally and nationally on nonprofit and tax-exempt organization issues, including those faced by higher education and healthcare organizations.
Admitted to Practice
- Washington, 2006
- California, 2014
- New York, 2019
Education
- J.D., University of Washington School of Law, 2006, with honors
- Order of the Coif
- Executive Articles Editor, Washington Law Review
- M.A., History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, 2000
- A.B., Art History and English, Bowdoin College, 1995, summa cum laude
- Phi Beta Kappa
Memberships & Affiliations
- Co-chair, Educational Organizations Subcommittee, Exempt Organizations Committee, Section on Taxation, American Bar Association
- Exempt Organizations Committee, Section of Taxation, American Bar Association
- National Association of College and University Attorneys
- American Health Law Association
- QLaw – The LGBTQ+ Bar Association of Washington
- Board Member and Secretary, Berkeley Lab Foundation
Professional Recognition
- Selected to "Washington Rising Stars" in Non-Profit Law, Law & Politics, 2010-2012
Background
- Principal Counsel, Nonprofit Organizations & Charitable Giving, University of California, Oakland, CA, 2013-2022
- Associate General Counsel, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Menlo Park, CA, 2011-2013
- Associate, Tax-Exempt Organizations, Davis Wright Tremaine, LLP, Seattle, WA, 2006-2011
- Project Coordinator and Project Manager, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, 1996-1999 and 2000-2003
- Assistant, Department of European Paintings, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY, 1995-1996