Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted in the CEO Update article, “Associations Need Policies to Guard Against Pitfalls of AI Us.” “Some associations are using generative AI to screen resumes and recorded interviews with job candidates. Groups should be aware that AI platforms have bias built in, said nonprofit attorney Jeff Tenenbaum, who wrote an article on AI legal risks for the American Bar Association’s Business Law Today and is managing partner of Tenenbaum Law Group. “If you end up not hiring certain candidates and it turns out they were weeded out because of some AI screening platform that is discriminating on the basis of some protected characteristic, that creates liability risk,” Tenenbaum said. “For anyone who’s using AI in any aspect of employee hiring, performance management or anything else, it’s particularly risky from a discrimination perspective,” he said.

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted in an ASAE Inroads article entitled, “Ways & Means Inquiry into Tax-Exempt Orgs’ ‘Political Campaign Intervention’ May Have Unintended Consequences.” “Noting the potential for a significant impact across the non-profit community, association attorney Jeff Tenenbaum, Managing Partner of the Tenenbaum Law Group, said, ‘Any time that Congress revisits existing requirements, limitations, and prohibitions for any category of tax-exempt organization, there is the risk of a spillover effect and unintended consequences for all tax-exempt entities. We have seen that happen numerous times in the past. Even though the initial inquiry may be focused on 501(c)(4)/(c)(3) affiliations in the political campaign space, any new rules put into place to regulate that space have a high likelihood of adversely affecting the very important 501(c)(6)/(c)(3) affiliations that exist throughout the association community.’”

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted in an August 15, 2023 Bloomberg News article entitled, “US ‘Dark Money’ Donor Groups Accuse Each Other of Abusing System.” “Though the allegations about Leo and Kessler are partisan, legal experts say the concerns they raise have been taken seriously by the IRS in the past. Jeffrey Tenenbaum, a lawyer specializing in representing nonprofits, declined to comment on the specific allegations but said the IRS has a history of cracking down on abuse of tax-exempt status for ‘private inurement’ and ‘private benefit.’”

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in a NACE Insights article about avoiding the potential legal pitfalls associated with AI use.

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted in an article in The NonProfit Times entitled, “Hackers Extorting and Offering Booty To Charity.” “’Nonprofit recipients of these ill-begotten gains would likely not be criminally liable themselves, assuming they received the funds unknowingly and were not complicit.’ But they ‘may well be forced to return the money,’ said attorney Jeff Tenenbaum, whose Washington, D.C. firm advises hundreds of nonprofits across the country. Just what charities can do proactively to guard against such scenarios is less clear. For all of them, it probably makes sense to be leery of large dollar gifts that don’t pass the smell test, but ‘I don’t know what they could do except to screen their large donors to the extent possible,’ Tenenbaum said.”

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in an article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy entitled, “How Nonprofits Can Avoid A.I. Ethical and Legal Pitfalls,” addressing legal issues involving privacy, bias in employment actions, intellectual property, and tort liability.

Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC has once again been “ranked” by the prestigious U.S. Legal 500 for 2023 in the national Not-for-Profit category. One of only 19 law firms ranked nationwide and the only boutique firm, this is a highly coveted, distinguished honor. TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is also one of only five members of the U.S. Legal 500 Not-for-Profit Hall of Fame. Details can be found here and here.

Here are some excerpts from the published client testimonials:

“Experienced managing partner and co-founder Jeffrey Tenenbaum is the ‘highly skillful, caring, and practical’ practice head leading the group at Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC in Washington DC. Tenenbaum, who is active in the nonprofit bar, is emblematic of the group’s ‘rich and deep understanding of the nonprofit and trade association ecosystem’, leveraged to act as outside general counsel for different types of clients such as charities, trade and professional associations, international NGOs, conservation groups, and educational and health care institutions, with Nisha Thakker, who co-founded the group, a key name for healthcare work.”

“Jeffrey has years of experience in the non-profit space. Since starting his own practice, we have found him to be extremely responsive, as well as realistic.”

“The group has a rich and deep understanding of the non-profit and trade association ecosystem and therefore has experience and understanding of any situation and issue that may arise for any particular organization. They are very responsive, respectful, genuine in their desire to do good for their clients. They have also responded very well to adapting to the changing office environments resulting from the pandemic.”

“Jeffrey Tenenbaum is very knowledgeable, fastidious, and personable. He is able to drill down to the very heart of the issue and articulate it so that my board and other stakeholders understand any issue from all angles and the options before us. He has been a great resource for a number of items, whether it’s launching a new foundation, templates for bylaws, employment contracts, or affiliate partnerships, Jeff is a great resource to go to.”

“Jeffrey Tenenbaum is exceptional. Highly skillful, caring, and practical.”

In addition to other honors and recognitions, in its first year of existence, TLG was awarded the (top) Tier 1 designation in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for Nonprofit/Charities Law for 2021 by Best Law Firms/U.S. News & World Report®, and then again for 2022 and 2023. The firm is one of only six law firms in the region to have been granted this distinguished Tier 1 honor (and one of only four “client-confirmed” firms) and the only boutique firm among them.

The Southern Poverty Law Center’s Hatewatch quotes TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum in “Experts: VDARE’s Real Estate Deals May Cost Group Nonprofit Status”: “The VDARE Foundation, a nonprofit based in New York that leading white nationalist activist Peter Brimelow founded in 2008, purchased the castle for $1.4 million in February 2020. The foundation serves as an umbrella organization for VDARE’s website, which it claims is a nonprofit journalistic outlet but consists of anti-immigrant and white nationalist posts. The hate group used donations for the purchase, according to court documents.” “Jeff Tenenbaum, a managing partner at the Washington, D.C.-based Tenenbaum Law Group, which specializes in federal nonprofit law, told Hatewatch he did not have enough information on the real estate deals and VDARE’s composition to make a judgement. He said, however, they ‘could be very improper. … Anytime there is personal benefit to the founders/directors/managers of a nonprofit deriving from the nonprofit, it gives rise to potential private inurement and impermissible private benefit.’ Tenenbaum said such potential benefits ‘can pose a risk to the organization’s 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status.”

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted in a March 24, 2023 New York Times article, “The Younger Brother Caught in the Middle of the FTX Investigation,” focused on the 501(c)(4) tax-exempt nonprofit organization Guarding Against Pandemics, founded by Gabe Bankman-Fried, the brother of FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried: “Jeffrey Tenenbaum, a lawyer who specializes in nonprofit law, said it was ‘problematic’ that Guarding Against Pandemics had waited over a year to file the required form. The I.R.S. can fine organizations for not complying.”

Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC has been “ranked” by the prestigious U.S. Legal 500 for 2022 in the national Not-for-Profit category. One of only 19 law firms ranked nationwide and the only boutique firm, this is a highly coveted, distinguished honor. TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is also one of only five members of the U.S. Legal 500 Not-for-Profit Hall of Fame. Details can be found here and here.

Here are excerpts from the published client testimonials:

“This is the most responsive legal firm that I have worked with in my career. They are quick to respond and quick to provide work product. Some firms tend to ramble, but not the Tenenbaum Law Group. They listen to our concerns and provide clear, concise responses.”

“Jeff and Nisha are an incredible team – they get how their work impacts their clients – not just legally, but operationally and financially as well.”

“Jeff Tenenbaum is a leading expert in non-profit law. He is extremely knowledgeable and responsive to client questions and concerns.”

“Jeff Tenenbaum and his team are exceptional partners for associations in their legal and governance needs. Tenenbaum is smart, practical, and easy to work with.”

“TLG is extremely responsive and gets work done quickly. Jeff Tenenbaum has a very practical, real-world approach to solving problems, which makes him a pleasure to work with.”

“Tenenbaum Law Group didn’t miss a beat during COVID-19, despite an increased workload with event cancellation negotiations, PPP loan questions, and Employee Retention Tax credit questions. They provide expertise in the not-for-profit industry and during the last year have provided informed advice regarding a range of issues including COVID-19 specific issues, bylaws, and board governance, filing an Amicus Curiae Brief, and hotel negotiations.”

In addition to other honors and recognitions, in its first year of existence, TLG was awarded the (top) Tier 1 designation in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for Nonprofit/Charities Law for 2021 by Best Law Firms/U.S. News & World Report®, and then again for 2022. The firm is one of only six law firms in the region to have been granted this distinguished Tier 1 honor in 2021 and 2022, and the only boutique firm among them. The unsolicited testimonials received by Best Law Firms/U.S. News & World Report® from the firm’s clients can be read here.

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was quoted extensively in a Defense Daily article about the legality of vaccine mandates at association conferences, including an upcoming March 2022 Air Force Association conference in Orlando, Florida. The Air Force Association is a client of TLG’s.

The Michigan Society of Association Executives’ The Update published TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum’s new article, “Unrelated Business Income Tax: A Comprehensive Overview for Nonprofits,” in its January 20, 2022 edition.

The Tenenbaum Law Group (TLG) is pleased to announce the promotion of Nisha Thakker to Partner, effective January 1, 2022. A co-founder of the firm two years ago with Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum, Nisha has been an integral part of TLG since its inception and is an extremely accomplished nonprofit attorney on whom so many of the firm’s clients rely for regular legal advice and counsel. Founded on January 1, 2020 by Jeff and Nisha, TLG is a nationally recognized, Washington, DC-based, three-attorney boutique law firm focused exclusively on the nonprofit sector, with approximately 500 clients across the United States. The firm’s client base is composed principally of nonprofit organizations – such as trade and professional associations, charities, international NGOs, arts and cultural institutions, think tanks, health care entities, foundations, and the like – as well as select companies and executives that work with or provide services to nonprofits.

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum and Counsel Nisha Thakker are quoted extensively in this article in ASAE’s Associations Now about the fact that after trade and professional associations experienced costly event-cancellation penalties due to the pandemic, many are looking at their meeting contracts differently and incorporating new provisions when possible. Tenenbaum and Thakker offer numerous practical tips to associations in connection with the negotiation of their meeting contracts.

Associations Now

Tenenbaum Law Group is very proud to have once again been awarded – in its second year of existence – the (top) Tier 1 designation in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for Nonprofit/Charities Law for 2022 by Best Law Firms/U.S. News & World Report. The firm is one of only six law firms in the region to have been granted this distinguished 2022 honor in Tier 1 (there were 11 total firms in the three tiers combined) – and the only boutique firm among the six. In addition, TLG’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was, once again, awarded the Best Lawyers designation for 2022 for Nonprofit/Charities Law nationally by Best Law Firms/U.S. News & World Report, an honor he has received every year since 2012. Comments from a number of the firm’s clients can be found here.

The American Bar Association’s Business Law Today publishes TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum’s new article, “Unrelated Business Income Tax (UBIT): A Comprehensive Overview for Nonprofits.” According to the ABA’s LinkedIn post about the article, “Review the basic UBIT rules and examine three key exceptions to UBIT that enable nonprofits to strategically plan to maximize their revenues and minimize their income taxes.”

Business Law Today

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted in this article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy about a newly enacted California law that, starting on January 1, 2023, will be regulating online fundraising platforms, imposing significant and multi-faceted new requirements. “Jeff Tenenbaum, a lawyer who focuses on nonprofit legal issues, says the California law will effectively set a nationwide standard for platforms that operate nationally. ‘Effectively, you have to comply with California in order to do any nationwide campaign,’ he says.” “Tenenbaum doesn’t think the law will bring fundraising platforms to a grinding halt but says it will require a change in business practices. ‘These are the kind of things that we generally recommend anyway,’ he says. ‘Now they’re going to be codified into law.’”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in this article in ASAE’s Associations Now about mandatory COVID vaccination policies for association meetings and conferences, requiring proof of vaccination, legally mandated exceptions, state bans on mandating proof of vaccination, and related legal issues.

Associations Now

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum and Counsel Nisha Thakker are quoted in this article in CEO Update about how hotels, convention centers, and other meeting venues are growing less lenient with cancellation and refund policies at this stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning that associations and other event organizers need to pay particular attention when negotiating force majeure and other contract language. Tenenbaum and Thakker offer up specific advice and recommendations for meeting contract clauses.

CEO Update

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in this article in The Rosen Report about mandatory COVID vaccinations for clients of travel advisors, requiring proof of vaccination status, disclosure of vaccination status to fellow travelers, and related legal issues.

The Rosen Report

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted in this article in Association Leadership magazine about mandatory COVID vaccination policies for association meetings and conferences, requiring proof of vaccination status, and related legal issues. (See #2.)

Association Leadership

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in this article in Small Market Meetings magazine about insurance, contracts and other risk management issues for meeting planners and meeting organizers. (See pp. 12-14.)

Small Market Meetings

TLG’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was featured on The Managing Partners Podcast, interviewed by the Podcast’s Erik Olson about himself, the firm and its growth, and business development generally.

TLG’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum has published the new eBook, Quarantine Cocktails: A DC Attorney’s Inspired Libations. From the Preface: “Many have said they have found silver linings in this horrific pandemic. For me, one of them has been the rediscovery of my mixology skills. While I had been a bartender during college in Philadelphia and when I worked on Capitol Hill after that, it’s been ages since I professionally tended bar. But that has not stopped me from fashioning myself an amateur barkeep for family and friends. In mid-March 2020, I started experimenting with new cocktail creations at home – including infusions, bitters, extracts, atomizers, torches, inventive ice cubes, rare liquors, and fresh and unique ingredients, along with some fun glassware – and posting them on social media with photos and detailed descriptions. Pretty soon, my drink posts were getting more attention and feedback than anything else I posted (except maybe my cooking posts). So, I kept it going.”

The Tenenbaum Law Group (TLG) is pleased to announce the addition of Counsel Julie Kulovits to the firm. Based in the Chicagoland area and most recently the general counsel of the North American Spine Society for the last six years – an internationally recognized association for medical professionals in the spine care field – Julie has broad-based experience with association and nonprofit legal issues. Prior to her in-house role, Julie spent a decade in private practice as a civil litigator in Illinois. Julie brings 15 years of law practice to TLG, where she will help to service the firm’s client base of over 350 associations and nonprofit organizations, as well as companies and executives that work with or provide services to nonprofits. Founded on January 1, 2020 by Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum and Counsel Nisha Thakker, TLG is nationally recognized, Washington, DC-based boutique law firm focused exclusively on the nonprofit sector, with clients across the United States.

Tenenbaum Law Group Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum authored this article in the March 1, 2021 issue of the American Society of Association Executives’ Associations Now magazine on UBIT and virtual trade shows.

Associations Now

TLG’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum authored a chapter in the just-released American Society of Association Executives-published book, Professional Practices in Association Management, Fourth Edition: The Essential Resource for Effective Management of Nonprofit Organizations. The chapter is entitled, “Legal Issues in Association Standard Setting, Certification and Accreditation Programs, and Codes of Ethics.”

American Society of Association Executives

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted in this article in CEO Update about the eligibility of 501(c)(6) trade and professional associations for funding in the latest iteration of the federal Paycheck Protection Program, including the limitation on those associations that engage in significant lobbying activity.

CEO Update

Tenenbaum Law Group Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in this article in the Winter 2020 issue of the American Society of Association Executives’ Associations Now magazine on strategies for association CEOs for negotiating their next employment contract.

Associations Now

Tenenbaum Law Group Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in this article in the Fall 2020 issue of the American Society of Association Executives’ Associations Now magazine on the current state of the association meetings industry, with a focus on legal considerations. In the wide-ranging article, Jeff discusses evolving changes in hotel contract force majeure clauses, speaker contracts in the virtual conference setting, standards of care and mitigating liability risks for hosting in-person meetings, requiring liability waivers for meeting attendees, and event cancellation insurance in the current market.

Associations Now

“That’s where regulations start clashing. You can try to prevent someone with COVID-19 from entering the workplace, but the steps available remain limited,” according to Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum of the Tenenbaum Law Group, a practice specializing in nonprofit law and based in Washington, D.C. “While obviously not completely analogous, the EEOC has advised that flu vaccinations may not be mandated for all em­ployees,” said Tenenbaum. “Exceptions have to be made for re­quests for disability, medical or religious accommodation,” he said. “It is not lawful to require all employees to be vaccinated. And, it must be coupled with appropriate notice to employees. As such, the EEOC has advised that employers should consider encouraging, rather than requiring, employees to get the flu vac­cine each year.” It might evolve into a Constitutional fight if the federal govern­ment attempts to mandate citizens get vaccinated, Tenenbaum said. Even in the heyday of polio, the federal government did not mandate taking the vaccine. An example, he said, is the potential liability if a firm offers flu vaccines on premise. Even though waivers would be signed, there still are issues, such as employees feeling pressured into being inoculated by management or their peers.

The NonProfit Times

Tenenbaum Law Group is very proud to have been awarded – in its first year – the (top) Tier 1 designation in the Washington, DC metropolitan area for Nonprofit/Charities Law for 2021 by Best Law Firms/U.S. News & World Report. The firm is one of only six law firms in the region to have been granted this distinguished 2021 honor.

Generally speaking, no, according to attorney Jeffrey Tenenbaum of the Tenenbaum Law Group. Waivers “cannot hurt the association from a legal risk management perspective,” and requiring a waiver will likely help the organization, Tenenbaum wrote in a recent article. However, “waivers are regularly challenged and nullified by courts for a variety of reasons,” so it is not a good idea to rely on them as a “complete liability shield.”

Associations Now

"While it is unclear how the IRS may apply its 16-year-old guidance to the modern-day virtual trade show and whether its guidance today might be different, taken literally, it would seem a virtual trade show of any kind would not qualify for the existing trade show safe-harbor exception from UBIT,” said association attorney Jeff Tenenbaum, managing partner of Tenenbaum Law Group. “That being said, that does not automatically mean that virtual trade show income would be taxable as UBI; it would simply be ineligible for the safe harbor and subject to the standard three-prong UBIT analysis. Moreover, while the UBI exception for corporate sponsorship income does not apply to ‘qualified conventions and trade shows,’ if virtual conferences are deemed to not fall within that definition, then it may well be possible to restructure some of these business relationships as corporate sponsorships. In short, this is clear as mud."

ASAE’s Inroads

Unprecedented Leadership During Unprecedented Times is the focus of the 2020 Association Leadership Forum, created by ASAE, which takes place at PlanetIMEX on Thursday 15 October. The programme has been developed to provide high level insights into the strategies association executives can employ to navigate a business environment that continues to change and challenge.

IMEX Exhibitions

As associations pivot to virtual trade shows, meeting executives must understand how unrelated business income tax regulations now apply to exhibit revenues—and how to adapt sponsorship opportunities to minimize taxation.

MeetingsNet

Tenenbaum Law Group’s Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted extensively in this article in CEO Update about the uptick in association merger activity during the pandemic.

CEO Update

Tenenbaum Law Group Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum’s article, Top 10 Legal Q&A for Association Events in the COVID-19 Era: Strategies for an Evolving Landscape, published in AMC Institute’s Money Matters newsletter

AMC Institute’s Money Matters

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum was interviewed by the Michigan Society of Association Executives’ President & CEO Donna Oser for an hour, addressing a wide array of COVID-related legal issues facing associations these days.

Attorney Jeff Tenenbaum, with Tenenbaum Law Group, who represents both boards and executives in employment matters, said he has not seen contract renegotiations yet, but

expects to. “What I could see, if I was representing the executive, is kind of a deferral, where the executive agrees to take a cut in compensation this year. But assuming the association, by whatever metric

they agree to, is back on track a year from now, the executive would have the opportunity to earn that back.” CEOs working without a contract are subject to pay reductions for any non-illegal

reasons, Tenenbaum said.

CEO Update

Jeffrey Tenenbaum, managing partner at the law firm Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC, was quoted extensively in this article about association meeting cancellations in connection with the COVID-19 pandemic in AssociationSuccess.org:

Jeffrey Tenenbaum, managing partner at the law firm Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC, was quoted in this article in Medscape Medical News:

Medscape Medical News

TLG Managing Partner Jeff Tenenbaum is quoted in the Michigan Society of Association Executives’ online blog about force majeure clauses in association meeting contracts and event cancellation insurance policies for associations during the pandemic.

Jeffrey Tenenbaum, managing partner at the Washington, DC-based law firm Tenenbaum Law Group PLLC, was quoted in this article in The Palm Beach Post:

The Palm Beach Post