Why is Everybody Always Looking at Me? The Complex Ethics of Serving as a Lawyer on a Nonprofit Board (2026 Nonprofit Law Essentials session)

Laura N. Solomon, Esq. is the founder of Laura Solomon & Associates – a law firm devoted to the representation of nonprofit, charitable, and other tax-exempt organizations and philanthropic individuals. Ms. Solomon and her associates serve as outside general counsel to hundreds of organizations, providing a full range of corporate and tax legal services that include representation for mergers, joint ventures, affiliations, and complex financings. LS&A clients include public charities and private, corporate, and community foundations; museums; hospitals; schools; religious groups; business, environmental, animal welfare, and sports organizations; social clubs, and political action committees. These organizations range in size from small start-up organizations to large social service providers and multi-national charities that conduct international grant-making. LS&A also works closely with individuals and families to implement their philanthropic goals using private foundations and donor-advised funds. Ms. Solomon is a member of the Charity Working Group of the U.S. Treasury Department, the Tax-Exempt Organizations Subcommittee of the American Bar Association, and the Charitable Organizations Committee of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She has also served as a Planner and Faculty member of the Nonprofit Institute of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Under the Obama Administration, she served as a United States delegate to the Financial Action Task Force. She also served as a Board member, Secretary, and Chair of the Grants Committee of the Mayor’s Fund for Philadelphia. Ms. Solomon is a Wexner Heritage Program Fellow. She is quoted frequently in the media and lectures often nationally and internationally for lawyers, accountants, and other professional and community groups on issues impacting the charitable sector and philanthropic individuals. Ms. Solomon teaches Golub Nonprofit Board Fellows at the University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School of Business, and Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business. She also lectures at the LaSalle University Nonprofit Center, and Villanova, Drexel, and Temple Universities. Prior to starting her firm, Ms. Solomon was associated with Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP. She is a member of the Bar Associations of New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. She received her B.A., magna cum laude, from Tufts University and her J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania. You can find more information about her practice along with links to helpful information on nonprofits at her website: www.LauraSolomonEsq.com.

Christie Brown Tillapaugh is the President and CEO of Dentons Cohen & Grigsby, where she is a Shareholder and serves as Chair of the firm’s Nonprofit and Tax-Exempt Organizations Group. She has over two decades of experience serving as outside general counsel and providing corporate governance and strategic transaction-related counseling for numerous organizations, including both tax-exempt and for-profit companies. Having guided multiple organizations through transformative projects and transactions that have shaped the nonprofit landscape, Christie is recognized as a leading corporate lawyer in the region’s nonprofit space. Her expertise lies in providing comprehensive counsel to senior management and boards of directors on various corporate, transactional, and governance-related matters. Christie’s deep understanding of the nonprofit sector, combined with her extensive deal experience, enables her to navigate clients through complex strategic decisions and structure intricate combinations to achieve their missions effectively. Whether it’s mergers and acquisitions, strategic collaborations, divestitures, or restructuring nonprofit entities, Christie provides a full suite of services tailored to the unique needs of tax-exempt and for-profit organizations. She earned her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law, Pennsylvania State University, her B.A. from the Pennsylvania State University, and is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania.