Trade Associations
Crowell & Moring LLP has a full service Trade Association Practice Group comprised of approximately 50 attorneys in a range of practice areas. We represent on a continuing basis more than 75 international, national, and local nonprofit organizations, and many others on a project-by-project basis. Our clients include trade associations, professional societies, foundations, education groups, philanthropic organizations, and other nonprofits and similar entities.
Our attorneys serve as both outside general counsel and principal outside counsel to many associations, as well as subject matter advisors for specific industry and public policy issues. We assist associations with a wide variety of issues that affect both the day-to-day operations of the organization and the substantive areas in which an association serves its membership. Our counseling and advocacy covers: antitrust, transactions, governance, tax exemption, litigation, conventions and trade shows, technology, employment, health care, legislative/regulatory, intellectual property, and the many other areas of law that affect associations and nonprofit organizations.
Our attorneys are also well-versed in the substantive and industry issues faced by our clients, whether they involve health care, environmental regulations, government contracts, aviation, international trade, or other areas of the law. Our goal is to combine our substantive knowledge in our clients' industries with our overall association legal experience so we can craft creative solutions that address our clients' needs.
Partners in our practice also are active in the nonprofit organization community. We regularly publish articles, chapters, and books in the association and nonprofit field. We hold seminars and training sessions on current legal developments including our Association Law Breakfast Series that covers current legal areas of interest to associations. In addition to the attorneys in our group, we have a team of other staff professionals dedicated to providing important non-legal services to our clients, such as meeting planning and coordination, accounting, member services, and similar association-related services.
Crowell & Moring's Trade Association Group advises in the following areas:
Corporate: We provide strategic advice on the many corporate issues that face associations, from the initial formation of a nonprofit entity, to organization and governance arrangements, to the panoply of management, operational and transactional matters. Our attorneys also have extensive experience and expertise in addressing the special requirements applicable to association and nonprofit directors and officers in meeting their fiduciary duties and fashioning appropriate compensation and benefit arrangements. Further, we are able to assist management in formulating disclosure, risk-management and compliance policies, and best practices applicable to an association's particular endeavors and business activities, including interaction with members and other constituencies.
Tax: We advise trade associations on tax issues associated with all aspects of nonprofit entities. We counsel on participating in joint ventures and affinity programs as well as obtaining IRS tax-free status, and advise on lobbying rules, unrelated business taxable income, and relationships with affiliates having a different tax status, among other things. In each instance, we work with association staff to thoroughly review and discuss available alternatives and the level of certainty that each involves in an effort to tailor the plan that best meets the association's objectives. We also advise our trade association clients of tax developments that may be of particular interest to their members.
Antitrust: Our internationally recognized Antitrust Group provides associations with counseling and advocacy on all antitrust issues. We regularly serve as outside antitrust counsel to associations; we provide antitrust training to their Board members and staff; and we represent associations in litigations or government investigations involving antitrust issues. We also assist associations in structuring standard-setting programs, information exchanges and statistics programs, certification programs, limits on non-member access to products and services, and similar association activities.
Employment: We address all aspects of employment and labor issues with a specific focus on associations. We regularly prepare employee manuals and agreements, assist in the review of plans for terminating employees and provide advice, and handle claims regarding allegations of discrimination both in court and before administrative agencies. We also provide training sessions tailored to associations on methods for handling reductions in force, furloughs, layoffs, and similar employment issues.
Public Policy: Crowell & Moring's Public Policy Group provides advocacy and policy development services to trade associations for government relations and consulting assistance before the U.S. Congress, the White House, federal agencies, as well as state and local governments. The team's multi-disciplinary approach provides a distinctive combination of policy, legal, and public affairs counsel with broad experience in the substance and procedure of executive and legislative branch lawmaking. Many of our team members have served in leadership roles at major Washington, D.C.-based trade associations.
Other areas:
Intellectual Property
Litigation
Health Care
Environmental and Natural Resources
Aviation
International Trade
Insurance
Administrative Law and Judicial Review of Agency Action
Privacy
Contracts
Meetings, Conventions and Trade Shows
For more information on Crowell & Moring's Trade Associations Practice Group, please contact Chris Ondeck or Jeff King.
