Total Credits: 3 CLE, 0.75 Ethics, 1 Tax Law Specialization
Offers essential insights for attorneys and legal professionals serving or considering service on nonprofit boards. Key topics include:
Gain a better understanding of your fiduciary duties and legal responsibilities, helping you navigate the complexities of board service with confidence.
Faculty:
Brenda Blunt, Tax Partner, Eide Bailly LLP
Laura Lo Bianco, Partner, Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP
Meredith Vivona, Ethics Counsel, State Bar of Arizona
Laura A. Lo Bianco is a partner with Lewis Roca in Phoenix. Laura brings over 25 years of experience to her role in the firm’s Business Transactions group. With a focus on corporate law and transactional matters, she advises clients in the areas of business counseling; the formation of organizations; mergers and acquisitions; real estate transactions; and compliance with the law and best practices. Laura has a unique focus in counseling various tax-exempt entities, such as private foundations, public charities, business/trade associations, schools, support organizations, and other entities that are tax-exempt under the Internal Revenue Code. She also guides clients through mergers and acquisitions; the purchase, sale and lease of real property; and with the negotiation of contracts. Laura received her J.D. from Santa Clara University School of Law and earned her B.S. in Finance from Arizona State University. She has been recognized by her peers as a leader in her field, being named in The Best Lawyers in America - Corporate and Non-Profit/Charities Law from 2013 to 2024 and in Southwest Super Lawyers - Business/Corporate, Nonprofit Organizations from 2016 to 2022 and on the Top 25 Arizona Women Lawyers List in 2019 and 2020. Among other activities, Laura currently serves on the Board of Trustees for the Desert Botanical Garden.
has over 30 years of experience providing services to tax-exempt entities, closely-held business and their stakeholders. She provides income tax compliance and planning for individuals, corporations, partnerships and tax-exempt entities and represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service and state taxation authorities. Tax-exempts and their related entities comprise approximately 90% of her clients. She helps these clients, in particular, comply with and plan for sales, payroll and property taxes; consults with them regarding the tax and accounting impact of multiple-entity structures; works with them to establish or reinstate their status as tax-exempt and helps them plan for the tax aspects of unrelated business income and executive retirement. Brenda is a frequent teacher nationally, locally and at the organization level on topics that include health care reform, board responsibilities, tax compliance, strategic planning, and financial management principles for nonprofits.
Brenda currently represents almost 200 nonprofit organizations ranging in size from formation-stage organizations to multi-million organizations with international reach. Her client base includes public charities, private foundations, trade associations, social welfare organizations, cooperatives and unions. She is passionate about working with organizations in the nonprofit sector, in no small part because of their passion to make the world she lives in a better place. 11/17
Meredith L. Vivona is the Ethics Counsel for the State Bar of Arizona, where she advises lawyers through the Ethics Hotline, presents ethics related CLE programs, acts as legal advisor to the Fee Arbitration Program, serves on the Ethics Advisory Group and acts as liaison to the Arizona Supreme Court’s Attorney Ethics Advisory Committee. Prior to becoming Ethics Counsel, Meredith served as Practice Management Attorney for Practice 2.0 and the Trust Account Helpline, the State Bar’s confidential practice management and trust account advice program. Before joining the State Bar of Arizona, Meredith served as Independent Bar Counsel, investigating and prosecuting misconduct allegations brought against attorneys, when the Lawyer Regulation Office had a conflict. Part of Meredith’s responsibilities included serving as Acting Disciplinary Counsel for the Commission on Judicial Conduct where she investigated and resolved judicial misconduct complaints. Before serving as IBC, Meredith enjoyed a varied career in private practice, with experience in civil litigation matters throughout the state. Meredith is admitted to practice in Arizona and the U.S. District Court for the State of Arizona. Meredith received her Juris Doctor from Wake Forest Law School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
