Education

We offer a diverse range of tailored courses, workshops, and programs designed to meet the specific needs of various individuals and groups in the philanthropy and nonprofit sector. Whether you're a budding law student, an experienced nonprofit professional, a dedicated board member, or a passionate philanthropist, our specialized curricula will provide the knowledge, skills, and insights to elevate your work in this impactful field.

Law 623
Topics in Non-Profit Law

Over the past several decades, the nonprofit sector has grown dramatically in wealth and prominence. So has controversy over whether the benefits provided by nonprofit organizations justify their special statutory, regulatory, and tax treatment. In this seminar we will look at the legal environment in which American nonprofits operate in order to ask several questions: Who “owns” these organizations and their assets? Are they best characterized as public or private or both? How should they be governed? To whom are they accountable? Why have there been so many nonprofit scandals? In answering these questions we will look broadly at the sector through individual students’ selection and focus on particular organizations and readings designed to provide an overview of important subjects in nonprofit organization law. The course will focus on domestic nonprofits not classified as foundations.

Law 363
Nonprofit Law and Policy, Professor Taimie Bryant

Fall Term 2023. Over the past several decades, the nonprofit sector has grown dramatically in wealth and prominence. So has controversy over whether the benefits provided by nonprofit organizations justify their special statutory, regulatory, and tax treatment. Taught by Professor Taimie Bryant, this 3-unit seminar will look at the legal environment in which American nonprofits operate to ask several questions: Who owns these organizations and their assets? Are they best characterized as public or private or both? How should they be governed? When and why are they exempt from taxes? To whom are they accountable? Why have there been so many nonprofit scandals? In answering these questions, we will look broadly at the sector and more specifically at industries in which nonprofits play a large role such as health, education, and religion. The course will focus on domestic nonprofits. (Course taught regularly by Professor Bryant or Horwitz).

Law 982
Political Activities of Nonprofit Organizations, Professor Ellen Aprill

Taught by Professor Ellen Aprill, this 1-unit course will examine the extent to which various organizations exempt from income tax under the Internal Revenue Code can engage in various kinds of political activity, including lobbying, campaign intervention, and issue advocacy, and the rationales for the different limits for different kinds of exempt organizations The rules limiting lobbying and forbidding campaign intervention for public charities exempt under section 501(c)(3) will receive particular attention, but topics will also include the rules applicable to private foundations, section 501(c)(4) social welfare organizations, other noncharitable exempt organizations, section 527 political organizations, and political action committees regulated by the Federal Election Commission. In addition to the applicable rules, the course will include consideration of hotly contested issues in this area of law – the Johnson Amendment, the Tea Party dispute, and any current issues that are emerging in the 2024 campaign.

LAW 220
Introduction to Federal Income Taxation

This course is intended to give students an understanding of the fundamental concepts underlying the U.S. income tax. The course will focus on the statutory framework of U.S. tax laws, certain principal and illustrative judicial authorities, and selected Treasury Department regulations and rulings. The course will include frequent discussion of federal tax policy, current tax issues and controversies, and the history and politics of the U.S. income tax.

LAW 222
Estate and Gift Taxation

Survey of the federal gift, estate, and generation skipping transfer taxes, with emphasis on the tax consequences of various methods of transferring wealth during life and at death. While there are no prerequisites, Federal Tax I and Wills and Trusts are recommended.

LAW 230
Business Associations

UCLA offers basic courses in Business Associations. A course in Business Associations is a foundational requirement in the Business Law Specialization. Different instructors have different emphases and may or may not branch out into aspects of securities law, the law of partnerships and limited liability companies, and other related bodies of law, as well as larger policy questions concerning the role of corporations and other forms of business organization in the modern world, but in all of UCLA’s Business Association courses the law regulating the internal governance of corporations and the rights and duties of directors, officers, and shareholders, including the Delaware General Corporations Law and the caselaw under that statute, is an essential part of the course.

LAW 234
Accounting for Lawyers

The course begins with an introduction to basic accounting principles and how firms record transactions and summarize their economic activities. Having established this foundation, the course will then move on to consider the accounting for, and presentation of, specific financial statement elements including receivables, inventories, fixed assets, intangible assets, liabilities and contingencies, and revenue and expenses. Interspersed with the discussion of these specific financial statement elements will be presentation of the concept of the time value of money and its pervasive influence on accounting principles and economic decisions. The role and responsibilities of the independent auditor and the concept of full and fair disclosure of financial information as required by generally accepted accounting principles in the U.S.A. will also be introduced. Students with no quantitative training should be able to comfortably grasp the material because, at most, only basic high school-level algebra is needed.

LAW 261
Employment Law

This course surveys American employment law, with an emphasis on California law. We will not take a chronological, cradle to grave (i.e., hiring to firing) approach. Instead, we will address the subject as practicing lawyers typically view it, starting with major definitional questions like “who is an employee,” and what distinguishes employees from independent contractors (and why this matters so much to Uber drivers and others in the gig economy). We will then explore the major themes in employment law: the “at-will” doctrine and the right to terminate employment, the rights of whistleblowers, statutory guarantees for fair pay and decent working conditions, the common law duty of loyalty, employee rights to workplace privacy, and post-employment restrictive covenants such as no-compete agreements and trade secret disclosure limitations. Throughout, we will try to keep an eye on how these doctrines differ between the public and private sectors, and whether enforcement is available to private parties or limited to government agencies.

Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations

The UCLA School of Law Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits and Loyola Law School are pleased to announce that they will host the 28th Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations on February 27 and February 28, 2025 at The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities in Downtown Los Angeles. The 2-day conference attracts nearly 150 lawyers, accountants and in-house professionals representing a broad range of nonprofit organizations. Government officials will give federal and state updates, and prominent nonprofit practitioners, academics, and other experts from the sector will speak on current topics in nonprofit tax, state law, accounting and other compliance matters. The tax press covers this event extensively, and material from the conference continues to be cited as authority in articles and books.

Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations

The UCLA School of Law Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits and Loyola Law School are pleased to announce that they will host the 28th Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations on February 27 and February 28, 2025 at The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities in Downtown Los Angeles. The 2-day conference attracts nearly 150 lawyers, accountants and in-house professionals representing a broad range of nonprofit organizations. Government officials will give federal and state updates, and prominent nonprofit practitioners, academics, and other experts from the sector will speak on current topics in nonprofit tax, state law, accounting and other compliance matters. The tax press covers this event extensively, and material from the conference continues to be cited as authority in articles and books.

Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations

The UCLA School of Law Program on Philanthropy and Nonprofits and Loyola Law School are pleased to announce that they will host the 28th Western Conference on Tax-Exempt Organizations on February 27 and February 28, 2025 at The California Endowment's Center for Healthy Communities in Downtown Los Angeles. The 2-day conference attracts nearly 150 lawyers, accountants and in-house professionals representing a broad range of nonprofit organizations. Government officials will give federal and state updates, and prominent nonprofit practitioners, academics, and other experts from the sector will speak on current topics in nonprofit tax, state law, accounting and other compliance matters. The tax press covers this event extensively, and material from the conference continues to be cited as authority in articles and books.

Internships +
Externships
Panels on Careers in Nonprofit Law and Philanthropy
Nonprofit Law Courses

Each year we offer at least one comprehensive course in nonprofit law, which may be “Nonprofit Law and Policy” or “Topics in Nonprofit Law.” Other classes, including experiential opportunities, are in development. In addition, we highly recommend that students interested in practicing nonprofit law or working for nonprofit organizations take Business Associations, Introduction to Federal Income Taxation, Estate and Gift Tax, and Accounting for Lawyers.

For more information, see UCLA Law courses

Speakers

LMPN looks for opportunities to bring prominent speakers to campus to talk about their social impact work in or with the philanthropic and nonprofit sector. Our 2023-24 speakers included Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who talked about working with philanthropic and nonprofit organizations to address the housing crisis, and conservationist Kris Tompkins, who shared her story of establishing national park systems for Chile and Argentina.