LITIGATION
CONSTITUTIONAL — federal and state constitutional law, including First Amendment speech, petition, press and religion issues.
CIVIL — civil litigation (trials and appeals) of all types, including commercial, contract, business torts, and public policy.
TAX — U.S. Tax Court, federal district court, and state court litigation, involving individual and corporate income tax, estate & gift tax, and other tax matters.
BUSINESS ASSOCIATIONS AND CORPORATE LAW
ENTITY FORMATION — evaluation of choice of entity; advice regarding federal, state and local regulatory compliance; drafting organizational documents (corporations, LLCs, partnerships); incorporations and other filings.
GENERAL CORPORATE — buy-sell agreements; representation of closely held corporations; organizational, personnel, and tax questions; and general representation.
COMMERCIAL — contract negotiation and business agreements; contract disputes, arbitration, and litigation; and other commercial matters.
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS
NONPROFIT TAX LAW — creation of nonprofit organizations, including public charities and private foundations, as well as social welfare organizations, trade associations, and civic, member, and lobbying organizations; securing tax exempt status for new organizations; legal compliance and legal audits; representation of nonprofit organizations before federal and state regulatory agencies; and litigation on behalf of nonprofit organizations in federal and state courts.
TRADE ASSOCIATIONS — legal counsel to trade associations regarding lobbying, membership, ethics, and other organizational and operational matters.
FUND RAISING — negotiation of fund raising agreements; review of fund raising solicitations; compliance with federal, state and local charitable solicitation laws; participation in the federal government’s Combined Federal Campaign.
LOBBYING REGULATION — federal and state lobbying law compliance and enforcement.
ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
POSTAL LAW — classification issues, mailability issues, deficiency assessments, refund actions with U.S. Postal Service; litigation of rate, mail classification and rule making dockets before Postal Rate Commission; nonprofit mail authorizations.
FEDERAL ELECTION LAW — organizational and compliance advice; representation of political organizations in compliance matters and enforcement actions (MURs); advisory opinion requests.
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAW — requests for government information, Privacy Act, “Reverse-FOIA” matters, litigation.
AMICUS BRIEFS
Our firm has now filed over 100 amicus briefs in the U.S. Supreme Court, and over 70 amicus briefs in other courts. These briefs address important constitutional issues, matters of statutory interpretation, and even matters of Biblical and natural law, bringing to the attention of courts additional arguments and authorities not fully explored by the parties. As the courts usurp the role of making more and more public policy decisions for the American people, the need to present these briefs to the courts increases. See generally, Green v. Biddle, 21 U.S. 1 (1823) — first Supreme Court Amicus brief; Mueller v. Oregon, 208 U.S. 412 (1908) — the original Brandeis Brief, a second brief filed by one of the counsel for a party; Joseph D. Kearney & Thomas W. Merrill, “The influence of Amicus Curiae Briefs on the Supreme Court,” 148 U. Pa. L. Rev. 743 (2000); Zachary Mider, “How ‘Friends’ of the Court Can Tip the Scales of Justice,” Bloomberg.com (Sept 12, 2017).
This photo is from an October 2002 Board Meeting of The Senior Citizens League. At the left end of the table is Congressman Walter Jones (R-NC) (1943-2019). The lady on the far side of the table is Chief Master Sgt. Dorothy (Dotty) Holmes (1927-2019), the first woman to retire from the U.S. Air Force after 30 years of “all Air Force” service. Bill Olson is bottom left.
Bill Olson meets with Michelle Easton, President of Clare Boothe Luce Policy Institute at its offices in Herndon.