Webinar 04.27.26
04.27
ASAE Webinar: Top Legal Questions Association Leaders Should Be Asking in 2026
1:00PM - 2:00PM EDT
Jerry is the ‘Dean’ of nonprofit organization legal counselors in the U.S.
Jerald Jacobs, Pillsbury’s Nonprofit Organizations practice leader, counsels and advocates for trade associations, professional societies, charities, veterans’ organizations, and scientific and educational societies.
Recognized by Best Lawyers (2009–present) and the American Bar Association as a leader in his field, Jerry assists all kinds and sizes of nonprofit organizations in governance, transactions, mergers, disputes, tax exemption, global operations and legislative and regulatory issues. He is general counsel to the “association of associations,” the American Society of Association Executives. Jerry is the author of a dozen books on nonprofit law, including the standard in the field, Association Law Handbook, now in its Seventh Edition.
Representative Experience
- Advised regulators in connection with the transfer of assets from Open AI, a leading artificial intelligence company formed as a tax-exempt public charity, to a new controlled public benefit corporation.
- Assisted a prominent motion picture industry awards organization in effecting comprehensive nonprofit governance reform.
- Engaged by both parties, with waivers, to advise in the combination of a national association of domestic manufacturers with an international association of foreign-owned manufacturers in a top-three U.S. industry.
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- Led team advising a 400,000-member, national society of licensed professionals in its combination with a world-wide organization, resulting in a 500,000-member global organization with a budget exceeding $500 million.
- First-chaired antitrust lawsuits for a small retailers’ association against each of its largest suppliers, resulting in 10-year consent orders against all suppliers and more than $25 million in settlement payments.
- Led team representing a veterans’ organization in developing a VA-approved program to provide furniture and housewares to formerly homeless veterans, including federal legislation encouraging funding of the program.
- Merged two major national trade associations in the financial services industry, each with competing programs and complex structures, into one large association.
- Represented a major national trade association in plaintiffs’ class action antitrust litigation resulting in billion-dollar relief, the largest antitrust settlement of its kind at that date.
- Assisted a national cause organization in developing a sequence of endorsed products and services used by millions of members, with the programs conforming to federal income tax exemption requirements.
- Assisted a national trade association in the entertainment industry in negotiating joint ventures to conduct new industry exhibitions in Europe, in the Middle East and in Asia.
- Combined two professional societies of corporate executives into one, overcoming an extended proxy battle to obtain the necessary membership approval in one of the societies.
- Assisted a national medical specialty society in amending federal patent law to preclude enforcement of patents on medical or surgical procedures unrelated to pharmaceuticals or devices.
- Merged the 50 separate state chapters of a major federated health charity into the national organization.
- Created a limited liability company to provide information to consumers and to governments on the good standing of licensed professionals in the financial services industry.
- Advised an automobile industry association on the development of voluntary industry safety and performance standards for automobile repair.
- Brought litigation on behalf of a national professional certification organization against a vendor of testing administration services, resulting in eight-figure monetary and injunctive relief.
- Prepared briefs amicus curiae to achieve appellate and Supreme Court decisions favorable to the constituencies of client professional societies.
- Advised a national association of specialty physicians on code of ethics enforcement criteria and procedures addressing members’ expert testimony in tort litigation.
- Assisted a large national trade association in recruiting a new chief executive officer by offering benefits effectively replicating those of a business corporation.
- Combined five separate national organizations in an amateur sport into one major entity with three million members and five thousand state and local chapters.
Professional Highlights
- Recognized by Best Lawyers (published by BL Rankings LLC), Non-Profit/Charities Law (2009–2026).
- Named “Outstanding Nonprofit Attorney” by the American Bar Association, the first for an attorney advising nonprofit membership organizations.
- Advised the governments of the European Union and the Peoples Republic of China on their regulation of nonprofit membership organizations.
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- Responsible for a dozen books on nonprofit organization law, including Association Law Handbook, Seventh Edition (2025), Certification and Accreditation Law Handbook, Third Edition (2016), Legal Duties for Directors (2014), and The Legal Guide to Nonprofit Mergers & Joint Ventures (2020).
- Associations
- District of Columbia Bar Association
- American Bar Association
- Publications
- Association Law Handbook: A Practical Guide for Associations, Societies, and Charities (Author), Seventh Edition published by ASAE, 2025; available at www.asaecenter.org and www.amazon.com; earlier editions published by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.
- Certification and Accreditation Law Handbook, Third Edition, published by ASAE, 2016; available at www.asaecenter.org and www.amazon.com.
- Legal Duties for Directors: An Association Board Member’s Guide to Avoiding Risk While Advancing the Mission, published by ASAE, 2014; available at www.asaecenter.org and www.amazon.com.
- The Legal Guide to Nonprofit Mergers & Joint Ventures, published by ASAE, 2020; available at www.asaecenter.org and www.amazon.com. Author.
- Guide to Nonprofit Corporate Governance in the Wake of Sarbanes-Oxley (Contributor), published by the American Bar Association Section of Business Law, 2005. Contributor.
- Associations & the Law, published by ASAE, 2003. Editor and contributor.
- Nonprofit Governance and Management, published by the American Bar Association and American Society of Corporate Secretaries, 2002. Contributor.
- Planning Your Career in Association Management, published by ASAE , 2002. Contributor.
- The Evils of Excess in the Nonprofit World, published by the American Bar Association Section of Business Law, 1999. Contributor.
- Taking the Lead: A How-To Report on Six Key Issues Facing Today’s CEO, published by ASAE & The Center for Association Leadership, 1999. Contributor.
- Conducting International Meetings, published by Greater Washington Society of Association Executives, 1993. Contributor.
- Federal Lobbying Handbook, Second Edition published by ASAE and The Center for Association Leadership, 1992; the First Edition was published in 1989 by the Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. Editor and contributor.
- Current Principles and Practices in Association Self-Regulation, published by ASAE, 1992. Author of Introduction.
- A Bibliography of Association Management Literature, published by Washington Association Research Foundation, 1990. Contributor.
Education
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J.D., Georgetown University Law Center
A.B., Georgetown University
Admissions
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District of Columbia
Courts
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U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit