J.J. Harwayne Leitner, Esq.
J.J. Harwayne Leitner is a partner and Chair of the Charitable Organizations group.
Ms. Leitner represents tax-exempt organizations of all types and sizes, including private
foundations, private operating foundations, public charities, supporting organizations, “friends
of” organizations, donor advised funds, social welfare organizations, and trade associations.
She counsels on all tax laws that affect nonprofit organizations, including private foundation
excise taxes, taxation of unrelated business income, private benefit and inurement, intermediate
sanctions, and lobbying and political activities.
Ms. Leitner also has extensive experience
interpreting and applying the New York not-for-profit corporation law, and handling transactions
for New York charities that are under the jurisdiction of the Attorney General’s Charities Bureau.
Ms. Leitner serves as principal outside counsel to many of her clients. In this role, she regularly
reviews and drafts contracts, both routine and extraordinary, and counsels on a wide variety of
legal issues, including employment, real estate, intellectual property, and litigation matters. She
also advises on the formation of new organizations and the establishment of federal and state
tax exemptions; on corporate governance matters; on complex corporate transactions, including
joint ventures, spin-offs, mergers, conversions, and asset sales; and on nationwide state charitable
solicitation issues, including cause marketing and other fundraising transactions and methods.
A frequent public speaker, Ms. Leitner has presented on charitable organization legal issues
for the American Bar Association, the Foundation Center, New York Lawyers for the Public
Interest, Practising Law Institute, Grants Managers Network Annual Conference, and
Craigslist Foundation Nonprofit Boot Camp. Her published works include: “Major Joint Charity
Enforcement Action by FTC and Attorneys General” and “Charitable Registration is a Consumer
Protection Issue” in the Advertising Law blog, “The ‘Delaware Advantage’ Applies to Nonprofits,
Too” in Business Law Today (2016) and “Nonprofit Organizations Need Nonprofit Lawyers,” in
Business Law Today (2016).
Ms. Leitner is the Vice Chair of the Nonprofit Committee of the ABA Business Section and is
on the City Bar Nonprofit Organizations Committee. She received her J.D. from Georgetown
University Law Center and her B.A. from Brown University. She is admitted to practice in New
York.
