Casey Summar, Managing Partner
Casey Summar is the managing partner of the Law Firm for Non-Profits and a national arts consultant on strategy, planning and board development. She also serves as an adjunct professor of Nonprofit Law at Vanderbilt University. Casey is a contributing author to CEB’s Advising California Nonprofit Corporations.
Prior to relocating to Southern California, Casey founded the Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in 2005, which grew to become the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville, for which she served as Executive Director for more than a decade. In that role, she advised the boards and staff of over 400 nonprofits at all stages of organizational lifecycle from formation to operations to transition.
Casey was recognized for this work as the 2016 Nonprofit CEO of the Year for Middle Tennessee. She was also named one of Nashville’s Top 40 under 40 in 2015 and a finalist for the Nashville Emerging Leader Awards in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. She is an alumnus of Leadership Music and Leadership Santa Barbara.
Casey serves as a trustee for The Colleges of Law of Santa Barbara and Ventura and on the board of MOXI, The Wolf Museum of Exploration + Innovation. Other highlights from her community service include serving on the Americans for the Arts Private Sector Council, Chair of the Carpinteria Arts Center, Chair of the Nashville Arts Coalition, Chair of the American Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Industries Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Division, and Chair of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Entertainment & Sports Law Section.
Casey received her J.D. with honors from Vanderbilt University Law School and graduated magna cum laude from Belmont University with a B.F.A in Photography. She is licensed to practice law in California and Tennessee.
Representative matters:
- Navigated complex merger transaction between six nonprofit animal organizations
- Testified as an expert witness regarding the standard of care for directors of a nonprofit corporation in a breach of fiduciary duties trial
- Advised national arts organization on creation of a fiscal sponsorship program
- Formed a large private foundation and developed its grantmaking policies, procedures and agreements for both domestic and international giving
- Advised a start-up company on creating an online fundraising platform including establishing a related foundation and a donor-advised fund program as well as advising on compliance with charitable solicitations, professional fundraising and commercial co-venture regulations
- Facilitated the deaccession of a library’s extensive media collection including advising on donor restrictions, donor communications and transfer agreements