Our People

Betsy Buchalter Adler

RETIRED

Education

• B.A., University of California, Santa Cruz, 1971
• J.D., Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley, 1982

Areas of Practice

Ms. Adler's practice focuses on grantmaking charities, including family, company, and community foundations; charitable governance issues; and international philanthropy.

Professional Affiliations

Ms. Adler has served on the IRS Advisory Committee for Tax-Exempt and Governmental Entities and the advisory board of the National Center for Philanthropy and Law at New York University. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of California Santa Cruz Foundation and the Board of Directors of the International Center for Not-for-Profit Law. A past chair of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the ABA Tax Section, Ms. Adler has also taught the law of nonprofit organizations at Boalt Hall and the University of San Francisco.

In 2011, Ms. Adler received the Vanguard Award from the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association, honoring her distinguished lifetime contribution and commitment to nonprofit law.

Selected Publications

• Philanthropic Partnerships Using the 'Out of Corpus' Rules, co-author, Taxation of Exempts, May/June 2010
• Rules of the Road; A Guide to the Law of Charities in the United States, Second Edition
  Council on Foundations, 2008
  Betsy Buchalter Adler, David A. Levitt and Ingrid Mittermaier
• Disaster! Practices and Procedures for Charities Providing Relief after September 11, 2001: A Case Study
  The Journal of Taxation, May 2002
• Proactive Grantmaking Can Reach Beyond the Public Charity Grantee
  Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations, Volume 9/Issue 3, November/December 1997

Speaking and Teaching

Ms. Adler lectures frequently on legal issues of interest to nonprofit organizations and their board members. She has consulted with governmental and non-governmental organizations in China on the development of China's legal framework for charitable entities.

Bar Admissions

Ms. Adler is a member of the American Bar Association (Tax Section and Business Law Section), The California State Bar Association (Tax Section and Business Law Section), California Women Lawyers, and The Bar Association of San Francisco.

Ms. Adler is admitted to the bar in the state of California.

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