Career Center

Stanford University's Office of General Counsel and Office of Development (OOD) are seeking qualified candidates for the position of Development Legal Counsel to provide legal support to the Office of Development.

Members of the Office of Development at Stanford exceed 500 employees and are responsible for the philanthropic support for the university. Donors consist of individuals, foundations and corporations. Assets given include cash, real estate, securities (public and private), artwork, partnership interests and other types of assets. Gift vehicles include outright (gifts, wills, trusts, beneficiary designation of life insurance and retirement plans), charitable remainder trusts, charitable gift annuities, charitable lead trusts and remainder interests in real property. Stanford is trustee of hundreds of charitable remainder trusts and administers charitable gift annuities and pooled income funds. The terms of gifts vary from very simple to very complex.

Reporting to the Vice President and General Counsel, the Development Legal Counsel works closely with OOD's Assistant Vice President and Senior Director for Planned Giving and the planned giving office of about 25 people. The planned giving office includes about 10 planned giving officers (most of whom were practicing lawyers), an estates manager, a trust services office, a compliance group, and an agreements and policies group for gifts from corporations and foundations. The Development Legal Counsel also works closely with the Vice President for Development and the senior leadership team of OOD as well as other parts of OOD and the university.

The Development Legal Counsel should have extensive experience in either the trust and estate area or in the philanthropy area and at least some knowledge and experience in the other area with a strong interest to learn more in the other area.

Core Duties:

• Provide advice on structuring complex gifts, including gifts with complicated terms and/or complicated assets.
• Provide support to OOD, particularly the planned giving office, on tax and legal matters.
• Partner with the planned giving office on trainings relating to tax, charitable giving vehicles and compliance issues.
• Provide guidance on compliance issues, such as proper receipting of gifts, certain reports to the government and rules regarding philanthropic giving vehicles.
• Consult and assist in negotiations as needed relating to complex individual, corporate and foundation funding; and assist with drafting complex agreements.
• Keep up to date on changes in the tax law relating to charitable giving and on changes in all other legal aspects of philanthropy.
• Keep up to date on changes in California law relating to wills, trusts, philanthropic organizations and charitable giving.
• Be a resource to consult on or, if needed, to participate in complicated estate and trust matters, including the occasional will contest.
• File cy pres petitions to the court where appropriate to permit the use of old restricted gift funds that cannot be used because of changed circumstances.
• Available to be involved as needed to engage with donors and their advisors relating to charitable giving.
• Engage and oversee outside counsel.
• On occasion, present educational presentations and prepare written materials on charitable planning to outside estate planning and philanthropic attorneys.
• Work with university officers outside of the Office of General Counsel and ODD, including those in the Stanford Management Company and Business Affairs.