Diara M. Holmes joined Caplin & Drysdale's Exempt Organizations practice in 2003, and she became a member in 2007.
Services
Ms. Holmes focuses her practice on the tax and governance issues affecting tax-exempt nonprofit organizations – primarily public charities, private foundations, universities and religious organizations exempt under section 501(c)(3) Internal Revenue Code, as well as advocacy organizations exempt under section 501(c)(4) of the Code. She advises exempt organization clients regarding a range of legal and compliance issues including executive compensation, unrelated business income tax, lobbying and advocacy activities, grant-making programs (e.g., scholarships, international grants), structuring transactions, and corporate governance.
She has also represented exempt organizations before the Internal Revenue Service in complex, often high-profile examinations involving alleged political campaign intervention, executive compensation issues, and church tax inquiries and examinations.
Professional Activities
- She is an active member of the ABA Tax Section’s Committee on Exempt Organizations, and serves as Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on Audits and Appeals.
- She is a frequent speaker at national professional conferences on exempt organizations. For example:
- National Association of College and University Business Officers’ Tax Forum (2009)
- Georgetown University Law School’s CLE Program, Representing and Managing Tax-Exempt Organizations (2008)
- American Law Institute-American Bar Association Course on Tax-Exempt Charitable Organizations (2003, 2005, 2007)
- Greater Washington Society of CPAs’ Not-for-Profit Symposium (2006)
- She is actively involved with the Washington Metropolitan Area Corporate Counsel Association’s Nonprofit & Associations Forum, which Caplin & Drysdale sponsors. In June 2008, she presented a seminar for this Forum regarding UBIT issues. In October 2009, she moderated a panel discussion among prominent non-profit in-house attorneys, entitled “Finding Money Under the Cushions: Managing With Limited Resources.”
- She is a member of the California, New York and District of Columbia Bars.