D. Benson Tesdahl

Of Counsel

Ben Tesdahl specializes in the law of tax-exempt organizations. He represents all types of nonprofit entities, including health care providers, charitable and educational organizations, religious organizations, veterans groups, trade and professional associations, and lobbying and political organizations. His practice encompasses the full spectrum of tax, contract law and corporate law issues applicable to exempt organizations. 

Mr. Tesdahl has extensive experience reviewing and negotiating hotel, meeting and convention contracts.  He also provides consulting and strategic planning assistance to nonprofit organizations, as well as providing advice on governance and bylaws issues.  Additionally,  he provides advice on relevant collateral areas of law, such as the nonprofit postal regulations, charitable fund-raising statutes, and trademark and copyright law. 

Mr. Tesdahl serves as general counsel to some of the country's leading tax-exempt organizations, including: The National Marine Sanctuary Foundation; The National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators; The National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges; Officers' Christian Fellowship;  The Education Commission of the States, and ANCOR and the ANCOR Foundation. He also serves as corporate counsel to St. John's Community Services and its subsidiaries. In addition, Mr. Tesdahl provides tax, corporate and contract law advice to some prominent for-profit entities. Specifically, he serves as general counsel to Trailways Transportation System, Inc. and to Envision EMI, Inc.

Mr. Tesdahl has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he taught an advanced seminar on tax-exempt organizations as part of the University's graduate tax program. He is co-author of Intermediate Sanctions: Curbing Nonprofit Abuse, published by John Wiley & Sons, New York. For over four years, he also wrote a monthly tax column for the Exempt Organization Tax Review, published by Tax Analysts, and he currently serves on its Editorial Board. He is also the author of The Nonprofit Board's Guide to Bylaws, published by BoardSource, and he serves on its Editorial Board of Advisors.

Mr. Tesdahl is a member of the American Bar Association's Committee on Exempt Organizations, the Exempt Organizations Committee of the District of Columbia Bar, the American Health Lawyers Association, and the Professional Convention Management Association. He was also co-chair of an American Bar Association subcommittee on tax-exempt entities. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia,  Washington, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Tesdahl holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the US Military Academy at West Point and a Master of Science degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the University of Oregon Law School, where he was selected to the national law school honor society, Order of the Coif. He was also an associate editor of the Oregon Law Review and received both of the review's annual awards for editorial excellence and outstanding achievement. After completing his law degree, Mr. Tesdahl earned a Master of Laws degree in taxation, with distinction, from Georgetown University Law Center.

Powers Pyles Sutter & Verville is a Washington, DC-based law firm that focuses on health care, education and the law of tax-exempt organizations.

News & Publications

• BOOKS
• Author, The Nonprofit Board's Guide to Bylaws, BoardSource, 2003
• Co-Author: Intermediate Sanctions -- Curbing Nonprofit Abuse, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 1997
• Contributing author of three chapters in: The Law of Tax-Exempt Healthcare Organizations, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 1995
• Contributing author of two chapters in: Charity, Advocacy and The Law, John Wiley & Sons Publishers, 1992
• Contributing author of one chapter in: Washington Administrative Law Practice Manual, Butterworths Legal Publishers, 1990
• TAX ARTICLES
• “IRS Updates Intermediate Sanctions Regulations” (February 8, 2001)
• "Making Money from Nonprofit Internet Websites” (February 9, 2001)
• “Are Emergency Room Physicians Always Employees?” Healthcare Financial Management (May 1994)
• “Improved Fund-Raising Through Commercial Co-Ventures,” 7 Exempt Organization Tax Review 619 (Apr. 1993)
• “IRS Guidance on Election Year Issues -- Too Little, Too Late,” 6 Exempt Organization Tax Review 1119 (Nov. 1992)
• “The Disclosure of Nondeductibility -- Has Your Organization Complied?” 6 Exempt Organizations Tax Review, 726 (Sept. 1992)
• “Taxation and Representation -- How to Use Political Organizations,” 4 Journal of Taxation of Exempt Organizations 29 (Spring 1992)
• “Intervention in Political Campaigns After the Pickle Hearings -- A Proposal of the 1990s,” 4 Exempt Organizations Tax Review 1165 (Nov. 1991)
• HOTEL AND CONFERENCE PLANNING ARTICLES
• “Holding Conferences In An Age of Terror and Natural Disasters: What You Should Know When Planning Your Organization’s Next Conference,” Nonprofit World Magazine (November 2005)
• “Legal Aspects of Conference Sponsorships,” Successful Meetings Magazine (July 2006)
• “Legal and Practical Considerations in Dealing with the ADA,” Successful Meetings Magazine (November 2006)
• “When the Tables Turn – Cancellation by the Hotel,” Successful Meetings Magazine (December 2006)
• "Copyrighting Conference Content," Successful Meetings Magazine (March 2007)
• MONTHLY LEGAL COLUMNS
• “Letter Ruling Alert,” a monthly nonprofit tax column in The Exempt Organization Tax Review (1993-1997)
• "Legal Counsel,” a bi-monthly nonprofit tax column in Nonprofit World magazine (1995-1996)
• “Tax Watch,” a monthly nonprofit tax column in The Philanthropy Monthly (1994-1995)