The Law Firm for Non-Profits (LFNP) has been in operation since August 1996, a time when Arthur Reiman was single handedly running the firm.
Previously, Reiman pursued an MBA at UCLA where he studied nonprofit and arts management. He assisted nonprofits through pro bono work and earned his law degree in 1988. After gaining further experience through different gigs in law, his insights left him asking contacts in the nonprofit world if he could make a living as a lawyer working for nonprofits. “My friend said, ‘We don’t know, but we’ll send you referrals.’ So that was the genesis of the firm,” Reiman said.
The largest challenge in his firm’s early days was getting word out about its services. The issue for Reiman was that early on, he had a sturdy base of contacts within the nonprofit community, but not as many contacts in the legal profession.
Around 2001, Reiman joined Provisors, a business networking organization in Sherman Oaks that helped him grow the firm. “It gave me an opportunity to meet hundreds of professionals who might work with nonprofits and might have needed to make a referral to a lawyer,” Reiman said. About two decades later, Reiman is the managing partner of The Law Firm for Non-Profits, which is located in Studio City and now has eight employees, three of which are lawyers and two of which are paralegals.
The firm has worked with more than 1,500 nonprofits such as United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the YMCA and Arts For LA. “Our clients range from startups to national organizations and some of the largest nonprofits in Southern California,” Reiman said.
Along with its 25th anniversary, the firm recently hired Casey Summar, who will undertake a partner role after working part-time since 2018. Summar was previously the executive director for the Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville.
“She brings the contextual knowledge of what it’s like to run a nonprofit, which I think is a real benefit to our clients,” Reiman said.
Nonprofit Lawyers’ Anniversary
