Tiffany N. Tam is a senior Associate in Patterson Belknap’s Tax-Exempt Organizations department, where she represents a broad range of public charities, private foundations, and other 501(c) organizations. Her clients include schools and universities, arts and cultural institutions, human rights and advocacy organizations, international grantmaking foundations as well as corporate and family foundations, donor-advised fund sponsors, and other types of tax-exempts such as social welfare organizations and business leagues.

Ms. Tam provides comprehensive counsel to help clients navigate the unique challenges faced by nonprofits, from advising on formation and exemption to guiding organizations through complex governance, regulatory, and compliance issues. She also partners closely with donors to help them achieve their philanthropic goals. Ms. Tam regularly advises on unrelated business income tax, charitable giving, lobbying and political activities, board governance and accountability, and compliance with intermediate sanctions, self-dealing and other excise tax rules. Ms. Tam also offers strategic guidance on the investment activities of nonprofits, including program- and mission-related investments, endowment management, and structuring relationships with other entities, including for-profit businesses, family offices, and international affiliates. In addition, she represents tax-exempt organizations and donors in matters before federal and state regulators.

Prior to joining the Tax-Exempt Organizations group at the firm, Ms. Tam practiced tax law at an international law firm and advised for-profit companies and individuals on the tax aspects of a wide variety of complex business transactions, including joint ventures, restructurings, and mergers and acquisitions.

Bar Admissions

• New York

Education

• Yale Law School (J.D., 2014)
  • Articles Editor, Yale Journal of International Law
  • Student Director, Schell Center for International Human Rights
• University of Pennsylvania (B.A., summa cum laude, 2009)
  • Phi Beta Kappa

• American Bar Association, Exempt Organizations Committee Member
• New York City Bar Association, Associate Leadership Institute Fellow (2021)
• Legal Aid Society, Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award (2015)

SELECTED SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• Panelist, "Private Foundations: Legal and Operational Essentials to Survive and Thrive," ALI CLE Webinar (September 25, 2024)
• Co-presenter, "Nonprofit Law Primer," PLI's Advising Nonprofit Organizations (March 13, 2024)
• Presenter, “Legal Essentials for Starting a Nonprofit,” Partnership for Parks and the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (October 25, 2023)
• Presenter, “Good Governance & Nonprofit Boards,” New York Lawyers for the Public Interest (April 12, 2022)
• Panelist, “Unrelated Business Income Tax Case Studies,” TEGE Exempt Organizations Council, Exempt Organizations Update (March 5, 2021)
• Co-presenter, “Fringe Benefits and Expense Reimbursements for Nonprofits,” Georgetown Law Continuing Legal Education, Representing and Managing Tax-Exempt Organizations, Washington, D.C. (April 26, 2019)

• Cross-Border Tax-Related COVID-19 Relief

  By Tiffany Tam |May 2020