11 High Swartz Attorneys named to PA Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists

High Swartz is pleased to announce that 11 of its attorneys have been named among Pennsylvania’s 2019 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars. Among the highlights are two inclusions on the 50 Top Female Lawyers in Pennsylvania list going to Melissa M. Boyd and Mary Cushing Doherty of the High Swartz Domestic Relations practice.

2019 High Swartz Super Lawyers Melissa Boyd David Brooman Mary Cushing Doherty Mark Fischer Gilbert High, Thomas Panzer Thomas Rees Joel Rosen
2019 High Swartz attorneys added to the Super Lawyers List

What is Super Lawyers?

The Super Lawyers list recognizes no more than 5 percent of attorneys in each state. The Super Lawyers Rising Stars list recognizes no more than 2.5 percent of attorneys in each state. To be eligible for inclusion in Rising Stars, a candidate must be either 40 years old or younger, or in practice for 10 years or less. High Swartz 2019 Super Lawyers and Rising Stars are listed below in alphabetical order.

Melissa M. Boyd: Has been nominated to her 5th consecutive Super lawyer list preceded by 6 Rising Star distinctions. On top of her streak, Missy has been nominated to 3 Super Lawyers Top Lists in Pennsylvania. Those accolades are 100 Top Lawyers in Pennsylvania, 100 Top Lawyers in Philadelphia and 50 Top Female Attorneys in Pennsylvania. Missy is a partner and family law attorney with High Swartz and advocates in various areas including divorce, prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, child custody and child support, equitable distribution, alimony, adoptions, protection from abuse and juvenile law.

David J. Brooman: 2019 marks the return to the Super Lawyers list for David. This is his 10th selection. As a land development and litigation attorney, David J. Brooman has more than three decades experience in zoning and land use development, as well as environmental law.

Mary Cushing Doherty: This will be Mary’s 16th consecutive selection to the Super Lawyers list. Along with her distinction, she’ll join the 50 Top Female Lawyers in Pennsylvania list. With a distinguished record of professional and community service, Mary Cushing Doherty has more than 35 years of legal experience as a family law lawyer. She concentrates her practice on all aspects of marital dissolution and family law issues including divorce, child support, custody, spousal support and alimony, premarital agreement asset protection, complex property division, and is the chair of High Swartz’s Family Law practice.

Mark R. Fischer: Mark has been nominated to his second consecutive Super Lawyer designation. He focuses his practice primarily on representing businesses in breach of contract, payment collection, construction defect, and consumer protection disputes throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Gilbert P. High, Jr.: This will be Gil’s 14 section in a row. Gil’s impressive career is devoted primarily to the practice of municipal and Real Estate and Land Use Law. He regularly speaks on issues pertaining to municipal liability, particularly regarding the maintenance of the Urban Forest, a subject on which he has lectured nationally.

Thomas E. Panzer: This is Tom’s first and much-deserved selection to the Super Lawyers’ list. Thomas E. Panzer, a workers’ compensation attorney, joined High Swartz in 2016 as a result of a merger with McNamara, Bolla & Panzer, Attorneys at Law, a firm for which he served as Managing Partner. Mr. Panzer is active in his community and is currently the Bucks County, Pennsylvania Treasurer.

Thomas D. Rees: Elected to his 14th Super Lawyers list, Tom heads the firm’s Litigation and Employment Practice. He focuses his practice primarily on employment law and private education law. In the education area, Tom represents a number of independent schools in the Philadelphia area, handling employment, student discipline, contract, and governance matters.

Joel D. Rosen: As High Swartz’s Managing partner, Joel has been a Super Lawyer since 2017. With more than 30 years of legal experience as a corporate law attorney, Joel Rosen’s areas of practice include franchise law, business and commercial law, employment law, trademark/copyright law and commercial leasing.

list of 2019 high swartz super lawyers rising stars
2019 Rising Stars attorneys from High Swartz

Kevin Cornish: Recently elected as a partner at High Swartz, Kevin receives his 8th Super Lawyers Rising Star selection. Kevin focuses his practice on commercial, civil, and contract & multi-state litigation support. His clients include individuals as well as local, regional, and national businesses up and down the east coast.

Elizabeth Early: has been nominated to her third consecutive Rising Star selection. Her areas of specialization include divorce, custody, support, equitable distribution, pre and post-nuptial agreements, parenting coordination and abuse matters. Liz also serves as court-appointed counsel and guardian for minor children.

Brittany M. Yurchyk: High Swartz congratulates Brittany’s first nomination to the Super Lawyers’ list as a Rising Star. Specializing in alternative dispute resolution, Brittany concentrates her family law practice on equitable distribution, child custody, child and spousal support, abuse and domestic relations.

How were the High Swartz Super Lawyers selected to the list?

Super Lawyers nominates the best attorneys using a unique selection process. Peer evaluations and nominations are combined with independent research. Nominees are evaluated on 12 indicators from professional achievement through peer nominations. Nominations are made on an annual, state-by-state basis. The Super Lawyers objective is to create a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of outstanding attorneys on a national level that can be used as a resource for attorneys and consumers searching for legal counsel. As an aid to those selecting a lawyer, Super Lawyers only selects outstanding local lawyers who are able to be retained by the public.

Is Crowdfunding Taxed?

An elderly man beaten with a brick on July 4th in Los Angeles is in critical condition. A German Shepherd is beaten and shot while protecting his young owner during a burglary. Then, there is the little girl born prematurely who needs tests, treatments, doctors and surgeries to survive. In each of these situations, the individuals received financial assistance by using the donation-based crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.


Crowdfunding isn't a new concept

In their paper, a Brief History of Crowdfunding, David M. Freedman and Matthew R. Nutting define crowdfunding as “a method of collecting many small contributions, by means of an online platform, to finance or capitalize a popular enterprise.” The internet has allowed crowdfunding to reach an unlimited number of potential donations, but crowdfunding is not new. One famous example of pre-internet crowdfunding was the fundraising campaign for the Statue of Liberty’s pedestal.

When the Statute of Liberty sailed from France in 1885, there was no pedestal for her. She remained in crates on Bedloe’s Island for over a year until Joseph Pulitzer, owner of “The World” opened up his newspaper’s editorial pages to support the effort. Similar to a GoFundMe page, Pulitzer proposed to print the name of every individual who donated to the construction of the pedestal on the front page of The World, no matter how small the amount. His idea worked. By the fall of 1885 over 120,000 people had donated over $100,000, enough funds to complete the project.


Income Tax Implications

It’s unlikely that an individual who sets up a crowdfunding page considers the income tax implications of their fundraising efforts. In fact, Section 61 of the IRS Code states that "gross income means all income from whatever source derived," unless a specific statutory exception exists. So, based on Section 61, the general rule is revenue raised from crowdfunding is includible in income unless specifically excluded elsewhere. However, a statutory exception does exist that may exclude crowdfunding revenue from an individual’s gross income. That exception arises under IRC 102(a), which is commonly known as the gift and bequest exclusion.

If a GoFundMe page is established correctly, the amounts raised may qualify for the gift and bequest exclusion under IRC 102(a). But when does a donation qualify as a gift rather than income under IRS Code Section & Regulations? The U.S. Supreme Court has defined a gift as given from " 'detached and disinterested generosity,' … 'out of affection, respect, admiration, charity, or like impulses,' " and not from " 'any moral or legal duty,' or from 'the incentive of anticipated benefit,'" or "in return for services rendered" (Duberstein, 363 U.S. 278, 285 (1960)). So, generous donors who make payments to GoFundMe pages should be giving based on a “detached and disinterested generosity” and should not receive any services or goods or “quid pro quo” for their donation.


Keep a paper trail

Remember the burden is upon the GoFundMe campaigner to prove the funds received qualify for the gift and bequest exclusion under IRC 102(a). Therefore, it is important to keep a paper trail and document everything in case the IRS comes knocking upon your door.

Essential steps in the paper trail include the following:

  1. Keep a list of the donors to the GoFundMe campaign; include their name, date of donation, and amount donated, and any contact information provided by GoFundMe.
  2. Clearly identify the recipient of the funds on the GoFundMe page.
  3. If the campaign is set up by someone other than the beneficiary, be sure to clearly indicate on the GOFUNDME page that the creator is acting on behalf of the beneficiary.
  4. Be sure the campaign website clearly states that donations or gifts are solicited. If possible and appropriate, the website should also state that donors will receive nothing in return for their donations.
  5. Print and keep a copy of the campaign website to show to the IRS. By the time the IRS issues a notice of deficiency, the campaign website may no longer be available and the taxpayer (whether an agent or a beneficiary) has no way of showing the IRS the information used to solicit donations.
  6. Keep documentation of all monetary transfers of the funds to the beneficiary or spent on behalf of the beneficiary. A clear paper trail or accounting should exist showing that the funds were spent as indicated on the website. Receipts, invoices and copies of checks should be maintained as well.

In the examples used above (the premature birth, the elderly man, and the German Shepherd), the funds raised are for necessities (i.e., medical treatment and care), and the donors did not receive any services or goods in return. Once donation based crowdfunding moves to patronage-oriented endeavors such as creative or artistic endeavors, where a backer receives something in exchange for their payment, or equity-based crowdfunding, where backers received equity for their payment, the funds donated no longer qualify for the IRC 102(a) gift and bequest exclusion. Instead, the crowdfunding campaign has clearly moved into the realm of generating revenue that is reportable income to the IRS.

If you have any questions about the legalities of crowdfunding, please contact us at main@highswartz.com or call (215) 345-8888. Or contact any of our estate attorneys in Bucks or Montgomery Counties. Our Wills, Trusts & Estates attorneys provide comprehensive legal services to assist in all of these matters.

The information above is general: we recommend that you consult an attorney regarding your specific circumstances.  The content of this information is not meant to be considered as legal advice or a substitute for legal representation. 

Kathleen M. Thomas Speaks at the 2018 PBPMTCA Conference

High Swartz Special Counsel, Kathleen M. Thomas recently spoke at the PBPMTCA (Pennsylvania Business Privilege and Mercantile Tax Collectors Association) Conference on September 27th. Kathleen participated in two sessions during the 2 day conference. The first session was a round-table discussion with, Jan Kowalski of Pine Township, Nicholas Grimes of McKeesport and Tricia Dickert of Allentown on “SB653, Everything You Ever Wanted To Know and What’s Next” which dealt with current proposed amendments to collection methods to the Local Tax Enabling Act. The second session, Kathleen led was “How to Approach Penalty and Interest Abatement and Settlement Offers”, which dealt how to negotiate settlement offers and approach requests from taxpayers for abatement and reduction of penalty and interest when collecting business taxes for municipalities.

Kathleen brings more than twenty-five years of legal experience, and concentrates her practice in the areas of municipal law, small business and non-profit law, and civil litigation. She is recognized as an expert in the areas of Pennsylvania Act 511 taxation, Kathleen serves as Special Act 511 Tax Counsel to the Townships of, Lower Merion and Abington, among others.  She also serves as the Act 511 Hearing Officer to multiple municipalities in Montgomery and Delaware Counties.  She also serves as Special Tax Consultant for ordinance and Regulation Revision and litigation for many townships in Pennsylvania.  Kathleen is also experienced in other areas of Municipal Law, including, Right to Know, Land Development, Zoning, Code Enforcement and Litigation.

About High Swartz LLP: High Swartz LLP is a full-service law firm serving clients in the Delaware Valley and throughout Pennsylvania from offices in Norristown and Doylestown. Established in 1914, High Swartz serves the needs of businesses, municipalities, government entities, nonprofits and individuals. With offices in Bucks County and Montgomery County, the full-service law firm provides comprehensive counsel and legal support to individuals and business entities of all sizes across a broad spectrum of industries throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. For more information, go to www.highswartz.com.

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