Charter School Law Practice:
Representative Experience
John Cairns was the nation’s first Charter School attorney—and he is still the best. John worked to establish charter schools as non-profit, IRS 501(c)(3) organizations. Now, thanks to his pioneering work in this area, many charter schools are benefiting from tax-exempt status.
Today, John Cairns is a nationally-recognized expert on charter schools. His experience includes:
- Creating, sustaining and financing schools
- John solved some of the most important bonding issues, and created tax-exempt financing for 501(c)(3) organizations
- John worked with IRS field agents all the way up to the General Counsel to solve problems in a tax arena that never existed before
- Negotiating with the IRS to secure non-profit, 501(c)(3) status:
- Defining and structuring charter schools
- Defining charter schools’ relationship with private managers
- John’s Articles, By-Laws and contracts are still considered the industry standard to effectively measure student outcomes
- Non-profit board governance
- Advising policy-makers who are interested in charter school legislation
- Assisting tax-exempt organizations with IRS filings
- Issuing well over $500 million in bonds for tax-exempt lease revenue