American Board of Trial Advocates

Nonprofit profile at a glance

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

266 people listed

Brian Tyson (Executive Director): $312,022 total reported compensation
Sarah Wahlert Kersh (Associate Executive Direct): $218,912 total reported compensation
Molly McDonald (Foundation Assoc Executive): $197,756 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Preserving and promoting the Seventh Amendment right to civil jury trial.

The organization conducts seminars and meetings to further educate trial lawyers and honor accomplishments of its members.

Revenue model: Earned-program. 90% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model: Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
- Compensation committee: Pass
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Pass
- Board or committee approval: Pass
Foreign activity oversight: Limited
Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 72nd percentile among comparable filings
Major donor itemization: Limited
Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Independent voting board: 99.2%; rating input score 99; 27th percentile among comparable filings
Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Operating margin: 3.7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.33; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.47; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
Officer compensation ratio: 18.4%; rating input score 14; 14th percentile among comparable filings

Program expense growth: 2.4% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Asset growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 35th percentile among comparable filings

What they do: 3 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
Governance: 260 of 262 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments
Leadership: top reported pay $312K · 266 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $303K reported
Consistency: 14 of 14 current checks pass
Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
Filing history: 13 filing years from 2011 to 2024
Contacts: How to reach this organization
Money network: 11 filed money-flow records
Related organizations: 9 filed related-organization links
Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.