Boston Bar Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042164774
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6177420615
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,404,492
Expenses
$5,469,381
Assets
$8,787,920
Liabilities
$4,198,638

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

Leadership & pay

39 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • SUMA V NAIR (PRESIDENT ELECT)
  • MATTHEW VP MCTYGUE (PRESIDENT)
  • MARK C FLEMING (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • RICHARD M PAGE JR (ASST. SEC. & EXEC. DIR.): $440,850 total reported compensation
  • HEATHER LEARY (CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER): $284,532 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL AVITZUR (DIR. OF GOVERNMENT RELATIO): $213,594 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To advance the highest standards of excellence for the legal profession, to facilitate access to justice, and to serve the community at large. In support of this mission, the association will strive to 1) foster an inclusive community of lawyers by improving the quality of life of lawyers as people, as members of a profession with longstanding values and traditions, and as citizen-lawyers, 2) serve individual members and provide them with the tools, relationships, opportunities and resources to develop successful careers and practices, 3) serve law firms, in-house law departments, non-profits and public agencies in and closely connected to the legal profession, 4) increase access to justice for all, provide for the fair and efficient administration of justice, and enhance the quality of the law, 5) ensure that the governance structure, capacity and operations of the association are dynamic and suited to the task of accomplishing the association's goals and objectives.

What it reported doing in 2024

Continuing legal education: the boston bar association held approximately 30 continuing legal education programs and conferences in a variety of practice areas. These seminars and conferences cover in-depth subjects designed to provide practitioners a comprehensive overview on specific areas of law and often include a networking component. Cle programs are always accompanied by written materials. Cle programs are always available to non-bba members and are provided to members at a discounted price. Bba cle programs welcome over 1,500 attendees at the live programs, and are viewed by another 1,155 people online via learn online. The main objective of the bba cle program is to fulfill part of the organization's mission to advance the highest standards of excellence for the legal profession by providing members with the tools, relationships, opportunities and resources to develop successful careers and practices. Cle does this through education. Our cle programs are also a great platform to allow our members to speak or present on a specific topic.

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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 verdict

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 33
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.3%; rating input score 92; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 92.6%; rating input score 93; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -1.2%; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.61; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 23.8%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 2.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 34 of 34 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 7 filed program accomplishments
  • Leadership: top reported pay $441K · 39 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $164K reported
  • Consistency: 15 of 16 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 7 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

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

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 29/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 54/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.