San Mateo County Bar Association
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 941638934
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Redwood City, CA, US
- Phone
- 650-298-4030
- Rating confidence
- Limited
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $27,460,593
- Expenses
- $27,065,051
- Assets
- $13,051,457
- Liabilities
- $4,109,773
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
26 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DEBORAH KEMPER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
- H YVONNE SEELEY (PRESIDENT (THRU 12/24))
- KENNETH R LINTHICUM (VICE PRES, & PRESIDENT (AS OF 1/25))
- ROBERT CASHEN (TREASURER, VICE PRESIDENT (AS OF 1/25))
Highest reported compensation
- ELIZABETH MAGUIRE (CHIEF DEFENDER OF THE PDP): $432,648 total reported compensation
- GABRIELA GURAIIB (DIRECTOR): $431,560 total reported compensation
- ERIC HOVE (DIRECTOR): $383,733 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Serving Its Members Since 1916
What it reported doing in 2024
Lawyer referral service: the san mateo county bar association, is a non-profit organization that provides prospective clients a referral to an attorney in the area of law needed for a nominal fee of $35. The client gets to consult with the attorney for 30 minutes regarding their legal matter. The attorneys are private practitioners. The lrs program assist those in need of legal services to find a qualified, insured attorney or other appropriate legal services, including dispute resolution; and provides the public with general information about appropriate legal services. The lrs program also has attorneys who have agreed to lower their fees charged to clients called modest means. Once the individual has been referred to an attorney we send out a client satisfaction survey to track results. (continued on schedule o)the lrs program provides free workers' compensation referrals, free referrals for wills for senior citizens, and referral fee waivers for low-income individuals who qualify.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Earned-program. 98% 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 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: 65
- Accountability: 78
- Sustainability: 30
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: Limited
- Program expense ratio: Limited
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 83.3%; rating input score 83; 0th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- 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: Limited
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 62.5%; rating input score 62; 10th 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
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.4%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.48; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.31; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 150% per year; rating input score 100; 100th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 5 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: 10 of 16 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments
- Leadership: top reported pay $433K · 26 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $1.7M reported
- Consistency: 13 of 14 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 13 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.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 15/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 45/100.