Southern Trial Lawyers Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
621370917
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tallahassee, FL, USA
Phone
8509264599
Rating
85
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$267,806
Expenses
$273,646
Assets
$371,460
Liabilities
$22,255

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

Leadership & pay

66 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Kenneth Suggs (President)
  • Rebecca Langston (President-Elect)
  • Troy Jones (Vice President)
  • W Coleman Allen JR (Past President)
  • Frank Branson (Past President)
  • ELIZABETH M BURKE (PAST PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • Kenneth Suggs (President)
  • Rebecca Langston (President-Elect)
  • Troy Jones (Vice President)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Provide continuing legal education for attorneys

What it reported doing in 2024

Provide grants/donations to 501c3 charitable organization as voted by the board of directors

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 67% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 91% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 76
  • Transparency & Controls: 100
  • Accountability: 88
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 86.3%; rating input score 86
  • Program expense ratio: 84.3%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 71
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -2.2%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.36; rating input score 49; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.06; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3% per year; rating input score 100; 44th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 1.7% per year; rating input score 100; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.3% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 86.3% of revenue deployed · 84.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 66 of 66 board members independent · 5 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $231K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 66 people listed
  • Consistency: 21 of 21 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 49/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.