SUPERIOR COURT OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIACIVIL DIVISION
SHAKESPEARE THEATRE COMPANY, et al.,Plaintiffs,v.LANSBURGH THEATER, INC., et al.,Defendants.2012 CA 004971 BJudge: John Ramsey JohnsonNext Event: Initial Conference9:30 am, Friday, September 21, 2012
DECLARATION OF ROGER COLINVAUX
I, Roger Colinvaux, declare under penalty of perjury as follows:1. I submit this declaration in support of Shakespeare Theatre Company (“STC”)’smotion for preliminary injunction.2. I have been retained by STC to provide expert opinion and testimony in thismatter.3. I am an Associate Professor at the Catholic University of America, ColumbusSchool of Law, and teach in the areas of federal income tax, legislation, and property.4. Attached hereto as Exhibit A is a true and correct copy of my curriculum vitae.5. I have deep and substantial familiarity with Section 509(a)(3) of the InternalRevenue Code and the requirements for supporting organizations.6. As lead counsel to the Congressional Joint Committee on Taxation, I wassignificantly involved in the drafting of federal supporting organization legislation in 2006,which resulted in reforms that tightened tax law requirements for supporting organizations.7. My continuing professional work focuses on the federal tax rules applicable to501(c)(3) organizations, including through recent Congressional testimony before both Housesof Congress, and scholarly publications, such as “Charity in the 21
st
Century: Trending TowardDecay” in the Florida Tax Review, in which the impact of the new supporting organizationlegislation is discussed. I am also regularly consulted by major media outlets for my opinion oncharities and the tax law, and serve or have served on significant boards and committeesregarding the law of 501(c)(3) organizations, including the D.C. Bar, the Urban Institute, and theNational Center on Philanthropy and the Law at New York University.8. I have reviewed the relevant materials in connection with this case, including theArticles of Incorporation and Bylaws for Lansburgh Theatre Inc. (“LTI”), the parties’ leases,LTI’s tax filings, property documents, and correspondence between and related to the parties.
- 2 -9. LTI’s Articles of Incorporation require that it be operated as a Section 509(a)(3)supporting organization.10. LTI applied to the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) and was determined by theIRS to be a certain type of supporting organization.11. The function of a supporting organization such as LTI is to provide support to adesignated public charity.12. LTI designated STC as the public charity it would support.13. A supporting organization is one that is so connected to the supportedorganization that the supporting organization derives its own tax-exempt status from thatrelationship.14. LTI’s preferential tax status stems from its relationship to STC.15. The requirement in LTI’s Articles of Incorporation that it must be operated as aSection 509(a)(3) entity imposes several requirements on LTI including that:a. LTI must be responsive to the needs of its supportedorganization (STC);b. LTI must provide the supported organization (STC) with asignificant voice; andc. LTI may not be subject to the direct or indirect control by adisqualified person, including a substantial contributor.d. LTI lacks the power to change its designated supportedorganization (STC) except for circumstances that are beyondLTI’s control (not present here);16. In my opinion, the record in this case demonstrates that LTI is in violation of these requirements, including because it has purported to terminate STC’s status as a supportedorganization; it has not been responsive to STC; it has not provided STC with a significant voicein decisions relating to the lease renewal and STC’s status as a supported organization; and itappears to be under the control of a substantial contributor, namely, the Gunwyn/LansburghDevelopment Corporation and its general partner, Gunwyn/Lansburgh Limited Partnership.This declaration is a high level summary of my expected testimony that is submitted to aid theCourt’s consideration of STC’s emergency motion. I reserve the right to, and I intend to,supplement this statement with a more detailed report and/or testimony in accordance with theschedule established by the Court.
- 3 -I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United States of America that theforegoing is true and correct.Roger ColinvauxDated this 13th day of June, 2012
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