Deborah Z. Read - Lawyer in Cleveland, OH

Deborah is Thompson Hine's firmwide managing partner. Inthis capacity, she serves as the firm's chief executive officer. She is also amember of the firm's Executive Committee, the principal governing bodyresponsible for its strategic direction, financial affairs and the oversight ofits seven-office operations. Deborah has served as a member of the firm'sExecutive Committee for the past 11 years. She has also served in variousmanagement roles at the firm including hiring partner, chair of the 65-lawyerTax, Benefits and Planning Department and chair of the Lawyer PersonnelCommittee.

Deborah also spends some of her time as a practicing lawyer in the tax exempt, nonprofit corporate, and health care areas. She functions as outside general counsel to two large exempt organizations. She focuses her tax exempt practice on tax and corporate planning for nonprofit organizations and foundations and health care organizations. Deborah assists clients in the formation of nonprofit entities, qualification of nonprofit entities for tax exempt status, conversions to and from exempt status, corporate reorganizations and liquidations, including reorganizations of exempt organizations, hospitals, and other health care providers, arrangements between for-profit and tax exempt entities, Internal Revenue Service Ruling requests, unrelated business income, lobbying, and political contribution tax compliance, structuring of for-profit corporate sponsorship arrangements, tax reviews, and tax controversy work including Internal Revenue Service audits, appeals, and tax litigation. She advises organizations on nonprofit corporate law issues and nonprofit Boards on fiduciary duty issues. She counsels nonprofit organizations on best practices for corporate governance, including the application of Sarbanes-Oxley concepts to nonprofit organizations. She advises private corporate foundations about permissible charitable programs they may operate to advance charitable objectives for the employees of their corporate sponsors, including programs involving an international workforce. Deborah counsels hospitals, physician groups and health care providers on contractual relationships, corporate planning, acquisitions and legal structures for affiliations, ventures and other business arrangements, including compliance with Medicare/Medicaid anti-kickback and physician self-referral rules.