Lesley Rosenthal is a violinist married to a pianist. She’s also a lawyer, and when the opportunity arose to become general counsel of New York’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, Inc., she grabbed it. In 2005 she became the only lawyer on staff, arriving in time to help steward a $1.2 billion redevelopment of the performing arts complex. Since then, Rosenthal has helped create a council of major New York law firms, in-house departments, and law professors who provide Lincoln Center with pro bono advice. She estimates they have donated nearly $8 million in labor over the past six years.
But most nonprofits don’t have counsel, Rosenthal says. Her new book— Good Counsel: Meeting the Legal Needs of Nonprofits —aims to change that. She translates corporate lawyering to the nonprofit world, and helps executives and counsel meet on the same page. Accounting for 7 percent of the U.S. workforce, the nonprofit sector is growing in scope and sophistication, Rosenthal points out. Reporter Catherine Dunn sat down with the rosin-toting attorney to talk about her book and her job. An edited version of their conversation follows.
