I’m not a lawyer. But Iām expert on the legal requirements surrounding trustees, governance and obligations in the charity sector.
Many trustee boards feel the need to seek legal advice to help understand their roles and responsibilities.
Having consulted with 100+ charities and seen the legal advice they have been given, here are a few observations on the advice typically given to small charities:
Advice is too vague and non-specific.
A lot of legal advice I’ve seen given to charities is often not tailored to the specific needs of the charity and its trustees.
Instead, a broad, vague legal opinion is offered or, worse, a repetition of the legal points that trustees could have looked up themselves.
Charities deal with legislation and regulation that is specific to the sector. It’s no good seeking legal advice if the solicitor or adviser is not already grounded in both charity legislation and is already advising organisations on its application.
Broad, vague advice can lead to trustees making decisions based on incorrect or incomplete information.
But most of all it leads to the next point…
Advice is not practical.
Rather than dealing with the practicalities of running a charity day-to-day, some legal advice deals with the law as if it were abstract.
The other problem is that some advisers take a strictly formal interpretation of the law with no grounding in how it may play out in an organisation.
Yet, the reality is that there are very practical considerations which need to be considered.
The purpose of legal advice is not to learn the intricacies of the law.
The purpose of legal advice is to help make better decisions and know the best way forward.
If legal advice does not provide clarity, it is poor advice. In fact, it’s not even advice. In my opinion, it’s a legal statement.
These observations suggest that legal advice given to charities does not always help charity trustees move forward and make decisions.
Trustees need practical advice specific to their needs.
