251-217-9733
Nonprofit & Church Litigation
Disputes inside organizations that exist to do something other than make money.
What These Disputes Involve
Nonprofit and religious organization litigation covers disputes over governance, fiduciary duties, property, employment, and the use of restricted funds within organizations that have no owners in the ordinary sense.
That absence of ownership is what makes them distinctive. In a business dispute the parties are arguing about an asset they own. In a nonprofit dispute the board, the members, the donors, and sometimes the state all have interests, and nobody owns anything, which changes who may bring a claim, what remedies exist, and how these disputes are resolved.
For religious organizations there is a further layer, because civil courts will decline to decide some questions entirely.
What We Handle
Board and governance disputes
Authority, removal, meetings, voting, and the validity of decisions taken.
Fiduciary duty claims
Against directors and officers (self-dealing, conflicts of interest, and failures of oversight).
Restricted fund and donor disputes
Where money given for one purpose has been used for another.
Employment claims
Including where the ministerial exception may apply to the role in question.
Property and title disputes
Ownership and control of real property, particularly where a congregation or affiliation has split.
Grant compliance disputes
Where funder obligations, reporting, or eligibility are in question.
Sound familiar?
What a Civil Court Will and Will Not Decide
Disputes involving religious organizations run into limits that do not apply to other nonprofits. Understanding them early changes what strategy is even worth pursuing.
Property ownership and title, where it can be resolved using neutral principles of law (deeds, trusts, and governing documents)
Questions of doctrine, faith, or religious governance, which courts decline to adjudicate under the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine
Contract and financial claims that do not require interpreting religious teaching
Selection, supervision, and removal of ministers and those in ministerial roles, under what is known as the ministerial exception
Fiduciary and accounting claims against directors and officers
Internal discipline and membership decisions grounded in religious practice
Employment claims by staff in non-ministerial roles
Employment claims by ministers, which the exception frequently bars entirely
Who does this work
Terri Sharpley Reynolds
Nonprofit governance, fiscal accountability, grants, and board advisory work across Alabama, from Montgomery and Birmingham.
Robert J. Riccio
Tax-exempt organizations, fiduciary disputes, and trusts, including the restricted fund and accounting questions these disputes turn on.
Cost and related pages
Want a number for your situation?
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a court resolve a dispute inside a church?
Some of it. Courts will generally decide questions that can be resolved using neutral principles of law (who holds title to property, what a contract requires, whether funds were accounted for) but will decline to decide questions of doctrine, faith, or religious governance. How a dispute is framed therefore does a great deal of work, and getting that framing right before filing matters more here than in almost any other area.
Our board is split and both sides claim authority. What now?
Start with the governing documents (articles, bylaws, and any denominational or affiliation rules) and establish who was validly appointed and what procedure was actually followed. Most of these disputes turn on procedure rather than on the underlying disagreement, and a defect in how a meeting was called or a vote taken frequently decides the whole thing.
A donor says we misused a restricted gift. Are they able to sue?
It depends on the gift instrument and on who has standing to enforce it, which is a genuinely complicated question in this area and may involve the state as well as the donor. Either way, the first step is an accounting, establishing where the money went and against what restriction. Many of these disputes resolve once someone produces a clear record.
Do we need a lawyer before terminating a minister or pastor?
Yes, and before rather than after. The ministerial exception frequently bars employment claims by those in ministerial roles, but whether a particular role qualifies is a real question, and how a termination is handled can affect both that analysis and any claims that fall outside it. This is a short conversation that prevents a long problem.
Related Insights
Frame It Correctly Before You File Anything
Book a Risk-Free Strategy Session. Send us the bylaws, the gift instrument, or the deed and we will tell you what a court can actually do with it.