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Victoria B. Bjorklund is a Partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP where she heads the Firm’s Exempt Organizations Group. She advises public charities, private foundations, boards, and donors.
Ms. Bjorklund was recently named by Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman as one of 29 members of his Leadership Committee on Nonprofit Revitalization. In 2001, Ms. Bjorklund was appointed by the Secretary of the Treasury to serve as one of six exempt-organization members on the IRS’s Tax Exempt/Government Entities Advisory Committee, and she served as Chair for 2004-2005. In June 2005, she received the IRS Tax Exempt Division Commissioner’s Award for “ground-breaking service” to the Advisory Committee.
From 1989 through 2001, Ms. Bjorklund served as a director, secretary and still serves as pro bono legal counsel for Doctors Without Borders, the emergency medical relief organization that was awarded the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize. She is also a director of and pro bono counsel for the Robin Hood Foundation. She is a director of the American Friends of the Louvre, the Louvre Endowment, Friends of Fondation de France, the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, and the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Ms. Bjorklund was named a David Rockefeller Fellow for 1997-1998 as a rising civic leader in New York City. She chaired the ABA Tax Section Committee on Exempt Organizations from 2001 through 2003 and now serves as Co-Chair of the Subcommittee on International Philanthropy. Ms. Bjorklund was honored in May 2002 as the ABA Tax Section “Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year” in recognition of her 9/11 work. She also accepted the “Pro Bono Firm of the Year” award from the NYS Bar Association in recognition of the Firm’s 9/11 work. The Nonprofit Coordinating Committee of New York City and Lawyers Alliance of New York, Inc. honored Ms. Bjorklund for her outstanding volunteer service in responding to the legal needs arising from September 11. In 2003, she received the Commissioner’s Award, the highest honor the Commissioner of Internal Revenue can bestow, for her “timely, creative and nimble response to 9/11’s unprecedented legal challenges.” In 2005, she received the Assistant Commissioner’s Award for her contributions to the IRS Advisory Committee. In 2010, she was named a Power Woman by MOVES Magazine and awarded the Segal-Tweed Founders Award from The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
Ms. Bjorklund speaks and writes frequently on exempt-organization subjects. Every year since 1989 she has spoken at the ALI-ABA Charitable Giving Program on “Choosing Among Private Foundations, Supporting Organizations, and Donor-Advised Funds,” a topic she also addresses at the annual Georgetown Conference. She is the co-author with Jim Fishman and Dan Kurtz of New York Nonprofit Law and Practice (LexisNexis, 2d Ed. 2007 and annual supplements). She also teaches a course in charities’ legal documents at Harvard Law School.
She earned her J.D. at Columbia University School of Law, a Ph.D. in Medieval Studies from Yale University, and a B.A. magna cum laude from Princeton University, where she graduated in three years and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Ms. Bjorklund is a former Co-Chair of the Firm’s Pro Bono Committee and now Co-Chair of its Diversity Committee.
Honors/Associations
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Association of the Bar of the City of New York, Committee on Nonprofit Organizations, 1995-1997 |
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American Bar Association, Chair, Tax Section Committee on Exempt Organizations (2001-2003); |
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American Bar Association, 9/11 Task Force and Task Forces on International Philanthropy, Private Foundations and Program Related Investments; former Co-Chair, Subcommittee, Private Foundations |
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Publications
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Department of the Treasury Issues Report on Supporting Organizations and Donor Advised Funds |
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"Not More Than Incidental Benefits: Rethinking Marketing Membership Benefits to Donor-Advisors of Donor-Advised Funds, Family Foundation Advisor, September/October 2011 |
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Attorney General Guidance on the New York Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act |
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Enactment of the New York Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act Affecting New York Not-For-Profit Institutions |
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Spending by New York Not-for-Profit Corporations from "Underwater" Endowment Funds |
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Policy and Practice Checklist for the 2008 IRS
Form 990 |
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Changes to 2008 IRS Form 990 and Instructions |
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Temporary Regulations Regarding Public
Charity Classification and Advance Ruling
Periods Following the Redesign of IRS Form 990 |
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Taxation of Income from Services Provided to Other Tax-Exempt Organizations |
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Changes to New York State Sales Tax Law
Affecting Tax-Exempt Organizations |
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Bjorklund, Victoria B., et al., New York Nonprofit Law and Practice (Lexis Publications, 2d Ed. 2007). |
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Provisions of Interest to Charitable Organizations and their Donors in H.R. 4, the Pension Protection Act of 2006 |
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Changes to 2005 IRS Form 990 |
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“Cross-Border Philanthropy" (Chapter 10), V. Bjorklund and J. Pressman, Complete Guide to Nonprofit Organizations (2005) |
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“Terrorism and Money-Laundering: Illegal Purposes and Activities,” with Jennifer I. Reynoso, 25 Pace Law Review 233 (2005). |
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Model Disaster Relief Documents for Employer Controlled Charities |
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Legislative Developments Affecting Charities |
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The Impact of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act on Not-For-Profit Organizations
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"Comments in Response to IRS Announcement 2003-29 Regarding International Grant-Making and International Activities by Domestic 501(c)(3) Organizations," B.B. Adler and V. Bjorklund, 15 Taxation of Exempts No. 3 November/December 2003) at 114. |
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Choosing How To Give To Charity: Direct Giving and the Private Foundation and Donor-Advised Fund Alternatives |
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Choosing Among the Private Foundation, Supporting Organization and Donor-Advised Fund |
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Current Developments For Charitable Giving To Donor-Advised Funds and Supporting Organizations |
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Overseas Grantmaking in the Face of Anti-Terrorist Financing Initiatives |
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BBB Wise Giving Alliance Adopts Standards for Charitable Accountability |
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New York State Attorney General Proposes Adding Certain Sarbanes-Oxley Provisions To New York Not-For-Profit Corporation Law |
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Model Charter for Audit Committees of Boards of Directors of Not-for-Profit Organizations |
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Disaster Relief by Employer-Controlled Charities |
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The Martha Graham Cases: Recent Dispute Warns Companies To Secure Their Intellectual Property Rights |
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Final Regulations Regarding the Tax Treatment of Corporate Sponsorship Payments to Tax-Exempt Organizations |
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Using the “Rebuttable Presumption of Reasonableness” Procedure to Comply with the Final Regulations on “Intermediate Sanctions”
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Final Regulations on “Intermediate Sanctions”
Applicable to Persons Associated with or Employed by Public Charities and Social Welfare Organizations |
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Disaster-Relief Assistance: The Requirement of Need or Distress in the Context of Charitable Gifts
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Forming and Operating a Private Foundation |
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Final Regulations on Tax Withholding Affect Certain Grants to Foreign Persons for Activities
Conducted within the United States
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“Conducting Overseas Site Visits,” with Jennifer Goldberg, IJNL Vol. 3, Issue 2, December 2000. |
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New Publication Law Takes New York State Private Foundations by Surprise |
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Proposed Regulations on Corporate Sponsorship Arrangements and Offsetting Expenses to Avoid Unrelated Business Income Tax By Tax-Exempt Organizations
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How To Comply With The Private Foundation Disclosure Requirements
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How To Comply With The Final Regulations
Governing Disclosure Requirements For Exempt Organizations Other Than Private Foundations
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New Developments Affecting Private Foundations |
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Private Foundation Provisions in
the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act
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Proposed Regulations on “Intermediate Sanctions” Applicable to Persons Associated with or Employed by Public Charities and Certain Other Tax-Exempt Organizations |
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June 30, 1998, Deadline For Favorable Tax Treatment Of Gifts To Private Foundations Of Qualified Appreciated Stock
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Speaking Engagements
Admissions
Education
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Columbia Law School, 1983 J.D. |
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Princeton University, 1973 B.A.
magna cum laude;
Phi Beta Kappa;
Graduation in Three Years Program |
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