Napa Legal Institute seeks to equip faith-based nonprofit organizations with the educational resources needed to advance their missions, especially those related to religious liberty. Napa Legal seeks to keep faith-based organizations out of court by providing education about taxes, corporate structures, philanthropy, labor laws, and other regulations. ¹ Napa Legal is not a law firm, despite employing licensed attorneys. ²

Napa Institute is the sister organization of Napa Legal Institute. ³

Activities

Napa Legal Institute provides support to faith-based nonprofit organizations to advance religious liberty, while staying within the limits of the law. To this end, Napa Legal seeks to keep faith-based organizations out of court by providing education about taxes, corporate structures, philanthropy, labor laws, and other regulations. ⁴

Napa Legal Institute’s support includes education through its nonprofit library, which provides both new and established faith-based organizations with resources like blog posts, whitepapers, policy reports, and webinars. Issues covered by Napa Legal’s nonprofit library include nonprofit tax status, donor privacy, tax compliance, corporate governance, and spiritual entrepreneurship. ⁵

Napa Legal Institute’s Faith and Freedom Index scores states on how friendly or unfriendly they are to faith-based nonprofit organizations. States are scored based on religious freedom and regulatory freedom measured by consistent benchmarks, supported by underlying state laws. Factors scored include protections for religious exercise during a state of emergency, state Blaine Amendments, charitable registration laws, and standards of conduct for directors of religious organizations. ⁶

Funding

Napa Legal Institute is funded by donations from individuals, foundations, and businesses. While Napa Legal does not disclose its donors, tax filings confirm donations from the Catholic Association Foundation ($300,000 in 2021), ⁷ the Napa Institute Foundation ($200,000 in 2021), ⁸ and the Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation ($50,000 in 2021). ⁹

People

Leadership

John C. Peiffer II is co-founder, president, and general counsel at Napa Legal Institute and a partner at the law firm of Brown & Streza, LLP. ¹⁰

Mary Margaret Beecher is the vice president and executive director of Napa Legal Institute. ¹¹

Board Members

Tim Busch is the chair of the board of Napa Legal Institute, the founder of the Busch Firm, and the CEO of the Pacific Hospitality Group. Busch is founder of the Magis Institute and a co-founder of the Napa Institute. ¹²

Leonard Leo is a conservative activist and chair of CRC Advisors, chair and trustee of Marble Freedom Trust, and co-chair of the Federalist Society. Leo is a former chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and a former U.S. Delegate to the U.N. Council and U.N. Commission on Human Rights. ¹³

Dominic Legge is the director of the Thomistic Institute and an assistant professor in systematic theology at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception. Legge formerly worked as a trial attorney for the Department of Justice and formerly taught at the Catholic University of America Law School. ¹⁴

Thomas John Paprocki is the Catholic Bishop of Springfield, Illinois. ¹⁵

Steve Payne is the dean of the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University. Payne is a former adjunct professor at the Antonin Scalia Law School at George Mason University. ¹⁶

Mark Rienzi is the president and CEO of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and co-director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Catholic University of America. ¹⁷

Alan Sears is the founder of Alliance Defending Freedom and ADF International. ¹⁸

Amy Shepard is a special advisor to Arizona State University’s Center for American Institutions. ¹⁹

1. ^[1] “What We Do.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/what-we-do.
2. “What We Do.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/what-we-do.
3. “What We Do.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/what-we-do.
4. “What We Do.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/what-we-do.
5. “All Access Library.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/library.
6. “Faith and Freedom Index.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/map.
7. Catholic Association Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2021, Schedule I, Part II.
8. Napa Institute Foundation, Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990), 2021, Schedule I, Part II.
9.  Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Return of Private Foundation (Form 990-PF), 2021, Part XV, Line 3.
10. “John C. Peiffer II.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/team/john-peiffer.
11. “Mary Margaret Beecher.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/team/maggie-beecher.
12. “Timothy R. Busch.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/tim-busch.
13. “Leonard Leo.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/leonard-leo.
14. “Father Dominic Legge, O.P.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/father-legge.
15. “Bishop Thomas John Paprocki.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/bishop-thomas-john-paprocki.
16. “Stephen C. Payne.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/steven-payne.
17. “Mark Rienzi.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/mark-rienzi.
18. “Alan Sears.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/alan-sears.
19. “Amy Shepard.” Napa Legal Institute. Accessed October 26, 2023. https://www.napalegalinstitute.org/board/amy-shepard.