Nonprofit | Trust | Tax | Cross-Border U.S. Law
Informed by founding a charity building primary schools in rural Cambodia and Uganda.
Chase Counsel PLLC advises nonprofit organizations, fiduciaries, trustees, donors, families, taxpayers, international clients, and professional advisors on nonprofit governance, fiduciary duties, charitable giving, trust administration, tax-exempt compliance, federal tax controversies, and cross-border matters involving United States law.
In 2006, Chase Sizemore founded Teach Them To Fish Foundation, an international nonprofit supporting primary education in rural Cambodia and Uganda. That firsthand experience building and operating a nonprofit informs the firm's counsel on board governance, donor stewardship, fiduciary responsibility, cross-border administration, and the practical consequences of decisions made by nonprofit leaders.
Serving clients in Virginia, Washington, D.C., Maryland, and internationally from Hong Kong, on matters involving United States federal law.
Chase Sizemore, JD, LLM (Taxation)
Principal, Chase Counsel PLLC
Founder, Teach Them To Fish Foundation, Inc.
Georgetown University Law Center
Brigham Young University Law School
Columbia University
College of William & Mary
Practice Areas
Chase Counsel PLLC advises nonprofit organizations, fiduciaries, trustees, donors, families, taxpayers, international clients, and professional advisors regarding nonprofit governance, fiduciary duties, trust administration, charitable giving, tax-exempt organizations, federal tax controversies, and cross-border matters involving United States law.
The firm's counsel is informed by advanced tax training, decades of legal practice, and firsthand experience founding and operating an international nonprofit organization with school projects in rural Cambodia and Uganda.
Counsel regarding board governance, fiduciary duties, bylaws, conflicts of interest, governance reviews, founder disputes, board disputes, leadership transitions, organizational control, and institutional accountability.
Discuss This AreaCounsel regarding IRS recognition, Form 990 governance matters, private benefit and inurement concerns, unrelated business income, state charitable compliance, IRS correspondence, exempt organization examinations, and federal tax compliance.
Discuss This AreaCounsel regarding trust administration, trustee duties, fiduciary obligations, charitable trusts, restricted gifts, donor intent, private foundations, beneficiary concerns, and related tax considerations.
Discuss This AreaCounsel regarding IRS examinations, administrative appeals, civil tax controversies, penalties, collection matters, exempt organization examinations, and proceedings before the United States Tax Court.
Discuss This AreaCounsel regarding international nonprofit operations, foreign grantmaking, foreign affiliates, international governance, cross-border charitable activity, donor stewardship, and U.S. federal tax issues affecting international organizations and individuals.
Discuss This AreaIndependent analysis regarding nonprofit governance, fiduciary duties, board accountability, organizational control, charitable stewardship, tax-exempt compliance, and related nonprofit, trust, fiduciary, or federal tax issues. Expert witness services may be available in appropriate matters.
Discuss This AreaCounsel regarding selected U.S. immigration and mobility matters for international clients, nonprofit personnel, founders, executives, families, and professionals with cross-border U.S. legal needs, including family-based immigration, employment-based immigration, treaty traders and investors, intracompany transferees, permanent residence, naturalization, citizenship eligibility, and consular processing.
Discuss This AreaPublications
Commentary and analysis regarding nonprofit governance, fiduciary duties, charitable giving, trust matters, tax-exempt organizations, federal tax controversies, cross-border charitable activity, and related matters involving United States law.
Forthcoming Book
Governance, Fiduciary Duty, and Accountability in Tax-Exempt Organizations
By Chase Sizemore, JD, LL.M.
Nonprofit Stewards examines nonprofit governance, fiduciary duties, tax-exempt organizations, board oversight, donor stewardship, and institutional accountability.
Drawing upon decades of legal practice, advanced tax training, and firsthand experience founding and operating an international nonprofit organization, Nonprofit Stewards explores the legal and practical responsibilities of nonprofit leaders, directors, fiduciaries, and advisors.
The manuscript is currently undergoing professional development editing.
Nonprofit Governance
Examining board oversight, fiduciary accountability, governance process, and institutional responsibility in nonprofit organizations.
ForthcomingDonor Stewardship
Addressing restricted charitable gifts, donor intent, board authority, fiduciary obligations, and charitable stewardship concerns.
ForthcomingFounder Governance
Analyzing founder influence, board independence, organizational control, fiduciary duties, and governance disputes.
ForthcomingTrusts & Fiduciaries
Considering trustee duties, trust administration, beneficiary concerns, charitable trusts, fiduciary obligations, and related tax considerations.
ForthcomingFederal Tax
Examining IRS examinations, exempt organization compliance, administrative disputes, penalty issues, and United States Tax Court matters.
ForthcomingInternational
Addressing cross-border charitable activity, international nonprofit operations, treaty-related issues, immigration considerations, and United States legal compliance.
ForthcomingChase Sizemore's legal counsel is informed by firsthand experience founding, governing, funding, and operating an international nonprofit organization. That experience shapes the firm's practical understanding of fiduciary responsibility, donor stewardship, board accountability, cross-border administration, and the realities nonprofit leaders face over time.
In 2006, Chase Sizemore founded Teach Them To Fish Foundation, an international nonprofit supporting primary education in rural Cambodia and Uganda, with particular attention to educational access, nutrition, and girls vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.
The Foundation's work has included school construction, local partnerships, donor stewardship, and long-term educational and community commitments. Now in its twentieth year, the organization serves more than 2,000 students in Cambodia alone through long-term educational and community partnerships.
Additional information about Teach Them To Fish Foundation is available through the Foundation's Facebook page.
Preah Khol Primary School -- Opening Ceremony
Preay Vihear Province, Cambodia
This work informs the firm's advice to nonprofit boards, fiduciaries, donors, trustees, and professional advisors. It provides practical perspective on governance decisions, restricted charitable purposes, donor expectations, board accountability, institutional promises, cross-border operations, and stewardship obligations.
These forthcoming memoirs address the nonprofit field-leadership experience that informs the firm's counsel on governance, donor stewardship, fiduciary responsibility, and international charitable activity.
Forthcoming Memoir
A Memoir of Cambodia, Uganda, and the Search for a Lost Child
The Road to Kitgum recounts the Teach Them To Fish Foundation's work building primary schools in rural Cambodia and Uganda, with a focus on educating girls at risk of exploitation.
Founded by Chase Sizemore in 2006, the foundation began with a school for 380 children in Battambang Province, Cambodia, before expanding into rural Uganda, where children faced poverty, disease, violence, and the aftermath of civil war.
At Kanyanga Primary School, a student's note leads Chase into a search for Akiki, a boy abducted years earlier by the Lord's Resistance Army and believed to be injured in an internally displaced persons (IDP) camp near Kitgum. The search takes Chase through displacement camps and armed territory in a dangerous rescue effort involving a child believed to have been abducted by the Lord's Resistance Army.
The Road to Kitgum is a story of compassion, courage, and the power of education to bring hope to children the world has too often forgotten.
The manuscript is currently undergoing copyediting.
Forthcoming Memoir
A Memoir of Cambodia, Mercy, and the Cost of Rescue
Where the Red Earth Broke continues the story of Teach Them To Fish Foundation's work building primary schools in rural Cambodia and Uganda, with particular attention to educational access for girls vulnerable to trafficking and exploitation.
The book follows the Foundation's work in Cambodia, including the building of Omaneash and O'Russey primary schools and the scouting of a jungle site for what would become Preah Khol Primary School. It also recounts the personal cost of that work, including a life-threatening medical collapse during field operations and the difficult journey home.
The memoir examines the obligations that arise when promises are made to children, villages, donors, and local partners. It is a story of schools built in hard places, fragile commitments carried across borders, and hope sustained under conditions of poverty, fear, and danger.
The manuscript is currently undergoing developmental editing.
Inquiries
Chase Counsel PLLC advises nonprofit organizations, trustees, fiduciaries, taxpayers, families, accounting professionals, and referring counsel regarding nonprofit governance, trusts, tax matters, fiduciary obligations, immigration, and international matters involving United States law.
Preliminary referral discussions with attorneys, CPA firms, trust and estate professionals, and other professional advisors are welcomed.
Chase Counsel PLLC
Washington, D.C.
800 Connecticut Avenue, N.W.
Suite 300
Washington, D.C. 20006
50 Stanley Street
11th Floor, Suites A & B, World Trust Tower
Central, Hong Kong
Direct Email