David Middlebrook

Founder

David Middlebrook is one of the country’s leading practitioners in religious nonprofit organizations law, both domestic and international.  Mr. Middlebrook has an in-depth knowledge of risk management for charities, religious organizations, private schools, and universities.  He is a frequent conference speaker, an award-winning author, and has published numerous articles on nonprofit topics.  Mr. Middlebrook founded Middlebrook | Group, PLLC ("The Church Lawyers").

Representative Engagements:

  • Assisted a media-based church ministry in responding to an inquiry by Senator Charles Grassley and the Senate Finance Committee into the church’s activities and operations that raised novel and complex issues, including the permissible scope of congressional inquiries, the protections afforded churches and their members by the First Amendment, and the interplay between congressional inquiries and the protections afforded to churches by section 7611 of the Internal Revenue Code, which provides special rules for IRS inquiries and examinations of churches. 

  • Managed a team of outside experts to prepare a coordinated response including lobbying counsel, tax counsel, and religious and constitutional scholars.

  • Successfully resolved a three-year-long IRS church tax inquiry and examination of an international church-based ministry on a “no change” basis that preserved the organization’s tax-exempt status and confirmed its status as a church for federal tax purposes.

  • Counseled churches and religious organizations on the availability and requirements for providing parsonages and housing allowances to church leaders.

Education:

Southern Methodist University, J.D.
Oral Roberts University, cum laude, B.S. Business Management

Bar Admissions:

Texas
District of Columbia
Colorado

Court Admissions:

U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Tax Court
All Texas State Courts
District of Columbia Court of Appeals
All Colorado State Courts

Publications:

Nonprofit Law for Religious Organizations: Essential Questions and Answers, providing guidance, direction, and clarification of legal and tax laws affecting churches and other religious organizations (John Wiley & Sons) 

The Guardian System, a comprehensive system for the prevention of child abuse within nonprofit organizations (Strang Communications Company)

Distinctions:

Awarded the Gold Medallion Book Award in recognition of excellence in evangelical Christian literature by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association
Certified in Nonprofit Management by the University of Texas at Austin
Certified in Risk Management for Religious Nonprofit Organizations by the University of Cambridge

A man in a blue blazer and white shirt leaning on a black chair, smiling, against a plain gray background.
Email icon with envelope symbol inside a blue circle
A blue circle with a white telephone handset icon inside.