Few attorneys are more plugged into the association sector — and more valuable to it — than Jeff Tenenbaum, CEO Update and Association Trends’ Partner of the Year for 2025.

Whether it’s the services he provides as outside counsel to nonprofits or the insights he freely offers in numerous presentations, webinars and articles, Tenenbaum is considered a strategic partner to association executives. 

That’s because when counseling association chief executives and boards, Tenenbaum can go beyond strictly legal advice to provide sensible guidance based on his three decades of experience. 

“Part of the value that I’m able to bring to clients is having such a deep understanding of the association world and how it operates,” he told CEO Update in a recent Zoom call.

“I try to work in a lot of examples, obviously on a no-name basis, because I have so many examples to offer and it really helps to illustrate things for people,” Tenenbaum said.

Accidental career path

But Tenenbaum’s association career was not inevitable. 

“When I started law school, I had no idea I was going to end up as a nonprofit lawyer. It was completely by accident,” he said.

“After college (at the University of Pennsylvania), I came down to Washington, D.C., worked on Capitol Hill for a few years as a legislative assistant, and then always planned to go to law school at night.

“But I needed to find a job to pay the bills during school,” he said. “I went to law school at Catholic University and got a job at ASAE in the public policy division, first as an eight-dollar-an-hour intern.”

Tenenbaum credits mentorship by the late Bill Taylor, ASAE’s longtime CEO, and other ASAE executives during his three-year stint in various positions, along with an exciting period in nonprofit law when he witnessed the birth of new laws and regulations around corporate sponsorships and the disclosure of lobbying expenditures. 

“Those were three very impactful years for association law and policy at ASAE and I was right there in the middle of it,” he said. “I just fell in love with association law.”

Practicing law for a wide range of associations and other nonprofits — about 60% of his work is for trade and professional groups — stimulates Tenenbaum.

“I love the diversity of industries and professions,” he said. “I love the diversity of legal issues. I don’t think I could ever just deal with one industry or area of law. My mind doesn’t work that way.”

Tenenbaum advises on everything from antitrust law to contracts, mergers, regional chapters, copyrights, internal investigations, government investigations and more. 

“I always knew that I wanted to be a generalist. I did not want to be pigeonholed into one area of law, such as tax, antitrust, intellectual property or employment law,” he said.

Fast-growing practice

Much of his career was at law firm Venable, but after leaving in 2020 he started Tenenbaum Law Group with attorney Nisha Thakker.

The firm is growing quickly based on referrals and Tenenbaum’s prolific articles, speaking engagements, webinars and presentations, such as those at ASAE and other association gatherings. 

“ASAE has been a key part of my visibility and success,” he said. “Writing articles and giving presentations has always been the biggest business development driver, and I probably do more speaking now than I’ve ever done. I probably give about 60 presentations a year, which is pretty crazy. I enjoy doing it. It’s so much fun. People comment all the time about how grateful they are, because they view it as me as giving back to the association community.”

His firm’s website offers about 75 recorded webinars and more than 100 articles and PowerPoint presentations, which he said association executives and younger lawyers can learn from.

Collaborative spirit

Tenenbaum also responds to the spirit of cooperation present in the association sector.

“It’s a very collaborative, cooperative community, even among association and nonprofit lawyers,” he said. “Everyone seems to always be willing to help each other out. And it’s the same throughout the sector. I see CEOs do it all the time, along with so many others.”

He has seen much change in associations.

“I see a lot more associations that are much more creative and not as cookie cutter as they used to be,” he said. “It used to be everyone kind of did the same things: member services, trade shows and conferences, publications and public policy advocacy. Maybe it’s partly the technology, but maybe it’s just innovation” in association management.

“I’ve seen the international expansion,” he said. “So many of our association clients operate around the world and that’s where some of the biggest growth opportunities are.”

The association chief staff position — the CEO or other lead executive reporting to the board — has changed, too. Tenenbaum recalls when many staff leaders were called executive secretaries.

“There’s been an elevation of the position. It’s a much higher-level, stronger leadership role than it used to be. I’ve just seen a greater sophistication of association CEOs, which I think is great,” he said. “I really enjoy working with dynamic, cutting-edge CEOs.”

“I have great respect for the association CEO profession. I’ve worked with some truly, truly exceptional ones,” Tenenbaum said.

Words of advice

His advice for association leaders is to “learn from those who have gone before you and then bring your own ideas and innovations to the table.”

“Association CEOs, I’ve found, are generally very willing to sit down and share their experiences and expertise,” he said. “Just pick up the phone and call them. There are also many informal groups of CEOs that get together in person and online. 

“It’s such a balancing act of so many different skills that you have to have, including how you interact with the board and the board officers, how you set an agenda, how you work with them, when to push back on them and how to let them shine. 

“And then there’s being a great leader and manager of your staff. You’ve got to have all those skills put together. And you can’t be too high level. You have to drill down into the nuts and bolts of the industry or profession that you’re representing as well as the different association programs and activities.

“And you need to know the difference between leadership and management and how they intersect. The best CEOs have a great ability to do both, but it’s not easy,” Tenenbaum said.

UP CLOSE WITH JEFF TENENBAUM

Hanging a shingle: After working at law firm Venable for nearly two decades, Tenenbaum went out on his own five years ago, founding Tenenbaum Law Group. It’s a fast-growing firm with two new attorneys added in the past year, for a total of six, and with a new paralegal. He says the firm is adding clients rapidly.

Accolades and achievements: Tenenbaum is chair of the American Bar Association’s trade and professional association subcommittee, and his firm was ranked in the U.S. Legal 500 in 2022-24 in the national not-for-profit category, one of only 19 firms nationwide and the only boutique firm so honored. The firm also was ranked by Best Lawyers as one of the best law firms for nonprofit and charity law for 2025.

Want a drink with that? Tenenbaum has a passion for what he calls “creative cocktails.” During the pandemic, he published "Quarantine Cocktails," including recipes for about 60 mixed drinks. It is available in hardcover or in a free digital version.