Bio

Daniel Belin Bio and Experience

 

Law Practice

 

Law Firms

  • 1963–1990: Member of McKenna Conner & Cuneo and its predecessor, McKenna & Fitting
  • 1990–2000: Member of Belin Rawlings & Badal (Managing Partner)

 

Specialties in Law Practice

Trial lawyer specializing in business litigation and in trust and estate litigation; advisor to nonprofit organizations and representation of their interests before federal and state regulatory authorities; representation of trusts and estates and estate beneficiaries in the pursuit of their interests and in the resolution of their disputes.

Consulting

Belin Consulting: 2000–present

 

Board Memberships

  • The Ahmanson Foundation, Los Angeles: trustee, 1980–2002
  • Samuel H. Kress Foundation, New York: trustee, 1992–2007; board vice chair, 1997–2007
  • Los Angeles County Museum of Art: trustee, 1978–2003; board president and chair, 1986–1994; elected life trustee, 2003
  • Carnegie Institution for Science (Carnegie Institution of Washington): 1999–2009
  • Other: Member and cochair of the Board of Advisors of the UCLA School of Arts and Architecture; member of the Board of Advisors of the UCLA Medical School; member of the Board of Trustees of Los Angeles Philharmonic Association; member of the Board of Governors of the Music Center of Los Angeles; member of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles World Affairs Council; and member of the Trustees’ Council of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC.

 

Prior Experience

A major part of Mr. Belin’s law practice was focused on providing independent foundations and family foundations with legal advice on a regular basis. This work involved corporate and tax counseling and assisting foundations through a variety of regulatory disputes and litigations with both state and federal authorities.

In his law practice, Mr. Belin also represented a number of grant-receiving nonprofits, particularly universities, museums, and other cultural institutions. His intensive involvement with grant-receiving organizations provided a valuable perspective in his ongoing representation of foundations.

Another dimension of Mr. Belin’s law practice was in the representation of estates and their executors and in the representation of estate beneficiaries. This work was principally focused on the resolution of complex issues that developed during the course of estate administration. It included the successful pursuit of substantial tax claims against the Internal Revenue Service and various state taxing authorities and the formulation of innovative strategies to break through deadlocks among beneficiaries whose relationships had become adversarial. It also included acting as a mediator to achieve an amicable resolution of sometimes extreme differences among the estate beneficiaries.

At the time that Mr. Belin was practicing law, he served as an active participant on boards of trustees of both foundations and grant-seeking organizations, in several instances as head of the board or of key board committees. In those capacities, he developed hands-on experience as a principal of and not solely as an advisor to the nonprofit community.

 

Current Focus

In 2000, Mr. Belin left the practice of law to form Belin Consulting. Initially the firm’s principal clients were both foundations and grant-receiving nonprofit organizations. Increasingly, its work has been on behalf of foundations.

 

Education

Daniel Belin received his undergraduate degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan, from which he was graduated Phi Beta Kappa. He worked as a mathematician in the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Project Mercury before embarking upon the study of law. He is a graduate of Harvard Law School.