Mary Pickford Institute and Foundation Hiring Lawyers

[missdupont]

Here's a story from today's Deadline.com, detailing how each side is hiring lawyers and girding for a fight.
http://www.deadline.com/2012/04/battle- ... -heats-up/" target="_blank

[Derwiddian]

Make your tax-deductible donations now to support the lawyers of your choice.

[Gaucho]

What a dismal situation...

[Gene Zonarich]

Let me see if I understand this. The board of directors of a (supposedly) philanthropic entity are paid $60K/year SALARIES? For part-time positions? If not, how the hell do they justify drawing a salary to serve as what are essentially "guardians" of Pickford's legacy and to ensure that the Foundation lives up to the mission as originally intended by Pickford.

Hiring lawyers to protect the interests of the Foundation or for dealing with copyright issues and tax matters is one thing, but a salary for what amounts to reading the financial statements, reviewing "old business" on the agenda plus any "new" business maybe once a month at a directors' meeting? I'm willing to bet that the 12 hours/week they spend on the business of the Foundation is spent on the phone with accountants and/or legal counsel, probably less than 12 hours a week in reality. Seems to me they could easily find board members from the private sector (as do many non-profits and for-profits) to perform this function gladly and without receiving anything more than money to cover incidental expenses.

Getting this out into the open with litigation ought to shed some light on the Foundation's work performance. The Institute is quite transparent about what they do and where the funding goes, so I think the Foundation board members ought to hope this never goes to trial. I don't think they will come out looking good. And they're off to a poor start on the PR front already.

Maybe someone could enlighten me if I'm off-base with this, please.