Meredith K. McCoy
Meredith offers both outside general counseling and subject-matter expertise, depending on clients unique needs. She provides full-service legal advice to numerous nonprofits, assisting organizations from formation to dissolution and on all governance, operational, and compliance matters in between. For other clients, she focuses on their specific needs in the fields of campaign finance; political advertising; ballot access and election administration; lobbying disclosure; gift law and government ethics; the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); pay-to-play laws; tax-exempt organizations; and tax code restrictions on lobbying and political activities.
Among Meredith’s particular interests is the intersection of political law and the media. She uses her extensive knowledge of political advertising compliance to counsel advertisers, ad agencies, major media companies, and ad distribution platforms on various regulations, from intellectual property and libel to use of artificial intelligence (AI) and "deepfakes" in political ads. Meredith also advises on the applications of laws, including rights of publicity and privacy, libel, on-ad disclaimers, recordkeeping and disclosure obligations, parameters of jurisdictions' "media exemptions" for airing political content, and related federal communications laws.
Meredith stays actively informed of developments in law and policy and how they may affect clients’ risk assessments. Notably, she has written and spoken extensively on the shifting enforcement landscape of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). By understanding regulators’ changing FARA priorities, she is well positioned to help clients evaluate their exposure under the notoriously vague and archaic law.
Finally, Meredith is recognized for her strategic guidance on structuring and funding effective advocacy campaigns. She designs and oversees compliance programs for multistate educational, lobbying, and political operations of high-profile nonprofit organizations and related political committees. She also advises many high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and their related businesses and nonprofits on how to structure investments in societal change with an eye to both legal and reputational risk. Among other clients, Meredith has advised multiple Am Law 50 law firms on partnership contribution strategy and executives from some of the country’s largest companies on their personal political activity.
Related Practices
Related Industries
Experience
Government Experience
- Attorney, Federal Election Commission
Representative Matters
- Advises the family office of a leading philanthropist on political giving, including innovative recommendations on how to leverage various funding vehicles (LLCs, 501(c)(3)s, 501(c)(4)s, and PACs) to achieve policy and political objectives. Work includes performing due diligence on prospective grantees, assessing potential legal, strategic, and reputational considerations, and anticipating downstream effects on unrelated activities, such as charitable ventures and business opportunities
- Advises a major U.S. media company on campaign finance implications of featuring candidate, officeholder, and public figure programming on broadcast, cable, and streaming platforms, the application of government ethics laws to hosting events with public officials, and the company’s obligations in distributing political advertising
- Represents a prominent international educational nonprofit on FARA compliance, including structuring and documentation of international partnerships to comply with available exemptions
- Managed a team of attorneys providing legal review of more than $500 million in campaign advertising during the 2020 presidential cycle, providing guidance on compliance with campaign finance, copyright, trademark, privacy, and defamation laws
- Counsels a start-up government contractor on lobbying compliance and recordkeeping, personal political activities of executives, and application of government ethics rules to site visits by members of Congress
- Served as outside general counsel to an organization of female filmmakers, engineering and overseeing compliance for a multi-state effort to provide low- or no-cost campaign ads to state and local candidates in compliance with state contribution limits and source restrictions
- Counseled affiliated nonprofits on appropriate handling of a months-long board dispute, including proper governance procedures, legal risks, and reputational considerations surrounding board member removals and formation of additional nonprofit
Insights
Credentials
Education
- J.D. William & Mary School of Law 2012
- Notes editor, William & Mary Law Review
- B.A. Political Science Duke University 2009
Bar Admissions
- District of Columbia
- Virginia (inactive)
Clerk Experience
- The Honorable Christopher C. Conner U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania
Recognition
- The Best Lawyers in America, Ones to Watch, 2024 – 2025
- Legal 500, Tax - Not-for-Profit (Fortune 1000 private foundations, national trade associations, and charities), 2024