Alexander Fernan Booker

Alex is a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit attorney devoted to supporting mission-driven organizations with legal guidance that transforms ideas into sustainable impact. In addition to supporting the firm's full suite of outside general counsel services, Alex specializes in advising nonprofits on employment law, advocacy, and lobbying compliance.

Alex brings a perspective rare in nonprofit law: he has seen employment disputes from every side of the table. As an attorney advisor at the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board, he helped decide federal employment cases. At a plaintiff's employment firm, he litigated whistleblower, wage-and-hour, and civil rights claims on behalf of workers and their unions. Alex's experience as a legislative lawyer at the U.S. Department of Education — coordinating interagency review of federal legislation and developing agency positions on bills — gives him an insider's understanding of how advocacy actually lands in Washington. He helps organizations understand what they can and can't do, from lobbying expenditure tracking and the 501(h) election to issue advocacy, coalition activity, and state-level lobbying registration.

That vantage point shapes how he counsels nonprofit employers:  with an instinct for what will actually land in court or before an agency, and a bias toward the policies, classifications, and documentation that prevent disputes rather than merely surviving them.