
JOHN C. PEIFFER II | PARTNER
BIO
John Peiffer is a partner with the Orange County, California law firm of Brown & Streza LLP. John counsels a wide range of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, including both public charities and private foundations, with a particular emphasis on religious organizations. He advises dioceses, religious orders, private religious schools, and other religious institutions on mission-focused corporate restructuring, governance, and compliance. John has negotiated and documented numerous pledges, endowments, and other major gifts to charitable, educational, and religious organizations.
John also regularly counsels business owners and their families on succession and charitable planning through irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, family limited partnerships and LLCs, private foundations, supporting organizations, and other structures designed to accomplish clients’ estate planning and philanthropic goals. He advises for-profit and nonprofit clients on business transactions, entity structures, and corporate formation and governance.
John received his Juris Doctor from the University of Notre Dame Law School after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in Classical Studies and English from Santa Clara University and a Master of Arts in Religious Studies from the University of Chicago Divinity School.
John also co-founded and serves as President and General Counsel of the Napa Legal Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on providing corporate, tax, philanthropic, and other non-litigation legal and financial education for faith-based nonprofits.
Click here for John's complete biography.
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND | PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION | PUBLICATIONS
PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND
Brown & Streza LLP, Irvine, California: Partner, 2021-Present
The Busch Firm, Irvine, California
Chief Executive Officer, 2016-2020
Attorney and Shareholder, 2015-2020
Attorney, 2010-2014
Baker McKenzie, San Francisco, California
Senior Associate Attorney, 2014-2015
Associate Attorney, 2008-2010
Dowling Aaron & Keeler, Fresno, California: Associate Attorney, 2006-2008
O’Melveny & Myers LLP, Los Angeles, California: Litigation Paralegal, 2001-2003
Juris Doctor, cum laude, Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, IN, 2006
Master of Arts, Religious Studies, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, 2000
Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, Classical Studies and English, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara, California, 1998
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
2015 “Southern California SuperLawyers - Rising Star”
Published by Los Angeles magazine and The Journal for Law & Politics. Only 2.5% of Southern California lawyers in Los Angeles and Orange Counties receive this honor.
PUBLICATIONS
Napa Legal Institute, August 2020, White Paper
“Toward a Spirituality of Compliance”
Napa Legal Institute, revised July 24, 2020
Co-author, “Sample Employee Handbook for Catholic Schools”
Napa Legal Institute, White Paper
“Why a Religious Corporation?”
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS
Napa Institute Principled Entrepreneurship Conference, New York, New York, October 13, 2021
Panelist, Faith, Family, & Charitable Giving
Napa Institute, Napa, California, July 23, 2021
Moderator, Panel Discussion, Cancel Culture: How to Protect Your Nonprofit Against Big Tech
Stand Together, Live Interactive Webinar, March 30, 2021
Co-Presenter, Strategic and Personalized Approaches to Family Philanthropy
Napa Legal Institute, Live Interactive Webinar, October 12, 2020
Co-presenter, Practice What You Preach: Securing and Communicating Religious Identity in Cancel Culture
OSV Institute, Live Interactive Webinar, September 30, 2020
Co-presenter, Human Resource and Employment Considerations for Religious Organizations
Napa Legal Institute, Live Interactive Webinar, August 13, 2020
Co-presenter, Hardening the Target: Protecting Your Lay Apostolate in the Next America
Napa Legal Institute Webinar, recorded September 16, 2019
Co-presenter, Steps for Success for Catholic Lay Apostolates, Part I
Napa Legal Institute Webinar, recorded October 3, 2019
Co-presenter, Steps for Successor for Lay Apostolates, Part II: Becoming and Staying Exempt
EWTN Catholic Radio Conference, Birmingham, Alabama, November 8, 2018
Bylaws Tune-ups: Principles and Proposals
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Napa Legal Institute: President and General Counsel
California Lawyers Association, Trusts & Estates Section: Member
California Lawyers Association, Business Law Section: Member