Rivkin Radler Rebrands and Adds Firepower to Trusts & Estates, Tax Practices

Recognizing the importance of lifecycle planning, Rivkin Radler has added six attorneys prominent in the fields of trusts and estates and taxation, four of whom are partners. The addition makes the group one of the largest of its kind in the region. Additionally, the Trusts & Estates Practice Group will now be known as the Personal, Family & Business Planning Practice Group. Supplemented by the firm’s 20 other practice groups, including real estate and tax, the Personal, Family & Business Planning attorneys are clients’ trusted advisors for virtually all legal issues.

“We welcome our new colleagues to Rivkin Radler. The increased depth in this area will allow us to provide a holistic and highly individual approach to family and business planning,” said Evan. H. Krinick, managing partner.  “The additions also give us a formidable tax practice.”

Rivkin Radler has been seeing ongoing expansion. In addition to the moves to larger space at our Albany, New York City and New Jersey offices, the firm has seen growth across practices. Over the past year two years, we have added several partners who have brought their practices here: Joseph Salomon who brought two colleagues, merging his boutique  practice into the firm; and Wendy Hoey Sheinberg, a seasoned trusts and estates and elder law attorney joined the firm with a well-established practice.

The impetus for the rebranding of our trusts and estates practice is that each of our corporate/institutional clients are made up of people, all of whom need planning for the entire life cycle:

• New families need wills/healthcare proxies/powers of attorney – as life situations change these require periodic revisions;
• Those in the wealth accumulation phase need tax planning, advice and techniques to protect assets;
• Those in the retirement phase need proper planning to ensure their legacies are carried out.

The attorneys joining Rivkin Radler and their backgrounds are as follows:

Louis Vlahos, of Port Washington, NY, a partner, has more than 30 years’ experience in corporate, individual, partnership, and not-for-profit income taxation, and in estate and gift taxation, including mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations, tax planning, ruling requests and tax controversy. His clients encompass individuals, closely held businesses, private foundations and cultural institutions.

“Joining Rivkin Radler was not an easy decision,” said Vlahos, who joined with three attorneys from Farrell Fritz. “However, the firm’s culture of collegiality and camaraderie, coupled with its outstanding reputation for client service made it the perfect fit for me and my colleagues.”

Jean Hegler, of Huntington, NY, has concentrated her practice in the areas of estate, gift and trust taxation, estate planning and administration and elder law planning for the past 30-plus years. She represents high net worth individuals, trusts, estates, family businesses and foundations in sophisticated tax planning and administration. Hegler is the author of “Wills: Structure, Design & Settlement under New York State Law,” used as a course textbook by more than 20 colleges and universities. Jean joins the firm as a partner, effective April 1.

“My clients will appreciate the depth offered by a larger firm like Rivkin Radler,” said Hegler, who joined the firm after her former partnership disbanded, bringing a colleague (Glackin) with her. “Besides the collective depth of experience, knowledge and talent in the tax and estate planning arenas, my clients have other legal needs that can be serviced well here.”

Patricia Marcin, of Lloyd Harbor, NY, a partner, concentrates in estate planning, estate and trust administration, and taxation. Her practice includes the preparation of wills, trusts and other estate planning documents and all phases of estate administration, including the analysis and review of estate and fiduciary income tax issues and administrative and legal issues in each estate. Marcin is a trustee of the board of directors at Northwell Health Huntington Hospital and the chairperson of the Long Island Community Foundation board.

Joseph La Ferlita, of Locust Valley, NY, a partner, practices trusts and estates law, with an emphasis on estate planning, estate and trust administration, and tax controversy. He counsels individual planning clients, beneficiaries, individual and corporate fiduciaries and not-for-profit entities, including public charities and private foundations in connection with a multitude of estate- and trust-related matters. La Ferlita is secretary and board member of the Nassau County Estate Planning Council and vice-chair of the Estate Planning Committee of the Trusts & Estates Section of the New York State Bar Association. He has written and lectured extensively on the topic of trust decanting of New York trusts.

Bernadette Kasnicki, of Garden City, NY, counsel, concentrates on tax and corporate law. She advises business clients on a range of tax matters relating to corporations, LLCs, partnerships, public charities and private foundations. She is a member of the boards of directors of Tomorrow’s Hope Foundation and the Child Care Council of Nassau.

Maureen Glackin, of Huntington, NY, an associate, focuses on sophisticated estate planning for individual clients, estate and gift taxation and estate and trust administration.  Maureen’s experience includes advising high net-worth individuals in the establishment and management of estate plans to minimize and obviate estate taxes, including the preparation of Wills and Trusts, advising grantors and trustees in decanting complex trusts and advising fiduciaries in administering complex estates and trusts.  She joins the firm as an associate effective April 1.