Jennifer M. Smith Email and Phone Number

Senior Counsel in the Trusts and Estates department with a practice focused on identifying and navigating the tax, charitable, and legacy planning challenges faced by high net worth individuals. Jennifer regularly interprets and applies estate, gift, and income tax laws and related IRS guidance to develop long-term, tax-efficient wealth transfer, business succession, and life insurance plans and strives to communicate her analyses and recommendations to clients in a readily understandable manner. Her experience includes the creation and implementation of wills, revocable trusts, multi-generational dynasty trusts, life insurance trusts and split-dollar arrangements, buy-sell and shareholders agreements, and family partnerships and LLCs

Counsel in Private Wealth Management group with practice focused on legacy and business succession planning for successful families, including research, planning development and implementation, and document preparation and review. Responsibilities also include supporting the group’s proprietary legacy management approach and its financial technology application. Considerable experience using life insurance to structure sophisticated wealth transfer and business succession plans, including in buy-sell and split-dollar planning, and providing support to life insurance producer groups and trade associations on inquiries related to tax and legislative issues impacting the personal and employment life insurance planning market.

Associate assisting with federal tax issues associated with estate and charitable planning for high net worth individuals; provide support to life insurance producer groups and trades associations on inquiries related to federal tax and legislative issues impacting the personal and employment life insurance planning market.

Associate in the private client department, specializing in estate, financial, charitable and tax planning for international and domestic clients. Duties and responsibilities included acting as lead associate on several client engagements, with minimal supervision; supervising junior associates on client matters, including review and commentary of work; collaborating with other attorneys across different practice areas to resolve tax and other client-related disputes; writing technical memoranda on numerous aspects of federal and New York estate and gift tax laws, using various legal search tools, including Lexis/Nexis, Westlaw and other legal and tax databases; developing and implementing trust, corporate and partnership structures to manage and hold assets of high net worth individuals in a tax-efficient manner; and preparing numerous presentations, lectures and speeches for presentation at continuing legal education seminars and conferences.

Associate in practice area involving estate and tax planning for high net worth individuals. Duties and responsibilities included: drafting and filing organizational and tax documents to establish the Arizona Energy Efficiency Alliance, a tax exempt organization designed to promote energy conservation in Arizona; preparing petitions for the appointment of a guardian for an incapacitated adult in a contested court proceeding; and making court appearances to petition for appointment of personal representatives of estates and to support appointment of guardians.

Associate in the private client department, specializing in estate, financial, charitable and tax planning for international and domestic clients.

Law clerk in practice area involving transactional work in sales and acquisitions of real property, commercial leasing and financing. Duties and responsibilities included: acting as lead associate on several real estate deals; drafting and organizing all documents necessary to close numerous real estate transactions; negotiating documents on behalf of corporate clients; supporting senior associates and partners in transactional negotiations and closing meetings; and performing due diligence and title searches to ensure feasibility of the clients' transactions.