Expertise
Our attorneys specialize in estate planning and administration, tax optimization, corporate governance and transactions, family offices, non-profit organizations, philanthropic planning, and general counsel services.
Our Areas of Expertise
Estate Planning
Brick & Patel advises our clients through all phases of designing and implementing an estate plan tailored to their unique goals.
- Basic Planning
We prepare fundamental testamentary documents for our clients, such as wills, revocable trusts, health care directives, and durable powers of attorney.
- Tax Optimization and Sophisticated Planning
Our clients rely on us to help develop and execute sophisticated tax strategies to minimize income, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer taxes. We work closely with our clients’ financial advisors and accountants to create cohesive, thoughtful, and tax-efficient wealth and estate management plans. These plans may include one or more revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, charitable trusts, asset protection trusts, and other charitable or non-charitable entities.
- Family Governance, Legacy Planning and Business Succession Planning
We assist clients in developing family governance strategies for long-term wealth preservation and family harmony. This can often include thoughtful business succession and transition planning to ensure uninterrupted services, and creating and withdrawing from pooled family investment vehicles. In addition, we help clients navigate decisions related to prenuptial agreements and divorce settlements and integrate relevant decisions into the client’s estate plan.
- International Estate Planning
We help clients navigate the complexities of cross-border wealth management, including multi-jurisdictional estate administration, foreign trusts, and international tax treaty analysis. We advise regarding ownership of global assets to minimize tax liabilities and ensure seamless wealth transfer across borders
Estate & Trust Administration
Brick & Patel routinely advises fiduciaries, beneficiaries, and other interested parties on trust administration, fiduciary responsibilities, and probate matters. We coordinate among fiduciaries, beneficiaries, and other professionals to make navigation of complicated legal processes more manageable at what is often a difficult time.
- Preparing and filing probate petitions.
- Advising trustees on their fiduciary duties, asset management and compliance with trust terms.
- Coordinating the valuation of assets, managing transfers and distributions, and resolving related issues.
- Preparing estate tax returns.
- Identifying and settling outstanding obligations of the estate.
Non-Profit Organizations & Philanthropic Planning
Brick & Patel guides clients in establishing and managing charitable foundations, donor-advised funds, and other philanthropic vehicles. We help align our clients’ charitable giving with their values and maximize their philanthropic impact.
- Entity formation, structure, and securing tax exempt status.
- Corporate governance and compliance documentation and procedures, ensuring board operations, policies, and reporting meet federal and state requirements.
- Navigating charitable giving and fundraising laws, including planned giving options and donor agreements.
- Dissolving and winding up charitable endeavors and entities.
Corporate Governance
Brick & Patel clients rely on effective corporate governance to ensure the integrity of their estate plans, to protect their investments, and to provide privacy and anonymity in their personal affairs.
- Forming and dissolving corporate entities for personal, trust, and business structures with purpose-suited operating and partnership agreements to achieve desired economic and voting control outcomes
- Navigating Know Your Customer inquiries and compliance with state-level annual filings, and similar non-US transparency reporting requirements
Corporate Transactions
Our clients regularly turn to Brick & Patel to assist with a wide range of corporate transactions and investment activities, for both personal and business endeavors.
- Startup business formation and venture investing, including SAFEs, seed investments, preferred stock, and convertible debt instruments
- Debt financings, including secured and unsecured notes, revolving lines of credit, and margin loans and asset-based borrowings
- Joint ventures, direct investments, and mergers and acquisitions
- Transferring and leveraging crypto currencies and digital assets
Employment Matters
Brick & Patel regularly advises our clients on their terms of employment as well as hiring and terminating personnel, both in their businesses and at home. We are uniquely sensitive to our clients need to maintain privacy and confidentiality.
- Executive employment agreements and carried interest terms
- Household staff employment agreements
- Severance and termination agreements, and non-disclosure, non-competition, and non-solicitation agreements
Family Office Advisory
Many of our clients have an established family office, are considering creating one, or embed family office services within their businesses.
- Structuring and forming a personalized family office tailored to the client’s needs and goals
- Navigating the tax and securities law issues unique to family offices
- Operational advice, including staffing needs, technological resources, and vendor selection
- Leveraging our Corporate Transactions expertise for family office investment activities, including direct investments, fund investments and side letters, subscription documentation, and new business formation
General Counsel Services
Through the trust we gain in partnering with our clients, individual and Family Office clients look to Brick & Patel to be their outsourced general counsel on an extensive range of legal matters. Using our diverse range of experience and engaging our network of external practice area specialists when needed, Brick & Patel helps our clients navigate opportunities and challenges alike.
- Advising on the acquisition, management, and disposition of art collections and other collectible assets, including structuring ownership, minimizing tax exposure, loaning works to exhibitions, and planning for legacy management
- Purchasing, leasing, and renovating real estate
- Working with aviation attorneys to coordinate aircraft purchases
- Film financing, theatre production, and work-for-hire commissions
- Obtaining and updating insurance policies for valuable assets
Investment Advisers/Private Funds
- Private fund formation, including hedge funds, venture capital funds, real estate funds, and fund-of-funds,
Investment adviser and general partner structure and formation, including structuring employee participation in incentive allocations and carried interests, and creating compliance policies and procedures - Compliance with Investment Advisers Act of 1940, including investment adviser registration and exemption filings
- Review and negotiation of seed capital arrangements and marketing arrangements
Contact
Questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out.
