Riker Danzig is pleased to announce the expansion of its Tax and Trusts & Estates Group with the addition of several key professionals of impressive backgrounds, strong experience and superior academic achievements.
Glenn A. Clark, managing partner of Riker Danzig, said, “In addition to seven new partners and seven new counsel in many areas, we are very excited about the impressive abilities that the new additions to our Tax and T&E practice bring, complementing our existing Tax and T&E teams in Morristown and New York. Our clients rely on us to provide expertise across the board, and these newest members of our team not only expand our expertise but also enhance the vision and enthusiasm that ensure we will continue to perform at the highest level.” Clark added, “This is a great way to start off the New Year.”
The latest additions provide expertise in traditional and sophisticated trust and estate planning and administration, probate litigation, charitable gifting and business succession planning. They complement the Tax and T&E group’s existing expertise in these areas, as well as in federal, state, local and international business tax planning and compliance, tax controversies, public charity and private foundation counseling, employee benefits and executive compensation.
John M. Loalbo joined Riker Danzig as a Partner in September 2014, bringing a trust and estate practice with a strong emphasis on probate litigation. He was previously a partner with Weiner Lesniak and focuses exclusively on trusts and estates issues. Loalbo received his J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law, where he was a member of the Canadian-American Law Review, earned his LL.M. from Boston University School of Law, where he was a member of the University Journal of Tax Law, and received his B.A. from Seton Hall University.
John M. Tassillo, Jr. joined Riker Danzig as a Partner in January 2015. Formerly a solo practitioner at the Law Office of John M. Tassillo, Jr. LLC, Tassillo’s practice emphasizes estate planning, business succession planning and estate administration. He received a J.D. degree from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a member of the Columbia Business Law Review, an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law, and a B.B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Adelphi University in Accounting. Tassillo is a member of the New Jersey Society of Certified Public Accountants, by which he has been recognized for his efforts in the career development of young accountants. He is also currently an Adjunct Professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University where he teaches Estate and Gift Taxation in FDU’s Masters of Taxation Program.
Stephen J. Pagano joined Riker Danzig as Counsel in January 2015, with an emphasis on counseling estate and trust fiduciaries in probate and administration, and estate litigation. Pagano received a J.D. degree, cum laude, from Seton Hall University School of Law, where he was a member of the Seton Hall Sports and Entertainment Law Journal, and earned a B.A. degree from Boston College. He is currently completing an LL.M. degree in Taxation at New York University School of Law. Pagano was previously associated with Becker Meisel LLC, and is a graduate of the Hayden Proctor Inn of Court.
Lauren N. Spitser joined Riker Danzig as an Associate in the Trusts & Estates practice in September 2014. Formerly an associate with Lampf, Lipkind, Prupis & Petigrow, P.C. and Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP, Spitser received her law degree, cum laude, from Brooklyn Law School and her B.A., cum laude, in Economics and Business/Art from Lafayette College.
In addition, Riker Danzig Tax and Corporate attorney Jason D. Navarino was elected Partner as of January 2015. Navarino has considerable experience advising both large and small business clients with respect to structuring and documenting domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions and joint ventures in a tax-efficient and tax-compliant manner, forming operating and investment partnerships and limited liability companies, and managing other related tax and corporate matters. He also frequently counsels nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations on a variety of tax and corporate issues. He received his J.D. degree from Yale Law School, where he was Senior Editor of the Yale Law Journal and Director of the Community and Economic Development Clinic and its Small Business Legal Services program. He received his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University, and an LL.M. degree in Taxation from New York University School of Law.
Other partners on Riker Danzig’s Tax and Trusts & Estates team include Robert Daleo, chair of Riker Danzig’s state and local tax and tax controversy practices, who was recently named Best Lawyers’ Tax “Lawyer of the Year” for the Newark region; James Karas, who focuses on employee benefits and executive compensation; and Tracy Green Landauer, chair of Riker Danzig’s trust and estates practice, who concentrates in estate planning and administration, charitable gifting, and a wide variety of issues affecting public charities and private foundations.
With these additions, the Tax and Trusts & Estates Group boasts 9 attorneys, representing one of the largest Tax/Trusts & Estates practices in New Jersey and the New York metropolitan region.
