Overview
(June 8, 2022, New York) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP is pleased to announce that trusts and estates practitioner K. Eli Akhavan has joined the firm’s Tax and Private Client practice as a partner in New York, where he will focus on domestic and international tax and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and closely held, family-run businesses.
For more than 15 years, Akhavan has concentrated on the creation of domestic and foreign trusts, pre-immigration and expatriation planning, business succession, and charitable structuring. Akhavan also advises international clients on planning for the purchase of US residential and investment real estate. He understands the multitude of reporting requirements regarding foreign financial accounts, assets, and trusts.
"Eli's wide ranging experience in tax and estate planning will add to our extensive offerings to private wealth clients in the United States and around the world," said Steptoe chair Gwen Renigar. "We are pleased to bring him on board as we continue to expand our Tax and Private Client practice."
"Joining a firm with an international footprint as expansive as Steptoe's is an exciting step," Akhavan said. "I particularly look forward to collaborating with the highly regarded and trusted advisors within Steptoe's Tax and Private Client practice. In deciding to join Steptoe, I was particularly attracted to the breadth of its high-net-worth clientele and its in-depth engagement with their businesses and estates."
Beth Tractenberg, co-chair of Steptoe's Tax Group and head of Steptoe's Private Client practice, added, "Our private client lawyers counsel clients on the legal aspects of financial planning for their businesses and personal lives. We work hand in hand with our clients to gain an intimate understanding of their interests so that we can most effectively incorporate their business goals into estate and income tax planning. Eli's experience and his strategic and creative thinking will add to our group’s deep bench."
Outside of his day-to-day practice, Akhavan an active member in a number of organizations and committees committed to advancing trusts and estates law such as the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP), the American Bar Association (as Vice Chair of the International Tax Planning Committee of the Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, as well as a member of the Asset Protection Planning Committee), and the New York State Bar Association (International Estate Planning Committee). Considered a leading authority in tax and estate law, Akhavan has also served as a professor of international taxation at St. John's University School of Law and has been quoted in leading publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, and Fox News.
Akhavan earned his LL.M and J.D. from New York University. He earned his B.A., magna cum laude, from Columbia College.
Steptoe's Private Client Practice Group advises high-net-worth individuals, family offices and closely held, family-run businesses in connection with complex and interconnected issues related to the personal, business, and financial aspects of their investments and company activities. The group advises clients on a wide range of corporate, partnership and individual tax issues both domestically and internationally, working with clients’ advisers in all relevant jurisdictions.
About Steptoe
In more than 100 years of practice, Steptoe has earned an international reputation for vigorous representation of clients before governmental agencies, successful advocacy in litigation and arbitration, and creative and practical advice in structuring business transactions. Steptoe has more than 500 lawyers and other professional staff across offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.