NEW YORK, March 2, 2005 – The largest group of trusts and estates lawyers in the nation continues its strategic expansion with the arrival of Donald A. Goldsmith. Goldsmith joins the firm as a partner in the Private Wealth Services’ Estate Planning Group. He will operate out of the Rancho Santa Fe, Calif., and New York City offices.
Goldsmith brings extensive experience in the areas of exempt organizations, estate planning, trust and estate administration and dispute resolution. He has served for many years as outside general counsel to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, the Wallace Foundation (formerly the Wallace-Reader’s Digest Funds) and The American Foundation for the Blind. Goldsmith has administered several complex large estates in New York and other jurisdictions, and represented clients in a variety of forums in connection with disputed matters, including probate courts in several jurisdictions and the U.S. Tax Court. In addition, he has developed sophisticated estate plans for many high-net-worth clients and has advised privately held companies on pre-public offering estate planning structures.
“Don is nationally regarded in the trusts and estates community and in the field of exempt organizations,” said Ed Koren, chair of Holland & Knight’s Private Wealth Services Section. “He brings a perspective and depth of experience reflecting many years of individual experience in nearly every area of trusts and estates law. His track record and reputation make him an invaluable addition to our practice.”
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Goldsmith served as a partner in Shearman & Sterling’s Private Client Group. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, as well as the American Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and an Academician of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law. In addition, he is a trustee of the Brooklyn Botanical Garden and is a member of the Professional Advisers’ Councils of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.
Goldsmith graduated from Bowdoin College in 1965 and received his LL.B. from Columbia University School of Law in 1968, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar.
About Holland & Knight’s Private Wealth Services Section: Holland & Knight’s Private Wealth Services Section serves clients with needs that often span personal, business and nonprofit matters by taking a comprehensive, integrated approach to the areas of sophisticated estate planning, trust and estate administration and fiduciary litigation, nonprofit organizations, charitable gift planning, and family and private businesses. With 20 lawyers who are Fellows of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Holland & Knight has the highest number of any law firm in the country.
About Holland & Knight LLP: Holland & Knight is a commercial law firm with more than 1,250 lawyers in 26 offices in the United States. Internationally, offices are located in Mexico City, Tokyo and Beijing, with representative offices in Helsinki, Caracas and Tel Aviv, and strategic alliance relations in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Holland & Knight is among the 15 largest firms worldwide, providing representation in all major areas of law. www.hklaw.com
Contact: Elizabeth Fogerty, Rubenstein Associates
212-843-8071 or efogerty@rubenstein.com
Kathleen Larrison, Holland & Knight LLP
813-769-4330 or kathleen.larrison@hklaw.com
