Richard H. Wender
Fifty years of tax-driven estate and corporate work: the lawyer our clients turn to when the tax matter is complex or international.
Why Clients Choose Rick
When the IRS rules are complicated, the family is sophisticated, or the assets cross borders, Rick is the lawyer at the table. Three things distinguish his work:
An NYU Tax LL.M. and an SEC enforcement background. Few estate attorneys in the tri-state combine an advanced tax degree with seven years as a federal trial attorney and Branch Chief. The result is wealth-transfer planning that holds up under scrutiny.
He thinks like a teacher. Rick spent four years as an Adjunct Tax Professor at Baruch's graduate business school. He explains the law in language a non-lawyer can repeat to a spouse over dinner.
He is genuinely calm. After five decades, very little surprises Rick. Clients describe his manner as steady, deliberate, and quietly reassuring: exactly what you want when the numbers get large.
Practice
Richard ("Rick" to his clients) has been practicing law for nearly fifty years. He is the firm's senior tax attorney, devising tax strategies, advising on the tax implications of domestic and international corporate transactions, handling tax defense, and designing wealth transfer arrangements by gift, trust, or bequest. When proposed federal changes threaten to reshape the planning landscape, Rick is the lawyer our clients call — see, for example, our coverage of recent estate and gift tax proposals.
Beyond tax, Rick has fifty years of experience across business law, including general counsel work, acquisitions and contracts. He is an expert in trusts and estates and a seasoned hand on commercial real estate transactions.
Background
Rick began his career at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's New York Division of Enforcement: first as a trial attorney, then as a Branch Chief leading a team of trial lawyers. He developed numerous matters from investigation through trial and appeal, several of which led to both civil enforcement and criminal prosecution. The discipline of building a federal case from cold facts is something he still draws on every time he structures a tax position that needs to survive an audit.
In 1990 he earned his LL.M. in Taxation from NYU. From 1990 through 1994 he served as an Adjunct Tax Professor at Baruch College's graduate business school, teaching federal tax to candidates for the Master of Accountancy degree. The teaching habit never left. Clients are routinely surprised at how clearly he can explain a complex tax instrument.
Outside Interests
When he is not at his desk, Rick is at the pottery wheel or on a pair of skis. He lives a purposeful life. It is part of how he stays steady on hard days.