Clients appreciate Steve’s direct approach to advocacy and practical approach to solving problems in an effective, understandable and cost efficient manner.

Overview

Steve works with high net-worth individuals and closely held family businesses, helping them transfer wealth in a tax-efficient manner, along with succession planning, buy-sell planning, insurance issues, tax, and general business counseling.

Steve is a trusted tax, estate and business planning advisor who is highly experienced with probate and trust administration. He works with clients on a range of business issues particular to closely held family businesses. He helps clients identify their individual, family and business goals, and then crafts tax and business plans to meet those goals, and assists, where appropriate, with implementation.

Experience

Steve works with clients to ensure their estate planning, insurance, tax and business goals are aligned, especially when it comes to planning for succession, or at major transitions for the business.

Steve provides estate-planning services to high net-worth individuals, guiding them through every step of what can be a complex and emotional process. He has been named among The Best Lawyers in America© in the area of trusts and estates.

Steve has also represented clients as gift and estate tax audits and at Tax Court on matters where hundreds of millions of dollars have been at issue.

As an adjunct professor at the University of Minnesota School of Law, Steve has taught advanced estate planning. He is a fellow with and has lectured at the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and is active in its business planning committee and insurance subcommittee. He has also lectured at the Southern California Tax and Estate Planning Forum; Minnesota Continuing Legal Education; and the Hennepin County Bar Association. Steve is also on the Board of Directors of the S Corporation Association, the national industry group that represents the interests of 4.7 million family-owned S Corporations on tax matters.

In working with the S Corporation Association, Steve has been the initial author (and a key part of the advocacy group) that lobbied for changes in the Internal Revenue Code that were ultimately enacted into law. These provisions made it easier for family-owned S Corporation businesses to access capital, by limiting the application of the Built-in-Gains Tax and the Passive Investment Income Tax.

News & Insights

Recognitions

Recognitions

Named among The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of trusts and estates

Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for Private Wealth Law in Minnesota, 2020-2021

Professional & Civic Activities

Professional & Civic Activities

American Bar Association, Tax and Real Property, Probate and Trust Sections

Minnesota State Bar Association, Tax and Probate and Trust Sections

American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow, 1986–Present

  • Business Planning Committee
  • Insurance Subcommittee

S Corp Association, Washington, DC, Board of Directors

Torah Academy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, Board of Advisors

Admissions

  • Minnesota

Education

University of Minnesota Law School, J.D., cum laude, 1973

University of Minnesota, B.S., 1969

University of Minnesota, B.A., 1968

Jump to Page

We use cookies on our website to improve functionality and performance, analyze website traffic and enable social media features. For more information, please see our Cookie Policy.