Richard S. Rothberg has faithfully served as ISEF’s Secretary and legal adviser for well over two decades. Since 2018, Mr. Rothberg has been of counsel at Schlesinger Lazetera & Auchincloss LLP. He joined Kronish Lieb Weiner & Hellman LLP in 1990, which merged into Cooley Godward Kronish LLP in 2006. During his tenure as Partner at Cooley, Mr. Rothberg co-led the Firm’s New York Personal Representation and Tax Planning practice.
Mr. Rothberg has practiced in the areas of trusts and estates for over 35 years. His practice includes personal wealth transfer planning; estate and trust administration; estate, gift and generation-skipping tax planning; fiduciary income tax issues; estate and gift tax dispute resolution; wealth transfer litigation; charitable planning; and marital planning including legal and financial planning in the context of marriage and the marriages of children and other family members and the preparation and negotiation of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
He is a former Chair of the Trusts and Estates Law Section, New York State Bar Association, and a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He has been recognized by New York Magazine as one of the New York City area’s “Best Lawyers” in the field of Trusts and Estates and made the exclusive list of top-rated lawyers, “Super Lawyers of New York,” from 2006-2019 and in 2021. He has written and lectured extensively on gift and estate taxation, including contributions to legal and tax journals about federal and state estate taxes, retirement plan benefits, S Corporations and the valuation of family businesses.
He received his J.D. in 1967 from Harvard Law School, cum laude.