LISA AYN PADILLA, J.D., LL.M.

Our practice focuses on financial and estate planning for non-traditional families.  Lisa has been in practice for 16 years, and in that time has amassed a wide array of corporate, financial and related litigation experience that enables her to provide the very best in legal and financial solutions for her clients.

With an extensive background in financial planning techniques, coupled with an advanced law degree in Taxation, and an insurance license, Lisa has a unique perspective on legal and financial issues, allowing for a holistic approach to her clients’ financial and estate planning situations. 

In her current practice, Lisa uses sophisticated estate-planning and financial and tax techniques designed to facilitate the transfer of wealth between domestic partners and to younger generations in a tax-efficient manner, including a variety of trusts, business succession plans, family limited partnerships, charitable giving plans and domestic partnership agreements.  The trust and estate administration portion of her practice includes post-mortem tax planning and providing counsel to beneficiaries and fiduciaries in order to preserve inherited wealth. 

With a J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and an LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University, Lisa is admitted to practice law in the state and federal courts of New York, New Jersey and Massachusetts, the First and Second U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeals, the United States Tax Court and the United States Supreme Court. 

Lisa is an Adjunct Professor for New York Law School’s LL.M. Program in Taxation, teaching business planning, wealth transfer tax and advanced estate planning.  She has been a panelist and speaker for a variety of organizations, including testifying before the New Jersey Assembly regarding the Family Equality Act; the American Red Cross for recipients of the Victim’s Compensation Fund; Bank of New York on Estate Planning for Unmarried Couples; New York County Lawyers’ Association on Planning for Alternative Families; Financial Planners’ Association on Beyond Ozzie and Harriet, Planning for the Non-Traditional Family; and the Wedding Expo held in New York City, where Lisa was quoted in the New York Times.  She has also been quoted by Forbes.com, the New York Times, the New Jersey Lawyer, NPR Marketplace and CBS News Marketwatch.  Additionally, she was the Chair of the Domestic Partnership Agreements Panel and a panelist on the Advanced Estate Planning Forum at the Lavender Law Conference (2001 in Dallas and 2002 in Philadelphia). 

Lisa is a regular presenter for the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New York (“The Center”) on financial and legal matters that effect same-sex couples.  In addition, she is a member of New York State Bar Association, Trusts & Estates Law Section, active on the Sub-Committees on Commissions, and sub-sub-committees on Joint Bank Accounts and Biotechnology.