Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, today announced the national expansion of the Tax Practice Group with Partners Colleen Calkins in Los Angeles and Mary Samsa in Chicago.
“The expansion of our Tax Practice Group in Los Angeles and Chicago is part of our client-driven strategy,” said Peter Larsen, chair of Akerman’s Tax Practice Group. “Mary brings essential tax experience within executive compensation and corporate M&A matters, and Colleen deepens our experience for families and individuals in trusts and estate planning. Their client-focused practices and expertise go hand-in-hand with our dedication to deliver exceptional tax services to our clients.”
Calkins is certified by the State Bar of California Board of Legal Specialization as a Legal Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law. She works with families and individuals to plan for the care of their families and the transfer of their wealth and represents trustees, executors and beneficiaries in complex trust and probate administration. Clients rely on Calkins to create and implement tailored plans for varied levels of wealth, and to coordinate their estate planning with their business planning. She also represents individuals, businesses, and charitable organizations on general business transactions and taxation.
Samsa focuses her practice on executive compensation matters and tax-qualified retirement programs for a wide range of organizations, including Fortune 500 companies, privately held companies, multinational organizations and nonprofit entities. She regularly advises on executive pay practices, including nonqualified deferred compensation arrangements, Code Section 409A and incentive programs for both for-profit and not-for profit entities. Samsa represents employers and high-level executives with respect to employment agreements, severance arrangements, golden parachute plans, and the reporting and disclosure of these compensatory arrangements.
Akerman is previously recognized by Law360 as Tax Practice Group of the Year for achieving some of the greatest client successes in the industry. In addition to Calkins and Samsa, the team recently attracted Partner Stacey Prince-Troutman from Broad and Cassel in Orlando.
The new partners join Akerman at a time of continued growth and momentum. Over the last three years, the firm’s Los Angeles office has more than tripled in size to nearly 40 lawyers. In Chicago, the team has grown from eight to nearly 60 lawyers since the office opened in 2014.
Source: www.akerman.com
