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Bio:

James R. Cohen is a partner and heads the seven-attorney, three-paralegal tax and estates department at Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen, P.C. (551 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10176; (212) 986-6000). Jim has focused his own practice on estate planning and tax advice to private clients, hedge funds and other money managers for more than 30 years. Kleinberg, Kaplan, Wolff & Cohen has an extensive estate planning practice having planned thousands of estates. Jim's firm is counsel to the Estate of Jim Henson (the creator of the "Muppets"), the Estate of Musa Guston (widow of the artist Philip Guston) and to more than 35 other estates currently in administration. Jim's estate planning clients run the gamut from estates of a million dollars to estates in excess of a billion dollars; estates of entrepreneurs, hedge fund managers, professionals, investors, uncomplicated families, multiple families (three spouses, six children and four dogs), international families, etc. Jim has been involved with private placement variable life insurance for many years, acting as legal counsel to insurance brokers for such policies, investors who have purchased such policies, and hedge fund managers managing funds for such policies. The law firm has been general counsel to hedge fund managers for more than 20 years, currently representing managers who manage assets of over $10 billion. He has dealt extensively with tax issues and estate planning matters involving hedge fund investments and hedge fund managers (including the issues related to insurance invested in hedge funds). Jim is a graduate of Dartmouth College and holds J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation degrees from New York University School of Law and is admitted to practice law before the New York Court of Appeals, the Tax Court and many appellate courts. Jim is a member of the American Bar Association and its Real Property, Probate and Trust Law and Taxation Sections, a member of the Estate Planning Council of New York City, the Dartmouth Lawyers Association and is a trustee of a number of philanthropic organizations. He has lectured widely on tax, estates, investment fund and hedge fund life insurance issues.

Bruce Steiner has over 30 years of experience in the areas of taxation, estate planning, business succession planning and estate and trust administration. He is a frequent lecturer at continuing education programs for bar associations, CPAs and other professionals. He writes a column for the CCH Journal of Retirement Planning, is a commentator for Leimberg Information Services, Inc., is a member of the editorial advisory board of Trusts & Estates, is a technical advisor for Ed Slott’s IRA Advisor, and has written numerous articles for Estate Planning, BNA Tax Management’s Estates, Gifts & Trusts Journal, Trusts & Estates, the Journal of Taxation, Probate & Property, TAXES, the CPA Journal, the CLU Journal and other professional journals. Bruce has been quoted in various publications including Forbes, The New York Times, Lawyers Weekly, Bloomberg’s Wealth Manager, Financial Planning, Kiplinger’s Retirement Report, Newsday, the New York Post, the Naples Daily News, Individual Investor, TheStreet.com, and Dow Jones (formerly CBS) Market Watch.