Laura Lavie

Laura Lavie has a J.D. and an LL.M., with a decade of legal experience in estate planning and administration.  She works with individuals and families on matters ranging from simple to complex.  Ms. Lavie also incorporates and represents tax-exempt organizations such as private family foundations and public charities.

She is a certified mediator, and uses both mediation techniques and her years of experience to obtain results, working towards clients’ often-complex and varied objectives. Her extensive experience with sensitive situations gives her a unique perspective in her work.

Before founding Laura Lavie, P.A. in January 2010, Ms. Lavie practiced law at large New York firms for nearly a decade. She worked on matters ranging from drafting estate-planning documents; administration of estates valued at more than $1 billion; research related to complicated estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax issues; to incorporating and representing tax exempt organizations such as public charities and private family foundations. Ms. Lavie has also advised clients on business succession plans, real estate transactions, income tax planning, and probate and guardianship matters. During her time in New York, Ms. Lavie appeared in a case before the United States Tax Court and conducted pre-trial preparations, including drafting motions, preparing witnesses, and consulting with experts. Ms. Lavie also prepared applications for the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund of 2001 for family members of individuals killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and represented passengers killed aboard American Airlines Flight 587 on November 12, 2001.

From 2008-2009 Ms. Lavie served as General Counsel and Vice President of Administration for a private family foundation. During that time, she ensured that the foundation’s governance, investment management, operations, and grants programs complied with best practices for all legal and regulatory issues.

After graduating from law school, Ms. Lavie was the law clerk for the Honorable Gerald C. Escala, Justice of the Superior Court, Chancery Division, General Equity, in New Jersey.

Ms. Lavie is admitted to the bars of New York, Florida and New Jersey, and has appeared before the United States Tax Court. She earned her LL.M. in Estate Planning from the University of Miami School of Law in Miami, and her Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law in New York. She earned her undergraduate degree from Rutgers College in New Jersey.

Having spent part of her childhood in Mexico, Ms. Lavie is natively fluent in English and Spanish.