Shartsis Friese LLP announced today that Richard S. Kinyon, Patrick McCabe, April Hopkins Rox, and Danielle T. Zaragoza, all formerly of Morrison & Foerster, have joined the firm to establish one of the premier family wealth planning practices in San Francisco. Kinyon and McCabe will be partners; Rox and Zaragoza will be Of Counsel.

The new Family Wealth Planning Group at Shartsis represents a wide range of U.S. and international individuals and families with varying life situations and life-stage needs, including among others: executives of public corporations, owners of closely held businesses, and entrepreneurs involved in start-up businesses.

The group provides sophisticated planning to not only reduce the tax burden but also to address specialized concerns such as business succession planning, planning for special needs beneficiaries, and providing incentives for younger generations to use their wealth wisely and in ways that contribute to their communities. Members of the group also assist individuals, families, private foundations, charitable organizations, and businesses to implement their philanthropic goals, representing some of the largest and best known foundations in California.

“We’re tremendously excited to have such a stellar group of lawyers – widely viewed as one of the top family wealth planning groups in California – come to Shartsis Friese,” said managing partner Art Shartsis. “Adding estate planning to the firm has been one of our strategic priorities for some time, and having Dick, Patrick and their team join us is a home run. Their practice will be a strong complement to our core practice areas, including Real Estate, Investment Management, Corporate Finance, and Trusts and Estates Litigation, and will benefit many of our existing clients.”

“Morrison & Foerster is a fantastic firm and everyone there has been incredibly supportive,” Patrick McCabe said. “In moving to Shartsis, with so many synergies in play, we believe we’ve found the ideal firm for growing a practice like ours that serves individuals, families and nonprofits.”

“After so many very satisfying years at Morrison, it’s a big move for me and the rest of the team,” said Dick Kinyon. “But we are all very excited to be joining such a great group of lawyers at Shartsis, and we anticipate that the move will be well-received by our clients.”

“Given their high standing in the estate planning community, we’re looking forward to sharing the news about the new group’s arrival with our clients and helping our new partners grow their practice,” concluded Shartsis. “We believe that the Shartsis Friese model will continue to be attractive to big firm lawyers with elite niche practices who face challenges in supporting the billing rate pressure and leverage requirements that inevitably arise at all the largest firms.”

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