Category: Announcements

Firm News from 2007

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December
Cindy Grossman presented at the Oklahoma Society of CPAs 2007 Annual Meeting in Tulsa; her session was titled “The New Texas Franchise Tax: What Practitioners Need to Know.”

October
Michael Ripp, Mari Reed, and Cindy Grossman were named to the Texas Rising Star list for 2008, as published by Super Lawyers magazine. Rising Stars represent the top 2.5% of up-and-coming lawyers in the State of Texas, as determined by Law & Politics magazine.

Leslie Giordani and Derry Swanger are named to the Texas Super Lawyers list for 2008, as published by Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers represent the top 5% of lawyers in Texas, as determined by Law & Politics magazine. Each attorney is featured in the Texas Super Lawyers Edition in the October issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

September
Leslie Giordani, Derry Swanger, Michael Ripp, and Steve Phillips were selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America© 2008. They foursome was featured in a special section of American Lawyer magazine (published November 2007).

June
We welcomed Stephen L. Phillips as a firm partner. Prior to joining us, he was a partner at Cantey Hanger, L.L.P., in Fort Worth, Texas. We also welcome new associate Cindy L. Grossman, who was also previously with Cantey Hanger, L.L.P.

Leslie Giordani and Bob Chesner presented “Deploying Alternative Investing Strategies via PPLI” at the 14th Annual Family Office Forum, in Chicago. The conference was held June 5-7.

February
Leslie Giordani and Bob Chesner co-chaired the IIR 5th Annual Event: Alternative Investing Through Life Insurance and Annuities. She also participated in a panel discussion called “Investor Control In Depth: Analysis with Case Examples.” The even was held February 26-27 in Miami. Michael Ripp presented at the same event–a session titled “Trend Focus: Are Annuities Gaining Ground on Life Insurance?”–and was a panelist for a session titled “Intermediate Course on Private Placement Life Insurance, Annuity, and Alternative Investment Products: Understanding the Tax, Product, and Regulatory Issues.“ 

We welcomed Bob Chesner as our new director of insurance; prior to joining the firm, Mr. Chesner was vice president of global affluent and corporate markets group at American International Group, Inc. and the chief marketing officer for AIG Life of Bermuda, Ltd.

Firm News from 2006

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October
Leslie Giordani was quoted by Rachel Emma Silverman in her article “Insuring Against Hedge-Fund Taxes,” published in The Wall Street Journal.

Michael Ripp was named to the Texas Rising Star list for 2007, as published by Super Lawyers magazine. Rising Stars represent the top 2.5% of up-and-coming lawyers in the State of Texas, as determined by Law & Politics magazine.

Leslie Giordani and Derry Swanger were named to the Texas Super Lawyers list for 2007, as published by Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers represent the top 5% of lawyers in the State of Texas, as determined by Law & Politics magazine. Each attorney is featured in the Texas Super Lawyers Edition in the October issue of Texas Monthly magazine.

September
Leslie Giordani and Derry Swanger were selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America© 2007. Each was featured in a special section of American Lawyer magazine, published in November.

Leslie Giordani presented “Selecting the Right Life Insurance in a Growing Menu of Options” at the 7th Annual Family Office Wealth Conference, held in Laguna Beach, California September 17-19.

June
Michael Ripp presented “Estate Planning Opportunities with Private Placement Life Insurance” at the Texas Bar Continuing Legal Education Conference Advanced Estate Planning and Probate Course. The conference was June 7-9 in Houston.

February
Leslie Giordani was quoted extensively by Gregory Taggart in his article “Gilt-Edged Insurance,” in Bloomberg’s Wealth Manager magazine.

Leslie Giordani chaired the IIR 4th Annual Event: Hedge Fund Investing Through Life Insurance and Annuities, and presented “The Role of Consultants and Advisors in Maximizing PPLI Performance and Client Satisfaction.” Michael Ripp presented two sessions at the same conference: “Part I: Life Insurance and Annuity Basics: Product, Tax, and Regulatory Issues” and “Updating and Clarifying the Legal Issues in the PPLI Marketplace.” The conference was held February 27-28 in Coconut Grove, Florida.

January
Leslie Giordani was quoted in an article entitled “Easing the Sting: Hedges and Taxes,” by freelance journalist Erin E. Arvedlund. It appeared in the January 2006 edition of Barron’s. She was also mentioned as an expert in the PPLI arena in Bloomberg’s new book, “Tax Aware Investment Management: The Essential Guide,” by Douglas S. Rogers, CFA. Her article, co-authored with Amy Jetel, “Investing in Hedge Funds Through Private Placement Life Insurance,” is listed as a source for the book.

Firm News from 2005

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December
Michael Ripp presented two sessions at Financial Resource Associates’ 3rd Annual Event: Insurance & Annuity-Based Hedge Fund Investing Forum in New York: “Life Insurance and Annuity Basics: Product, Tax and Regulatory Issues” and “Back to Basics: Revisit the Fundamentals and Convergence of Hedge Funds, PPLI’s & Annuities.”

October
We proudly welcomed Michael H. Ripp as a new partner of the firm.

Leslie Giordani and Derry Swanger were named to the Texas Super Lawyers list for 2006, as published by Super Lawyers magazine. Super Lawyers represent the top 5% of lawyers in the state, as determined by Law & Politics magazine. Each attorney is featured in the Texas Super Lawyers Edition in the October issue of Texas Monthly. Michael Ripp was named to the Super Lawyers’ Texas Rising Star list for 2006. Rising Stars represent the top 2.5% of up-and-coming lawyers in Texas.

September
Leslie Giordani and Derry Swanger were selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America© 2006. Each partner is featured in a special section of tAmerican Lawyer magazine (November 2005).

August
Leslie Giordani presented at the Eighth Annual Advanced ALI-ABA Course of Study for Counselors to Foreign and US Clients – International Trust and Estate Planning Conference, which was held in Seattle, Washington, August 25-26. Her session was titled “Offshore Private Placement Life Insurance.”

June
We welcomed Mari M. Reed as a new associate attorney of the firm. Prior to joining, Ms. Reed was an associate in the Dallas office of Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, L.L.P.

Leslie Giordani serves as chairman of IBC’s Third Annual Hedge Fund Investing through Life Insurance and Annuities, held June 13-14 in New York. She spoke at a session titled “Exploring the Benefits and Trade-offs of Onshore vs. Offshore Private Placement Life Insurance.” Michael Ripp also attended, leading the session “Legal Issues and Structures: What’s Going on in the PPLI Marketplace?”

February
Leslie Giordani presented at the FOX Wealth Advisor Conference, Understanding and Servicing the Ultra-Affluent Client, held in Coconut Grove, Florida February 9-11. Her presentation was called “Private Placement Life Insurance: Friend or Foe?” 

January
Leslie Giordani was selected as chairperson for IBC’s Third Annual National Event, Hedge Fund Investing through Life Insurance and Annuities.