Current Employment Position(s)

Partner

Lawyer Overview

Len Leader is a partner and Chair of the Trusts and Estates Department. His primary practice includes estate and probate law, tax planning for individuals, elder law and family business succession planning. He is a frequent speaker on estate and tax planning topics to bar associations, business groups and continuing education programs. For several years he has been a presenter at an annual fiduciary income tax workshop for Professional Education Systems. Mr. Leader is listed in The Best lawyers in America in the specialty of Trusts and Estates (for more about the standards for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America, please see http://www.bestlawyers.com/news/default.aspx ).

A 1970 graduate of the City College of New York, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, Mr. Leader received a law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1973 cum laude and a Masters of Law in Taxation from New York University in 1982.

He is a member of the Taxation Section of the American Bar Association, the Generation Skipping Trusts Committee of the Estate Planning and Drafting Group of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association, and was Chairman of a Task Force on Charitable Easements.

Mr. Leader also is a member of the Trusts and Estates Section of the New York State Bar Association, the Probate Section of the Connecticut Bar Association and the Probate Section of the Bridgeport Bar Association. He participated in the preparation of a review of recent developments in the area of estate and gift taxation published in The Tax Lawyer . Mr. Leader co-authored an article in the Connecticut Law Tribune on estate planning for the owner of intellectual property entitled "Creative Clients Require Creative Planning," which was selected by the Legal Times for national publication. He also authored "Excluded Gifts Are Not Necessarily GST--Exempt" published in the November/December 1991 issue of Probate & Property Magazine.

Mr. Leader serves on the Board of Directors of the Center for Family Business of the University of New Haven, and was recently elected as Secretary and to the Board of Directors of the Jewish Home for the Elderly of Fairfield Men's Club.

Areas of Practice

• Family Business
• Probate Litigation
• Trusts and Estates
• Family Law

West Practice Categories

Closely Held Businesses, Probate & Estate Administration, Litigation & Appeals, Estate Planning, Trusts, Family Law

Bar Admissions

• Connecticut, 1983
• New York, 1974
• U.S. District Court Southern District of New York, 1975
• U.S. Court of Appeals 2nd Circuit, 1975

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association, Section of Taxation (Member, Committee on Estate and Gift Taxes)
• American Bar Association, Section of Real Property & Trust (Member, Generation Skipping of Estate Planning & Drafting Group,)
• Connecticut Bar Association, Section of Estates and Probate (Member)
• Greater Bridgeport Bar Association, Section of Probate (Member)
• New York State Bar, Section of Trusts and Estates (Member)
• American Bar Association, Section of Taxation, 1982 (Chairman, Task Force on Charitable Easements)

Honors and Awards

• Assistant to Professor Calamari in Revision of Law of Contracts, Calamari & Perillo, Fordham University School of Law
• Listed in The Best lawyers in America in the specialty of Trusts and Estates

Classes and Seminars

• Instructor, Estate Planning, Westport School of Continuing Education, 1983

Pro Bono Activities

• Board of Directors of the Jewish Home for the Elderly of Fairfield Men's Club

Past Employment Positions

• Kleban & Samon, P.C., Southport, Connecticut, Member, 1981 - 1996
• Parker Chapin Flattau & Klimpl, L.L.P., New York, New York, Associate, 1973 - 1981

Education

• New York University School of Law, New York, New York, 1982
  LL.M. in Taxation
• Fordham University School of Law, New York, New York, 1973
  J.D.
  Honors: cum laude
  Honors: Ranked 5 out of 270
  
  Law Review: Member, Fordham Urban Law Journal, 1972 - 1973
• City College of New York, New York, New York, 1970
  B.A.
  Honors: cum laude
  Honors: Phi Beta Kappa
  Major: Political Science

Published Works

• Excluded, Gifts Are Not Necessarily GST - Exempt, Probate & Property Magazine, November/December, 1991
• Review of Recent Developments in Estate and Gift Taxation,, The Tax Lawyer, 1975
• Article in the Connecticut Law Tribune
• Creative Clients Require Creative Planning, Legal Times

Address

400 Atlantic Street
P.O. Box 110325
Stamford, CT 06911-0325

Phones

(203) 363-7602

Faxes

(203) 363-7676

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.wiggin.com