Rashad serves as a trusted advisor and general counsel to domestic and multi-national individuals and families. He also serves as special counsel to other professional advisors, providing targeted legal advice.
Rashad enjoys the challenge of his practice, and at heart is happiest when helping his clients identify their goals, anticipate change, and consider creative responsive solutions. His clients value his legal expertise and his ability to balance competing legal, business, family and personal concerns and objectives.
Rashad counsels his clients in the tax and legal issues relating to their investments, business activities, estate planning, and charitable endeavors. His practice encompasses all aspects of estate and succession planning, and the governance of his clients’ closely-held family businesses, holding structures, investment ventures, family offices, and private trust companies.
A significant number of Rashad’s clients live in countries with challenging legal and political environments, in which they face threats of expropriation of family businesses and assets and other forms of persecution. Rashad’s practice for those families includes not only experience in the use of bilateral-investment treaties and their remedies against expropriation, but also more practical planning options to help families who are at risk in those jurisdictions.
Rashad’s clients are located throughout the United States and the world, including families originating from or based in Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, France, and England.
LIST OF REPRESENTATIVE ENGAGEMENTS
Created customized estate plans for U.S. and non-U.S. clients, including Wills, revocable trusts, irrevocable gift (dynasty) trusts, with careful attention to family governance provisions
Assisted a multi-branch non-U.S. family to re-structure their global investments, created a non-U.S. private trust company and tailored trusts to address unique family concerns
Provided pre-immigration advice to non-U.S. clients considering a move to the United States
Incorporated Sharia principles into common law trust structures
Advised on the use of common law trusts for clients residing or with assets in civil law jurisdictions
Assisted a family to create a detailed family philosophy statement, and incorporated both the statement and detailed distribution principles into family trusts
Assisted a U.S. family establish a single-family office, create and operate a complex, multi-tranche investment holding vehicle, conduct a search for outside investment advisors, and implement a sophisticated family governance system
Act as outside general, cross-border counsel to a South American family, implementing a family and business succession plan, implementing and overseeing family trusts and civil law foundations, assisting with acquisition and sale of non-U.S. businesses, and creating solutions to rapidly shifting political and legal challenges in their home jurisdiction
Created a domestic, regulated private family trust company and acted as its outside general counsel
Created unregulated domestic private fiduciary companies, including private trust or protector companies
Advised non-U.S. clients on their acquisition of significant U.S. real estate
Advised U.S. clients on U.S. tax and reporting obligations raised by their ownership of non-U.S. financial accounts or assets, or receipt of distributions, gifts or inheritances from non-U.S. persons
Advised clients on their acquisition and use of life insurance, including private placement life insurance products
Advised non-U.S. clients on their U.S. tax and reporting obligations raised by their U.S. investments or family connections
Advised clients on U.S. voluntary disclosure and related programs
Advised clients on compliance with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
Negotiated and implemented the division of a single family office
Negotiated a settlement agreement between a client and his former business colleagues
Worked with U.S. state legislative drafting commissions to modernize trust law and related state statutes
