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At a Glance
| Practice launched by | Jason A. Lederman in 2022, who joined from the New York office of Dechert LLP to lead a newly created Private Wealth Services practice (per the firm) |
| Focus | Private wealth, trusts, and estates for business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, and real estate owners, with an emphasis on wealth transfer tied to business and real estate transactions |
| Office | 936 Broadway, New York, NY 10010 (Flatiron District, Manhattan) |
| Signature results | Firm states it advised the founder of a public company on transferring more than $100 million in company shares to descendants’ trusts free of gift and estate tax, using grantor retained annuity trusts (per the firm) |
| Distinctive edge | A real estate and commercial litigation boutique that built its Private Wealth Services group specifically to serve its existing base of business owners and real estate clients rather than as a standalone consumer estate planning practice |
| Fee model | Not published; prospective clients should confirm directly |
| Known for | Grantor retained annuity trusts, family LLCs, special needs planning, and charitable giving structures for business owners and real estate holders (per the firm) |
Stein Adler Dabah & Zelkowitz built its name in real estate transactions and commercial litigation before adding a Private Wealth Services group in 2022, and the practice’s client base reflects that origin: business owners, entrepreneurs, real estate owners, and investors rather than a general consumer estate planning clientele. The firm’s most cited result — helping a public company founder move more than $100 million in shares to family trusts tax-free — is the kind of transaction-scale work that grows naturally out of a real estate and business counseling practice, not a typical will-and-trust boutique’s origin story.
Origin and Background
Jason A. Lederman joined Stein Adler from the New York office of Dechert LLP in 2022 specifically to launch the firm’s Private Wealth Services practice, per the firm’s own announcement. Lederman’s practice focuses on developing holistic wealth transfer strategies and structuring tax-advantaged trusts, entities, and transactions for business owners, entrepreneurs, investors, and real estate owners — a client roster that maps directly onto the firm’s existing Real Estate and Business Counseling & Transactions practices, suggesting the Private Wealth group was built to serve clients the firm already had rather than to chase a new market.
What Makes This Firm Structurally Different
The firm explicitly frames its Private Wealth Services group around gift and sale transactions involving grantor trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, family LLCs, and operating business entities — structures tied to active businesses and real estate holdings rather than passive investment portfolios. The group also handles disability planning for beneficiaries with special needs and charitable giving through private foundations and charitable trusts, rounding out a practice built to serve the full financial life of a business-owning family rather than estate planning in isolation.
Practice Areas
- Grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs) and family LLCs
- Gift and sale transactions to grantor trusts
- Business succession and liquidity event planning
- Special needs and disability planning
- Charitable giving (private foundations, charitable remainder and lead trusts)
- Estate and trust administration
Track Record
The firm states it advised the founder of a public company on transferring more than $100 million in company shares to trusts for descendants, free of gift and estate tax, using grantor retained annuity trusts. It also states it advised a leading commercial real estate owner on gifts and sales to a grantor trust and subsequent administration, advised a substantial public company owner on the tax implications of a charitable remainder trust funded with company shares, and advised a public company executive on Hart-Scott-Rodino ramifications tied to retained trust powers. These are the firm’s own characterizations of client matters; Awesome Attorneys did not independently verify the $100 million figure or other transaction details against public filings. Past results in any matter do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Stein Adler’s public marketing for its Private Wealth Services group centers on described transaction types and outcomes rather than individually attributed client testimonials, and Awesome Attorneys did not identify independently sourced, practice-specific client reviews for the group. The firm’s broader practice areas (real estate, commercial litigation) have more visible public reviews, but Awesome Attorneys does not substitute those for private wealth-specific client feedback.
Beyond the Courtroom
The firm describes itself as bridging the gap between traditional “outside” and “in-house” counsel roles, a positioning that shows up in the Private Wealth group’s transaction-embedded style of estate planning — woven into business deals rather than treated as a separate, standalone service. Attorneys across the firm’s real estate and business practices, including Michael Dabah and Joshua Zelkowitz, have handled headline commercial financings that give the firm institutional credibility beyond its private wealth work specifically.
Recognition
Stein Adler Dabah & Zelkowitz has 15 attorneys named to the Super Lawyers or Rising Stars lists firmwide, per Super Lawyers’ own firm profile, including Jason A. Lederman recognized specifically in Estate Planning & Probate, Elder Law, Estate & Trust Litigation, and Tax. New York does not maintain a formal board-certification system for trusts and estates law comparable to Texas’s TBLS, so Awesome Attorneys does not apply “specialist” language to any attorney at this firm on that basis; the credentials above are peer-review recognitions, not government-conferred certifications.
New York Legal Backdrop
Estate planning and administration in New York are governed primarily by the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) and the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA). New York’s basic estate tax exclusion for 2026 is $7,350,000, with estates exceeding 105% of that threshold losing the exemption entirely. Grantor retained annuity trusts, a core tool in the firm’s described practice, must satisfy specific IRC § 2702 requirements to achieve their intended tax treatment, and special needs trusts must comply with both state Social Services Law and federal Medicaid trust rules to preserve a beneficiary’s eligibility for means-tested benefits. None of this is legal advice; a specific wealth transfer or estate plan should be evaluated by a licensed New York attorney based on the actual facts involved.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Stein Adler’s clearest differentiator is a Private Wealth Services practice built directly out of its existing real estate and business counseling client base, with a headline result — a $100 million-plus tax-free share transfer — that reflects genuine transactional scale rather than a typical individual estate plan. The honest trade-off is that a practice this recently launched (2022) and this closely tied to business and real estate transactions may not be the right fit for a client who wants a simple personal will or a straightforward, non-business-related estate plan; the firm’s described matters skew heavily toward business owners and real estate holders rather than general consumers. For a business owner or real estate investor whose estate planning needs are entangled with an active company or property portfolio, Stein Adler’s transaction-embedded approach makes it a reasonable firm to have on a shortlist.
Methodology and Sourcing
This profile was researched from Stein Adler Dabah & Zelkowitz’s own website (steinadlerlaw.com), including its Private Wealth Services practice page, Jason Lederman’s attorney biography, and the firm’s practice-launch announcement, cross-referenced against Super Lawyers’ firm and attorney profiles and Martindale-Hubbell’s firm listing.
Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Stein Adler Dabah & Zelkowitz LLP prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any profiled firm, and inclusion in this directory is not a paid placement. “Awesome Attorneys” is a brand name only and does not constitute a rating or ranking claim. Facts stated are current only as of this profile’s research date.