WE PRACTICE LAW in Dutchess County, New York, and handle legal matters primarily in the areas of tax, estate planning and administration, business law and real estate transactions. Our clients come from New York City, Poughkeepsie, the Villages of Millbrook and Rhinebeck and the surrounding Hudson Valley countryside.
WE THINK of ourselves as a big little firm. We make up for our small numbers with a group effort. Our individual lawyers do not guard fiefdoms of clients. Instead, we consult with each other so that our clients can benefit from the joint work of our lawyers.
WE GET a lot of non-routine work. We work together to solve complex legal problems. Our lawyers regularly show draft work to colleagues in the firm, ordinarily with no added charge for consultation and review. This is how we were trained by some of the major firms in New York City in the years before the tyranny of the billable hour took hold.
WE KEEP IN MIND a few key points, which together amount to our approach when we do law work for our clients.
Teahan & Constantino LLP helps clients decide the optimum level of keeping control over assets despite heavy income and estate taxes, and to stay flexible to meet changes in the law, as well as in family and business circumstances.
Are legal fees simply “tolls?” or can lawyers actually add value? We think the latter, and our job is, if possible, to help the client unlock the hidden value in a transaction.
We look for ways to help our clients grow their businesses or assets. We advise clients how to get junior family members into the business (whether it be a corporation, LLC or partnership) on the ground floor, while allowing the business owners (often parents or grandparents) to continue to guide the family business venture.
We often get called in when things have gone wrong. We consult with other attorneys and accountants on the best ways to fix what’s broken. Our preference is to work in tandem with the client’s own team of professionals.
We are ready to share our tax, estates and real estate knowledge with our fellow lawyers and accountants, and to work with them and their clients. To keep up our skills and explore new areas of the law, we write articles and participate in programs concerning recent developments, particularly in the areas of tax and estate planning.