Porzio's Wealth Preservation Group Expands Practice with the Addition of Three New Attorneys

Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., is pleased to welcome three new attorneys to the firm's rapidly growing Wealth Preservation practice. Among the new attorneys, Maria F. Galante and Daniel S. Makoski joined the firm on June 14, 2021. Current Porzio litigation attorney Rahil Darbar rounds out the newly expanded team, bringing his litigation expertise to bear in connection with trust and estates matters.

Ms. Galante will focus her practice on elder law and special needs planning, guardianship proceedings, estate planning, trust and estates, asset protection, estate administration and probate proceedings, estate litigation, and residential real estate. She has a wide array of experience advising clients in estate planning and administration, guardianship proceedings (both under Mental Hygiene Law Art. 81 and Surrogate's Court Act Art. 17), special needs planning, asset protection and Medicaid planning, as well as estate litigation. Ms. Galante is a Part 36 fiduciary with the Courts of the State of New York, qualified to serve as court-appointed counsel for alleged incapacitated persons and guardians, and as Court Evaluator in guardianship proceedings. Her experience also includes working with clients in probate and administration matters, including litigated matters such as wills and trusts contests, judicial accountings, and turnovers of property. Ms. Galante attended law school in Bogota, Colombia at Universidad de la Sabana and was awarded an “Abogado” degree, which is equivalent to a J.D. She later received an LL.M in Corporate, Tax, and Finance from Fordham Law School. Ms. Galante will be based in the firm's New York City office. Ms. Galante is fluent in Spanish.

Mr. Makoski will concentrate his practice on tax planning and analysis, fiduciary litigation, estate planning and administration, and gift tax returns. His experience includes advising clients on personal income tax matters, including tax-efficient methods of acquiring and distributing assets, negotiating with tax authorities to minimize or eliminate tax deficiencies, appearing in the U.S. Tax Court, and handling IRS appeals. Mr. Makoski works with clients to draft estate plans, living wills, health care proxies, and powers of attorney, and also offers significant expertise in counseling clients on business formation, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring, governance, and dissolutions. A graduate of Widener University Law School, Mr. Makoski also holds an LL.M. in Taxation from New York Law School, and a dual Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Literature from Ramapo College.

Mr. Darbar joins Porzio's Wealth Preservation Group after practicing in the firm's commercial litigation group for the past four years. Mr. Darbar brings a wide range of experience to the team including representation of individuals and business entities in commercial disputes, representation of design and construction companies in complex construction defect lawsuits, representation of manufacturers in products liability matters, and personal injury litigation. Mr. Darbar will now focus his litigation practice on representing executors, trustees, and beneficiaries in a variety of matters including estate, trust, guardianship, and fiduciary litigation.

Mr. Darbar maintains strong ties to the South Asian community and is the immediate Past President of the South Asian Bar Association of New Jersey and the Chair of its Judicial and Prosecutorial Appointments Committee. He is also a Barrister of the Justice Morris Pashman Inn of Court in Bergen County. Mr. Darbar received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law, and his B.A., magna cum laude, from Lehigh University. 

"The addition of these three skilled attorneys to the wealth preservation team at Porzio is exciting and reflects the work we are doing to support the unique set of services we are bringing to the market in New Jersey and New York," said Vito A. Gagliardi, Jr., Managing Principal of the firm. "Our focus is to support our clients through all stages and types of planning. From the highly-specialized areas of elder care and special needs planning, to high-net worth individual and business tax planning and estate litigation, clients look to this team for pro-active advice that consistently exceeds their expectations and allows them to achieve all of their planning objectives."