Law Office of Andrew L. Gradman

I am a tax lawyer, focusing on transactions (as opposed to audit/controversy). This means that:
◦ I help non-tax lawyers to draft documents which maximize after-tax value.
◦ I help CPAs to reflect these events on tax returns.
◦ I advise individuals and businesses directly when their lawyers and CPAs refer them with discrete questions.

Email: andrew@gradmantax.com
Phone: 310-710-6636
Address: 2345 Atlantic Blvd. #1077, Los Angeles, CA 91754

Download my CV for links to my publications and presentations.

Representative Projects

Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs)
Advise investors, QOFs, and QOZBs on how to qualify and maximize benefits.
Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS / §1202 stock)
Advise investors and businesses on how to qualify and maximize benefits.
Corporation and partnership structuring
Advise on M&A, waterfalls, compensation, deductions and credits, etc.
Estate and gift tax planning
Advise on trusts, gifts, valuation discounts, partnership freezes, etc.

How (not) to use a transactional tax lawyer

First, you should be considering a transaction—a contract of any kind. For example, a merger, a trust, a litigation settlement. And you should know what about it matters most to you—the things I may not change. My job is to consider changes to everything else, in order to optimize after-tax results.

Typically, you cannot “have your cake and eat it too.” Aside from some tax elections, a change which optimizes after-tax results will look unattractive to you, but for the tax savings. If it didn’t, you would have thought of it yourself. Instead, I like to say: “Tax planning is the art of the sacrifice.” And also: “Tax planning is not a coat of paint—it’s redrafting the blueprints.”

I am most productive when I am helping your CPA or non-tax attorney; these professionals know how to use my work. I have a harder time helping people who simply want help lowering their taxes. However, if you are considering another tax planner’s proposed tax-motivated transaction, I can tell you whether it will work.

Education

NYU SCHOOL OF LAW, LL.M. in Taxation, 2016.
NYU STERN SCHOOL OF BUSINESS, Certificate in Law & Business.
COLUMBIA LAW SCHOOL, J.D., 2011.
STANFORD UNIVERSITY, B.A. (History), 2006.

Affiliations

State bar: California (2011)
Certified Tax Specialist, California Board of Legal Specialization
ABA Section of Taxation: Committee on Standards of Tax Practice (Ethics Subcommittee); Committee on Tax Policy & Simplification
Claremont McKenna College: Visiting Lecturer, Spring 2026

Other Downloads: OBBBA Redlines; Tax Holiday Calendars: 2024, 2026