Home > News
News & Events
Successful Estate Planning is a Win Win
Clients want the best of all worlds: aggressive tax planning that yields optimum tax advantages but with assurance that their plan will not be the topic of discussion within the Internal Review Service or wind up on the docket of the United States Tax Court.
Estate planning clients are often torn between the desire to remove assets from their estates to avoid or minimize estate tax exposure, yet extremely reluctant to release control over assets. There is further reticence to place readily available funds in the hands of the younger generation who are perceived to be ill-equipped to handle substantial wealth, especially in the face of high divorce rates and a very litigious society.
A Winning Outcome In Spite of Years of Non Compliance
Lisa Hauser has substantial experience in assisting government clients comply with Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended, and its corresponding regulations. Section 5 requires that jurisdictions receive preclearance by the Voting Section, Civil Rights Division, United States Department of Justice, before implementing any voting change. In 2010, the Pinal County Community College District discovered that its existing districts had never received preclearance. On further examination, the District learned that none of its district maps adopted since the early 1970s had ever been submitted to the Department of Justice. Lisa worked with the District and the Department of Justice to resolve more than three decades of unprecleared maps.
Laying the Ground Work for Success in Redistricting Litigation
From 2001 – 2009, Lisa Hauser was co-counsel for the inaugural Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission in defending multiple challenges to the new legislative and congressional districts. These cases were significant due to their statewide importance, complexity and the massive record created by the Commission (resulting in more than 5,000 trial exhibits). Most importantly, Arizona’s constitutional provisions governing redistricting were interpreted by the courts for the first time. Through pretrial motions, six weeks of trial, multiple trips to the Arizona Court of Appeals, the Arizona Supreme Court, and federal court, Lisa and her team led the Commission to victory against half a dozen opposing parties.
Vibrant High-Rise Development Moves Forward With Zoning Assistance from Gammage & Burnham
Core Campus, LLC was seeking to redevelop an underutilized infill property located in downtown Tempe. The site, which adjoins Arizona State University’s Tempe campus and is located across the street from ASU Sun Devil Stadium, had accommodated a surface parking lot for several years. Core Campus was proposing to improve the Site with the construction of an 18-story high-rise building containing 423 purpose-built student housing units, 27,000 square feet of commercial space, 6,000 square feet of amenity space and 3 levels of structured parking.
To accommodate the site’s redevelopment, the zoning and land use team at Gammage & Burnham, led by Manjula Vaz, secured zoning and design entitlements for the project.
Let Us Negotiate the Entitlements You Need to Make Your Development Match Your Vision
Wentworth Property Company, LLC was seeking to redevelop a 135 acre property located across from Arizona State University’s Research Park and along the Loop 101 Freeway corridor in Tempe. The site adjoins single-family residential neighborhoods. Wentworth was proposing to improve the site with the addition of 4 office buildings, 2 hotels, 1 flex use building and 3 retail pads ranging in height from 1 to 8 stories, plus the addition of a 3-level parking garage and parking courtyards containing a combined total of 7,600 parking spaces. The Project, which will be branded Discovery Business Campus, will consist of approximately 2.5 million square feet of building area at build-out.
