Tess Atkins is an Associate Attorney and a member of Kalbian Hagerty’s corporate and taxation practice groups. Her law practice focuses on advising international and domestic companies, nonprofit associations, trusts, governmental organizations and individuals with regard to their transactional, business, real estate and tax needs.
As a member of the corporate practice group, Tess assists clients with various business and transactional matters including corporate formation and governance, day to day business activities, contract negotiations and drafting, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence, securities law compliance, and equity and debt financing. Tess has extensive experience advising startup companies throughout their lifecycle including pre-formation legal and financial planning, incorporation, business contracts, and raising and structuring investment capital through future equity agreements (SAFE and KISS agreements), promissory notes, grants and stock offerings.
Tess also regularly advises U.S. and foreign private clients, investors, developers and financial institutions with regard to residential and commercial real estate matters including acquisitions, development and sales, due diligence, lease negotiations, construction agreements, management agreements, obtaining acquisition, construction and permanent financing, deeds of trust and collateral agreements, and tax compliance and structuring.
In addition, Tess’ practice includes counseling nonprofit organizations on all aspects of doing business including formation, obtaining and maintaining tax-exempt status, fundraising registration requirements, nonprofit best practices, internal policies and procedures, joint ventures, for-profit subsidiaries and general corporate governance and legal compliance issues.
As a member of the taxation practice group, Tess assists clients in matters relating to federal, state and international tax planning, reporting obligations, and IRS audits and investigations. One of her areas of focus has been advising private clients on tax-efficient ways to structure and hold their U.S. investments and the use of U.S. and offshore trusts to facilitate asset protection, succession and estate planning.
Tess earned her law degree from UCLA School of Law where she served as an Articles Editor for the UCLA Law Review, and as the Editor-in-Chief of the Dukeminier Awards Journal. While in law school, Tess was awarded the Masin Family Academic Excellence Gold Award honoring her outstanding academic performance in the Negotiation Theory and Practice Course and also participated in the Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs business venture competition as the law student advisor to an educational technology startup company. Tess received her bachelor’s degree from American University in Washington, DC where she graduated cum laude.
