Judith A. Harris, a member of the firm and chair of the Estate, Trust and Tax practice group of the Pennsylvania office, has over twenty-two years of experience in the areas of taxation, wills and trusts and estate administration.
In addition to creating estate plans for clients from the most sophisticated to the most basic wills, revocable trusts, powers of attorney, and living wills, Judith’s specialties include business matters involving corporations, partnerships, and Limited Liability Companies. Judith’s practice also includes the areas of charitable trusts and foundations and representation of estates, trusts, and beneficiaries in disputes before the Orphans’ Court. She routinely handles the resolution of tax controversies for business and individual taxpayers before all divisions (civil and criminal) of the Internal Revenue Service and the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue. These cases often involve the resolution of estate, business, and individual audits, or the resolution of collection efforts such as liens, levies, and garnishments by the IRS and state taxing authorities.
In her work as an estate planning attorney Judith frequently structures the optimal transfer of a client’s wealth and business interests to younger generations with minimal tax consequences.
Judith was recently elected President of the Estate Planning Council of the Lehigh Valley. She is a member of the Board of Pensions of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). From 1993 to 2000 she was an adjunct instructor of “Wills, Trusts, and Estates” at Penn State University’s Lehigh Valley Campus.
She is currently a board member and former President of the Fund to Benefit Children & Youth, Inc., a board member and former officer of the Allentown Symphony since 1993, and a board member of the Lehigh County Agricultural Society. Judith served for 10 years on the Lehigh-Northampton Airport Authority board of governors, where she chaired the Personnel and Law committee.
An enthusiast of all kinds of theater, Judith is the originator of and one of four members who now produce the firm’s holiday show, an annual musical revue of the firm and its attorneys which has become a cherished tradition.
Areas of Practice
Taxation
Estate Planning & Administration
Bar Admissions
Pennsylvania
Virginia
U.S. Tax Court
U.S. District Court
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
U.S. Court of Appeals
Third Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court
Education
Villanova University School of Law,
LL.M. in Taxation, 1991
American University, Washington College of Law,
J.D., 1986
Bryn Mawr College,
A.B., cum laude, 1983
Professional Affiliations
American Bar Association
Tax Section
Pennsylvania Bar Association
Real Property, Probate and Tax Law Section
Bar Association of Lehigh County
Northampton County Bar Association