MARY
L. SYMONS
Of Counsel
Mary L. Symons
received her J.D. cum laude from the University of California, Hastings
College of the Law in 1990, where she was also elected to the Order
of the Coif and the Thurston Honor Society. She also received the American
Jurisprudence award in her Estates and Powers class. Ms. Symons served
as a member of the Hastings Law Journal from 1988-1989, and as Associate
Executive Editor from 1989 to 1990. A fifth-generation San Franciscan,
Ms. Symons earned a B.S. degree (with honors) in Business Administration,
from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1986.
After practicing
for a few years in San Francisco, Ms. Symons attended New York University
to obtain a Master of Laws in Taxation in 1994. While at NYU, Ms. Symons
served as a research assistant to Guy B. Maxfield, during which time
she assisted him in updating the 6th edition of the treatise, Federal
Estate and Gift Taxation, by Richard B. Stephens, Stephen A. Lind, Guy
B. Maxfield, and Dennis A. Calfee.
Ms. Symons has
also served as a research assistant to the Honorable Isabella Horton
Grant (Ret.), Probate Judge for the Superior Court of California in
and for the City and County of San Francisco, and as an extern for the
Honorable Marcus A. Kaufman (Ret.), Associate Justice of the California
Supreme Court.
Ms. Symons was
admitted to the California bar in 1990, and she is also admitted to
practice before the United States Tax Court. She currently serves as
President of the San Francisco Area Women Tax Lawyers, having previously
served two terms as Vice President, Membership. Ms. Symons is also a
past chair of the Probate and Trust Committee of the Barristers Club
of the Bar Association of San Francisco. She is currently a member of
the San Francisco Estate Planning Council, the Estate Planning, Trust
& Probate Section of the Bar Association of San Francisco, as well
as the Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Section of the State Bar
of California and the Tax Section and Real Property, Trust and Probate
Section of the American Bar Association. Ms. Symons has been certified
as a specialist in estate planning, probate and trust law by the State
Bar of California, Board of Legal Specialization.