Tuesday, June 16, 2026 | Lecture: 5:30 pm – 7:00 pm | Reception: 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Format: In Person
Program Fee:
There is no fee for this event, please sign in to register.
Description:
What happens when a father’s obsession with saving taxes tears a family apart… and a camera is rolling?
Join us for a panel discussion of the award-winning documentary “Death & Taxes.” The film explores wealth and inequality in the U.S. through the lens of the estate tax, but at its core is the filmmaker’s powerful personal story of the devastating impact of his father’s fixation to save taxes. The distinguished interdisciplinary panel features the filmmaker, leading trusts & estates practitioners one of whom is a former IRS insider, an accomplished law professor and a psychoanalyst specializing in counseling inheritors. They will screen key excerpts from the film and share perspectives on the political, economic, and racial impact of our tax system, exploring how estate planning affects family dynamics, decision-making, legacy, and broader policy choices, as well as shaping generational wealth transfer. Whether you advise on complex wealth decisions or navigate them for yourself or others, this thought-provoking discussion will challenge how you think about all of it.
The full film will be available to all attendees at no charge after the event.
Speakers:
Justin Schein, Director, Shadow Box Films
Austin Bramwell, Milbank LLP
Professor William LaPiana, Dean of Faculty, New York Law School
Sally Donaldson, PhD, Director, the Inheritance Project
Moderator:
Alan Halperin, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Since the late 1960s, the Mortimer H. Hess Memorial Lecture has been sponsored annually by the Estate & Gift Taxation Committee. The lecture series, originally created by the family of the late tax lawyer Mortimer H. Hess, is made possible through a generous grant from Mr. Hess’s family and former partners. The subjects of the lectures are related to the law of trusts, estates, and taxation, subjects on which Mr. Hess was an acknowledged authority.