Tara Anne Pleat

 After undergraduate school, Tara began working as an estate planning paralegal in Albany. She quickly realized that she enjoyed the connection with families that position provided her and wanted to develop further those skill sets. She graduated from Albany Law School in 2002 with honors in the estate planning concentration and was fortunate to begin her legal career already with six years of meaningful hands-on experience behind her.

“I began working with Ed in 2004, which offered me an introduction to special needs law. However, my passion for this area of the law was solidified when my son was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome (an autism spectrum disorder) several years ago.”

I feel very fortunate to have a practice that allows me to be a better mother to and advocate for my son. While no two family’s experiences will be identical, there are shared concerns. Understanding those concerns as a mother makes me a better lawyer.”

You may see her around town taking a local Pilates class with friends or running a 5K with her husband Andy. Tara and her family roam the Adirondacks every chance they get. They hike and ski and are hoping to have two “46ers” before her son and daughter graduate from high school. (For those unfamiliar, those are some pretty hard hikes up our highest mountains!)

“About three years ago a friend gave me a book that she authored about the history of the women’s movement in Saratoga, Warren, and Washington counties. Her insignia to me read: ‘Remember, you’re a mother, a daughter, a wife, a sister, and a friend—and at the end of the day what we all really have and can rely on are our family, our friends, and our faith.’

That has stayed with me and in someone else’s words, sums up entirely what's most important to me.”