David A. Berek

Mr. Berek is a Partner in the Trusts & Estates group at Horwood Marcus & Berk. He focuses his practice on Family Office Structuring and Administration, Wealth Transfer Planning, Income Tax Planning, and Trusts & Estates.

Prior to joining Handler Thayer, LLP, Mr. Berek was a Director at Credit Suisse, acting as a Family CFO in their family office group (formerly Frye Louis ) and ran their wealth planning group for the US Central Region advising clients of the private bank on family office and wealth transfer techniques. Prior experience includes practicing law in trusts and estates most recently with McGuireWoods LLP and Kirkland & Ellis LLP; tax and trust planning with Arthur Andersen LLP and Coopers & Lybrand LLP; and estate administration with The Northern Trust Company.

Mr. Berek is currently the editor of the two-volume treatise “Illinois Estate Planning, Will Drafting and Estate Administration Forms with Practical Commentary” published by LexisNexis. Mr. Berek is also an adjunct professor at DePaul University where he teaches Estate Planning, Estate, Gift and GST Tax, Income Taxation of Decedents, Estates and Trusts, and Tax Research in the Masters of Science in Taxation program; and at The John Marshall Law School where he teaches Advanced Income Tax, and Fiduciary Income Tax, in the LL.M Graduate Tax program.

Mr. Berek earned a Bachelor of Science in Accountancy from DePaul University, a Juris Doctorate, cum laude (Law Review, Moot Court), and an LL.M. in Employee Benefits, with honors, from The John Marshall Law School.

He is a John S. Nolan Tax Law Fellow of the American Bar Association, Tax Section, a former chair of the Tax Practice Management Subcommittee, and a former Current Developments reporter of the Estate and Gift Tax Subcommittee.  He is past chair of the Illinois State Bar Association Trusts & Estates Section Council, and a past co-chair of the Chicago Bar Association Estate Planning Committee, Young Lawyers Section.

Mr. Berek is licensed to practice law in Illinois and Florida and is awarded an AV® Preeminent™ 5.0 out of 5 peer review rating by Martindale-Hubbell for both legal abilities and ethical standards.  Mr. Berek is also a Certified Public Accountant (Illinois), and a Certified Financial Planner™.