Anchorage, Alaska
Steven T. O'Hara
Education
J.D., Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, 1984
- Served as an Editor of Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, which in 1983 published Steve's first law article
- Special thanks to:
- Tax Professor Charlotte Crane;
- Tax Professor Philip Postlewaite;
- Tax Adjunct Prof. Roy Adams;
- Tax Adjunct Prof. Skip Fox;
- Trusts & Estates Adjunct Prof. Carter Howard;
- Securities Prof. & SEC Commissioner David Ruder.
B.A., University of St. Thomas, 1979
- Nominated for Rhodes Scholarship
- Special thanks to:
- Pre-law Professor Nancy Zingale, PhD;
- Pre-law Professor Carl Heidenreich, PhD, JD, LLM.
Honors
Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, 1997- Present
2023 Lawyer of the Year, Corporate Law-Anchorage, Alaska, Best Lawyers in America
2016 Lawyer of the Year, Trusts & Estates Law-Anchorage, Alaska, Best Lawyers in America
2013 Lawyer of the Year, Tax Law-Anchorage, Alaska, Best Lawyers in America
Selected 30 consecutive years to Best Lawyers in America, including for Tax Law, Trusts and Estates Law, Corporate Law, and Litigation - Trusts and Estates, 1993 - Present
Super Lawyers, Tax Law
Super Lawyers, Estate Planning and Probate
Super Lawyers, Business and Corporate Law
2020 Client's Choice Award - Best Estate Planning Attorney in Anchorage, AK, United States Metropolitan Report
Practice Areas
Steve has a career-long passion for serving private clients. He also sets aside time to serve as an expert witness. And he's available as a mediator in select cases as well as a lawyering coach.
Steve's work includes:
- Accounting Reports in Trusts and Estates
- Business Formation and Governance
- Business Succession Planning
- Business Valuation
- Buy-Sell Agreements/Shareholder Agreements
- Buying and Selling Businesses/Mergers and Acquisitions
- Charitable Planning
- Contract Negotiation
- Commercial Transactions
- Complex Estate Structures
- Corporate Law
- Endowment Funds
- Estate Administration
- Estate Planning
- Estate Tax Return Preparation and Audits
- Estates and Trusts Litigation
- Expert Opinions
- Family Foundations
- Fiduciary Law
- Generation-Skipping Tax Return Preparation and Audits
- Gift Tax Return Preparation and Audits
- Life Insurance Due Diligence
- LLC Law
- Mediation
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Partnership Law
- Probate Law
- Risk Management
- Secured Transactions
- Securities Regulation
- Tax Compliance
- Tax Law
- Trust Administration
- Trust Planning
- Trust Reformation/Modification
Publications
- Column, Estate Planning Corner, The Alaska Bar Rag (1989-Present)
- Thinking Outside The Code, 116 (No. 8) Tax Notes 679 (August 20, 2007)
- Working In A World With The GST Tax, 137 Trusts & Estates 47 (1998)
- Using Ascertainable Standards for Distributions from Trusts, 10 The Audio Estate Planner (Summer 1994)
- In Search of the Meaning of Income: Glenshaw Glass Revisited, 127 Trusts & Estates 50 (1988)
- The Creation, Operation and Dissolution of a Limited Partnership in Alaska, 2 Alaska L. Rev. 271 (1985)
- Worker Adjustment Assistance: The Failure & The Future, 5 Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business 394 (1983)
- Boxing website: The Jim O'Hara Story: Boxing, Dignity & Street Smarts
Experience
O'Hara Tax Lawyer LLC, 2018-Present
Bankston Gronning O'Hara, P.C., 1982-2018
Civic Involvement
Pro Bono Counsel to Nonprofit Organizations
Past Member, Alaska Pacific University Foundation Board of Directors
Past Member, Southcentral Alaska
Chapter of the American Red Cross Board of Directors
Professional Activities
Fellow, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, 1997 - Present
Past Chair, Alaska Bar Association Section on Estate Planning and Probate
Speaker before estate planning groups over the years
Faculty Member, Springing the Delaware Tax Trap: Drafting Limited Powers of Appointment to Increase Income Tax Basis, June 28, 2016, a live interactive webinar, Stafford Continuing Education, Atlanta, Georgia
Courts Admitted To Practice
State of Alaska, 1984
United States Tax Court, 1985
United States District Court for the District of Alaska, 1985
United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, 1986
Background
Born in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Lifelong Christian (Catholic).
Married to Rebecca O'Hara since 1983.
Three children, five grandchildren.