Carlton Fields Expands Los Angeles Office with Addition of Major Tax Practice

Los Angeles, Cali. – Carlton Fields has announced that Menasche M. Nass and Henry A. Reitzenstein have joined the firm’s growing Los Angeles office as shareholder and of counsel respectively. With their arrival, Carlton Fields achieves additional critical depth in tax, a key practice area. The move also increases the law firm’s footprint in industry segments such as entertainment, real estate, and especially high-tech.   

The two attorneys, who have a combined 70 years of experience, join Carlton Fields from De Castro, West, Chodorow, Mendler, Glickfeld & Nass, a highly regarded regional boutique.

“We are excited to expand the scope and resources of our Los Angeles office to include the unparalleled expertise of these two great tax attorneys,” said Gary L. Sasso, President and CEO of Carlton Fields. “It is a major step forward for our firm and for our clients in Los Angeles.”

For more than 35 years, Menasche Nass has been a trusted counselor to executives, entrepreneurs, families, family businesses, and global enterprises. He handles complex business transactions, estate planning, and tax planning on the federal, state, and international levels. 

“Carlton Fields has given me a stellar opportunity to further serve my current client base as well as expand into other industries,” said Nass. “While Carlton Fields is a national law firm, it is a nimble and creative firm, especially here in LA where the team is doing some very exciting things with the Silicon Beach business community.”

Nass has an astonishing breadth of experience, including a Ph.D. in physics from Brown University and post-doctoral work at Caltech. His work in entertainment and high-tech, among other areas, has covered a wide spectrum of matters, from IP acquisitions to the handling of major art transactions, including one of the largest art purchases in history.

“Menasche brings a very unique perspective to law. Not many lawyers can boast of a doctorate in physics,” commented Mark Neubauer, Carlton Fields’ Los Angeles Office Managing Shareholder. “As Los Angeles is a hub of technology and new media, Menasche’s technical training makes him an invaluable team member, especially to a growing office like ours is where so many matters involve technology or digital issues.”

In his own 35 years of law practice, Henry Reitzenstein has focused on the representation of high-profile businesses, in Southern California and beyond, in matters involving the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), executive compensation, pension and profit-sharing, charitable giving, the restructuring and refinancing of closely-held companies (domestic and international), and estate planning for high-net-worth individuals.

“I am most excited about this opportunity,” said Reitzenstein. “On the one hand, I expect to expand my practice nationally while, on the other, we have a strong team that is locked in on the burgeoning tech market in LA, which is right now one of America’s most exciting business stories.”

Reitzenstein works closely with entrepreneurs and corporate executives across a wide range of industries, from real estate development to the cosmetics industry. Additionally, he directs charitable giving for private foundations.

Nass received his J.D. from the Stanford University School of Law, where he was the articles editor of the university’s Journal of International Law. Prior to attending Stanford, Nass was a postdoctoral fellow at Caltech. He also received his Ph.D. in Physics from Brown University and his B.S., summa cum laude, from The Cooper Union. Reitzenstein received his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law and his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of California at Los Angeles.