I was raised in the practice of law. When I was six, I quizzed my mother on her law school exam questions. At eight, I was helping her prepare for the New Jersey State Bar Exam. She was a single mother who put herself through law school at night while working as a grocery bagger during the day. By the time the Bar Exam arrived, my mother overslept the morning of and arrived, panicked, an hour late to the test. The proctor told her she'll never pass with the time left, but my mother wouldn't leave. She was allowed to sit, an hour and ten minutes late, for the Exam. After the test was over, standing in the ladies room, my mother looked down and noticed she was wearing one white sneaker and one black high heel shoe. Weeks later, we learned that my mother didn't only pass the bar - she was top in New Jersey for her graduating class. This formidable woman went on to practice family law and served as an advocate for her clients until her death, at the age of 45, after a two-year-long battle with lung cancer.

When my mother passed, I was deeply lost. As an 18-year-old kid, I didn't have the money to hire a lawyer and had no idea how to protect my home from the predatory mortgage lender who showed up right after her funeral, demanding payment in full. I had no choice, so I opened up her law books and started looking for guidance. I went to court by myself and probated her will. I spoke with each one of her creditors, including her student loan companies, and negotiated reasonable payoffs. I even managed to save the home I grew up in. All of this was done while going to college and coming to terms with the loss of my greatest friend and biggest hero.

After attending college at Sarah Lawrence, I decided to go to law school just like my mother. My goal was slightly different from hers; instead of helping families separate and divorce, I wanted to help families pull together in the wake of unimaginable loss and grief. I hoped to use the life lessons earned through my personal experiences to assist people through their most vulnerable time. No child or spouse should ever feel helpless after the death of a loved one, and inheritance does, indeed, change people.

Trusts and estates felt like a natural fit, and as I went through law school, I discovered my inner tax nerd as well. After graduation in 2012 and taking the New York State Bar Exam, I began my career in trusts and estates in a boutique law firm in midtown Manhattan.

After almost a decade of practice, I realized that I wasn't happy in my career. Although I helped many people over the years at my prior firm, somewhere along the way families became matter numbers, entries on Zoho and accounts receivable. My focus as a partner was always split between keeping a tight hand on the pulse of the division that I had built, but also managing the practice for myself and my other partners. Was this how I imagined practicing law, years ago? Who was I really helping like this?

The answers seemed obvious. It was time to step away and find what I loved about being an attorney again. This led to the formation of Biskin-Sitko Law, PLLC. At B-S Law, we focus on you. We don't sell you a product because we have a quota to fill or a draw to cover. We are committed to providing personalized estate plans that are flexible and can grow with you in an ever-changing world. We assist families in navigating the loss of a loved one, from beginning the court process to final distribution of the estate assets. We will advocate for you, whether you are a beneficiary, fiduciary or disinherited spouse. If you have legal rights that are being ignored by a fiduciary or neglected by an indifferent court, we pledge to work with you to make it right. Nothing in life is guaranteed but death and taxes so we will help you meet your tax compliance obligations for an estate or trust. We specialize in complex tax matters and dealing with the IRS and New York State. We are prepared to defend our returns on audit, to the United States Tax Court if necessary. At B-S Law, we are with you every step of the way because as life happens, we focus on providing the services you need at every junction.

The painting at the top of this page is a portrait of my mother. There's a famous family story about it. One day, walking in NYC, my mother was noticed by an artist. He begged her to sit for him and be his muse. My mother was flattered and dismissed him as a city loon. But the artist persisted. He finally got her to agree to sit for a portrait and he promised to gift it to her as a way to thank her for her time. In 1994, my mother came home with her new portrait. We all joked that the artist was terrible and that it looked nothing like her. But in the end, this painting was hung proudly on my mother's law office wall. In 2000, the artist sued my mother for the return of the painting. He claimed it wasn't a gift and he wanted it back to display in Paris, where he was having an exhibition. My mother arrived in court, clearly ill at that time, and managed to get the lawsuit dismissed. This painting represents a family legacy of always doing what is right, especially when it seems impossible. Today, this painting hangs in the New City office of B-S Law, honoring the past while we work to protect the future.