Bio
Lauren’s practice generally focuses on estate planning, trust administration, real property tax issues and probate. Lauren has experience in estate planning for clients at many different wealth levels and stages of life. In addition to working with clients to achieve their goals in transferring their assets to their intended beneficiaries, Lauren’s work includes considering and implementing strategies to defer or eliminate estate taxes. A puzzle-solver, Lauren excels at taking complex facts or difficult situations and crafting solutions to reach each client’s individual goals.
One of Lauren’s more unique practice areas is real property tax. California’s Proposition 13 created valuable tax savings for property owners in California. Lauren assists clients in understanding the possible outcomes of property transactions on their assessed value and consults with clients regarding strategies and rules for passing along their Proposition 13 property tax base to the next generation.
Before founding Ventura Coast Law LLP, Lauren was an associate and then partner at a large local law firm, where Lauren gained broad experience across a variety of practice areas. In addition to her estate planning and real property tax practice, Lauren assisted in multi-million-dollar business and real property transactions, as well as routine business transaction matters, counseled clients regarding intellectual property matters (particularly trademark), and gained experience in civil litigation. This wide-ranging exposure to a variety of legal matters supports Lauren’s estate-based practice, where clients own many different types of assets and have an array of legal concerns relating to their estate planning and trust administration needs.
Lauren grew up in Ojai, where her grandparents operated a 40-acre citrus ranch and her father and mother ran her father’s medical practice. Lauren graduated summa cum laude from Scripps College in Claremont, California, where she obtained her B.A. in Honors Economics and Honors Politics & International Relations. She was elected to both Phi Beta Kappa and Omicron Delta Epsilon (International Economics Honor Society). Lauren studied abroad in the Czech Republic and completed a summer internship at the Institute of International and European Affairs in Dublin, Ireland.
After graduating from Scripps, Lauren attended the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (previously known as Boalt Hall). While at Berkeley, Lauren concentrated her studies in business law and intellectual property. She also served as Production Editor of the Berkeley Technology Law Journal (BTLJ) for two years and briefly as a research assistant.