Overview
David Pratt advises high-net-worth individuals, families, and business owners on sophisticated estate and tax planning strategies designed to preserve wealth across generations. His practice focuses on trusts and estates; estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax; fiduciary and individual income taxation; and fiduciary litigation matters. Widely recognized by his peers, David is ranked as a “Star Individual” in the Chambers High Net Worth guide, where clients describe him as a “fierce advocate” who is “very smart, very service-oriented, and understands what wealthy clients need in terms of representation.”
David counsels clients on structuring tax-efficient wealth transfers, including strategies to protect assets from creditors and in the event of divorce, and to maintain assets in the family. He regularly prepares prenuptial and postnuptial agreements and provides pre-divorce planning for individuals seeking to safeguard their financial interests. He also frequently advises business owners on succession planning, helping them navigate the complex dynamics of family-owned enterprises while minimizing transfer tax exposure.
As a trusted advisor to principals in private equity and hedge funds, physicians, and other professionals, David structures estate plans using family limited partnerships, limited liability companies, irrevocable trusts, and other vehicles to achieve tax efficiency and asset preservation. He also advises clients with significant retirement assets on maximizing income tax deferral and has helped establish numerous charitable remainder and lead trusts, as well as private foundations.
David is one of the few lawyers certified by The Florida Bar in both Tax Law and Wills, Trusts and Estates. He has chaired The Florida Bar’s Tax Section and has testified before the Internal Revenue Service on proposed regulations concerning retirement plan distributions.
In addition to his practice, David serves as an adjunct professor in the LLM program in estate planning at the University of Miami School of Law and was previously an adjunct professor in the LLM program in taxation at the University of Florida Levin College of Law. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, where he has served on the Board of Regents and was the inaugural Chair of the New Fellows Steering Committee.
David is very active in Jewish philanthropy, especially the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County (Boca Raton) and Birthright Israel. He holds leadership roles in these organizations, where he helps drive strategic initiatives in areas such as annual campaigns, planned giving, and endowments. A frequent lecturer and published author, David regularly speaks to legal and professional services audiences throughout the United States.
Recognitions
- The Best Lawyers in America, Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Tax Law, Trusts and Estates, 2005 – 2018, 2020 – 2025
- Chambers High Net Worth: Private Wealth Law: Florida, 2016 – 2025, Star Individual, 2024 – 2025, Eastern Region: USA – Nationwide, 2016 – 2025
- Florida Super Lawyers, 2006 – 2025
- Florida Trend magazine, Legal Elite Hall of Fame, 2023, Florida’s Legal Leaders, Tax, 2021
- JD Supra Readers’ Choice Awards, Wealth Management, 2022
- Chambers USA: Florida: Tax: Estate Planning (Band 1), 2007 – 2018, Nationwide: Wealth Management: Eastern Region, 2007 – 2018
- Best Lawyers, Miami Area Trusts and Estates Lawyer of the Year, 2011
- Worth magazine, Top 100 Attorneys in the United States
Community
- New York State Bar Association, member
- American Bar Association, member, former chair of the Fiduciary Income Tax Committee and numerous other former leadership positions in the Section of Taxation
- The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow and first Chair of the New Fellows Steering Committee, former member of the Estate and Gift and Asset Protection Committees
- Florida Bar Association, member, former chair of Tax Section, and numerous other former leadership positions
- Birthright Israel, member of the Board of Directors (Boca Raton) and former member of the national Board of Directors of Birthright Israel Onward
- Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach County (Boca Raton), Financial Resource Development Chair, former Chair of the Annual Campaign, the Professional Advisory Committee, and the Jacobson Jewish Community Foundation Board of Trustees
- Jewish National Fund, Legal Committee member
- TeachRock, member of Leadership Council for Steven Van Zandt’s charity
- Palm Beach Tax Institute, former president
- Boca Raton Estate Planning Council, member
- Tel Aviv Foundation, former board member
- Jewish Federations of North America, former member of the board of trustees and other committees
Credentials
Education
New York University School of Law, LLM, 1993
Brooklyn Law School, JD, cum laude, 1991
State University of New York at Albany, BS, magna cum laude, 1986
Admissions
Florida
New York
