Private Client
Today’s business owners, investors, and high-net-worth individuals require a trusted personal legal advisor capable of delivering integrated solutions that address business, immigration, tax, and global mobility concerns. At Bridgewood & Co., our private client services are designed to meet these complex needs through a multidimensional and highly personalized approach.
We combine deep experience in business law, immigration, tax planning, and wealth preservation to develop customized strategies for multinational individuals and families navigating cross-border legal and financial challenges.
Inbound & Outbound Private Client Planning
Bridgewood & Co. provides comprehensive inbound planning for foreign families and individuals who are:
Investing in the United States
Relocating to the United States
Structuring wealth transfers to U.S.-resident beneficiaries
We also advise clients on outbound strategies, helping U.S. and international clients plan for investing, working, and living abroad. Our attorneys have extensive experience guiding individuals through the U.S. expatriation process, including immigration, tax, and long-term planning considerations.
Global Reach, Personalized Counsel
Our global reach allows us to deliver truly borderless private client services. We have represented individuals and families with financial, business, and personal interests on every continent, coordinating seamlessly with international advisors when needed.
Our private client base includes:
High-net-worth investors
Business owners and entrepreneurs
Multinational families
Private equity fund partners
Private trust companies
Family-controlled enterprises
Comprehensive Private Client Advisory
Bridgewood & Co. provides strategic counsel across a wide range of private client matters, including:
(service list follows)
Our goal is to deliver forward-thinking, discreet, and strategic legal solutions that protect wealth, enhance mobility, and support long-term personal and business objectives—wherever life and opportunity may take you.
Pre-Immigration Planning
The Accusation
A successful immigration strategy does more than identify the right visa category—it requires holistic planning that integrates immigration law, tax planning, estate considerations, and investment structuring. Each U.S. visa category carries distinct legal, financial, and tax consequences that can significantly impact you and your family both before and after relocation.
At Bridgewood & Co., our experienced immigration, business, and estate planning attorneys work collaboratively to help multinational families relocate to the United States while preserving wealth, minimizing tax exposure, and ensuring long-term compliance. Our pre-immigration planning services are designed to proactively address risks and create a clear, strategic roadmap for your move to the United States.
Choosing the Right Visa Category
The United States offers over one hundred different visa categories, each governed by unique eligibility criteria, limitations, and benefits. Your visa classification determines:
How long you may remain in the United States
What activities you may legally engage in
Whether you may work, invest, or manage a business
How your presence affects your U.S. tax residency status
Additionally, both your visa type and the number of days you spend in the United States each year can significantly impact your income tax, estate tax, and gift tax exposure.
Selecting the correct visa category is therefore critical. Our immigration attorneys have an in-depth understanding of all U.S. visa options and develop customized immigration solutions aligned with your personal, family, and business objectives.
Pre-Immigration Tax Planning
The United States is one of the few countries that taxes residents on worldwide income. Even non-residents may be taxed on U.S.-sourced income, including:
Income from U.S. businesses
Interest and dividends
Compensation for services performed in the United States
Rents and royalties from U.S. real estate
Given these potentially significant tax consequences, pre-immigration tax planning is an essential component of any comprehensive immigration strategy.
Importantly, U.S. tax residency rules differ from U.S. immigration residency rules:
Green card holders— including conditional permanent residents—are generally treated as U.S. income tax residents
Non-immigrant visa holders may become U.S. income tax residents based on physical presence
Estate and gift tax residency is based on domicile and intent, not immigration status
An individual deemed a U.S. estate and gift tax resident may have their worldwide assets subject to U.S. estate tax, while non-residents may still face U.S. taxation on U.S.-situs assets exceeding $60,000, at rates of up to 40%.
Our estate planning and tax attorneys design tailored pre-immigration tax strategies to help mitigate these risks. Depending on your circumstances, planning may include:
Establishment of foreign or U.S. trusts
Use of intermediate holding entities
Related-party debt planning
Foreign tax credit optimization
Strategic asset restructuring and basis planning
These strategies are implemented before immigration, when planning opportunities are most effective.
Pre-Immigration Investment Structuring
Many U.S. visa categories impose specific business ownership, investment, and corporate structure requirements. For example:
E-2 investor visas require at least 50% ownership by treaty country nationals and lawful sourcing of funds
L-1 visas require a qualifying corporate relationship between the U.S. and foreign entities
H-1B visas allow ownership but require a valid employer-employee relationship, limiting control
Before a visa application can be approved, all corporate structures, ownership interests, and investment transactions must be properly executed and documented.
Our business and immigration attorneys have extensive experience with:
U.S. and international company formation
Cross-border corporate structuring
Investment documentation
Immigration-compliant ownership and governance models
We advise on how investments should be structured—not what investments to make—ensuring alignment with immigration, tax, and business objectives. Our approach is objective, strategic, and focused on long-term success.
A Strategic, Integrated Approach
At Bridgewood & Co., we believe that pre-immigration planning is not an optional step—it is the foundation of a successful U.S. relocation. By integrating immigration law, tax planning, estate considerations, and investment structuring, we help clients transition to the United States with confidence, clarity, and protection.
Offshore & Foreign Asset Compliance
Foreign Asset Reporting & Wealth Preservation
The United States imposes strict and far-reaching reporting obligations on U.S. taxpayers who hold foreign bank accounts, foreign financial assets, or who receive gifts or inheritances from abroad. Failure to properly disclose foreign assets to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can result in severe civil and criminal penalties, which in some cases may exceed the value of the undisclosed assets themselves.
At Bridgewood & Co., our wealth preservation attorneys have a deep and practical understanding of U.S. foreign asset reporting rules and all available U.S. voluntary disclosure programs. We advise clients proactively and defensively—helping them remain compliant, mitigate risk, and protect their wealth.
Proactive Compliance & Strategic Structuring
If you are a U.S. tax resident considering a foreign investment, our attorneys advise on structuring transactions in a manner that:
Minimizes regulatory and enforcement risk
Maximizes tax efficiency
Ensures full compliance with all disclosure and reporting obligations
If you are a foreign national relocating to or investing in the United States, we develop comprehensive inbound strategies that address U.S. tax residency exposure, reporting obligations, and long-term compliance—thereby reducing the risk of future audits, penalties, or enforcement actions.
Offshore & Foreign Asset Compliance Experience
Our wealth preservation lawyers have extensive experience advising clients on all aspects of offshore and foreign asset compliance, including:
Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR)
Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)
Inbound immigration and expatriation-related tax reporting
Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA)
Bank Secrecy Act compliance
Reporting of foreign gifts and inheritances
Distributions from foreign trusts
Ownership of foreign bank accounts
Interests in foreign corporations, trusts, and disregarded entities
Failure to file the required disclosures does not only trigger penalties—it can also suspend the statute of limitations on your U.S. tax return until all applicable forms are properly filed with the IRS, significantly increasing long-term exposure.
Voluntary Disclosure & Enforcement Defense
As the U.S. government continues to expand and strengthen foreign asset disclosure requirements, the compliance burden on taxpayers grows. Whether you are:
Seeking guidance in developing a comprehensive foreign asset compliance strategy, or
Have recently discovered past noncompliance and require representation in an IRS audit or enforcement action,
our attorneys can advise you on the most effective and appropriate reporting and remediation strategy.
Our principal attorney previously served as a Trial Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice, providing invaluable insight into government enforcement priorities, investigative methods, and resolution strategies. This experience allows us to deliver informed, strategic, and effective counsel in even the most sensitive and complex compliance matters.
Trusted Counsel for Global Wealth
At Bridgewood & Co., we understand that international wealth brings opportunity—but also risk. Our goal is to help clients navigate complex reporting regimes with confidence, preserve their assets, and remain fully compliant in an increasingly regulated global environment.
Direct Investment
Direct Investment Legal Advisory for High-Net-Worth Individuals
Direct investments are a core component of the investment strategy of many high-net-worth individuals and families. Whether you are investing in an established operating business, an emerging growth company, real estate, private equity, or collectible assets such as fine art, Bridgewood & Co. provides strategic legal guidance to help you deploy capital efficiently, compliantly, and globally.
Our attorneys advise clients on regulatory compliance, tax efficiency, and cross-border legal considerations associated with direct investments in the United States and abroad. We understand that direct investments often involve complex legal, tax, and structuring challenges—particularly for multinational investors—and we help clients navigate these issues with clarity and confidence.
A Multidisciplinary, Global Approach
Clients value our multidisciplinary approach, which integrates our business law, immigration, tax planning, and wealth preservation practices to deliver customized, forward-thinking legal solutions. We work closely with clients to structure investments in a manner that aligns with their broader financial, estate, and mobility objectives.
Most of our clients maintain personal, business, and financial interests in multiple jurisdictions. Our attorneys have extensive experience advising on cross-border investments and understand the legal and regulatory frameworks governing international capital deployment. We develop innovative legal strategies tailored to the unique needs of multinational individuals and families, always with an eye toward risk mitigation and long-term value preservation.
Ongoing Representation & Exit Strategy Planning
Our representation does not end once an investment is completed. Bridgewood & Co. continues to advise clients throughout the lifecycle of their U.S. investments, including:
Ongoing regulatory and compliance matters
Corporate governance and shareholder issues
Commercial and transactional matters
Structuring refinancings, restructurings, or expansions
We also assist clients in planning and executing exit strategies, whether through a sale, restructuring, succession planning, or cross-border divestment. Our goal is to ensure that each investment—and eventual exit—is implemented in a manner that protects your interests, minimizes tax exposure, and aligns with your long-term wealth and mobility goals.
Sophisticated Counsel for Global Investors
At Bridgewood & Co., we serve as trusted legal advisors to investors navigating complex direct investments across borders. Our role is to help you invest with confidence—today and for the future.