After 30 years as a partner in Venable's corporate and tax practices, Neal Borden is now Senior Counsel with a focus on advising wealthy families and closely held, family-owned companies. He has substantial experience with multigenerational trusts as an independent trustee and is a leading lawyer in Maryland on state tax issues. Mr. Borden counsels family offices, individuals and companies on business and personal tax planning issues.

Mr. Borden has over 40 years of experience as a legal practitioner and two years as executive vice president of a national franchiser. He understands family offices, wealth management and business issues, particularly in the context of multigenerational trusts and closely held companies with multigenerational ownership.

Significant Matters
Mr. Borden has served for over a decade as the independent trustee for family trust funds with principal in nine figures and over 50 beneficiaries. He heads the family office and oversees investment management, discretionary distributions, planning and administration. In his earlier legal career, Mr. Borden was principal outside counsel for over 10 years for a large international franchise advertising fund, responsible for contract, tax, litigation, and regulatory matters. He represented two national franchisers in litigation before the New Jersey Tax Court contesting income tax assessments based on licensing nexus and also obtained the reversal of multi-million dollar income tax assessments against a group of five Baltimore Orioles baseball players based on alleged Maryland residency.

Activities
Active in the community, Mr. Borden devotes time to a variety of organizations, including the National Aquarium (past Chair, Board of Governors; member, Board of Governors and Foundation trustee and treasurer); Center Stage (past Trustee); The Walters Art Museum (Trustee and former Vice-President) and The Harry L. Gladding Foundation (President and Trustee). He is a ten-year member of the Institute for Private Investors and was the Founding Chair of the Baltimore Family Office Group. He was also active in the International Franchise Association and served on the Board of Directors, Council of Franchise Suppliers. For the Maryland State Bar Association, Mr. Borden served as Chair of the Tax Section, founding chair of the Committee on Franchising and Distribution Law, and a member of the Section Council, Section of Business Law.