David Rosen works to help people and corporations understand the tax issues affecting them and how they can solve them. As a tax adviser, he helps clients ranging from small businesses to massive companies to better understand their finances and navigate tax law.
Recently, he was recognized as Bloomberg Tax Estates’ Gifts and Trusts Portfolio Author of the Year for 2023, an honor that bolsters his reputation as a leading tax adviser.
Born and raised in Pikesville, Rosen, 44, still lives there. He, his wife Monica and their sons Benjamin and Noah belong to Beth El Congregation, though he grew up attending Beth Tfiloh Congregation. Rosen also used to serve on the board of the JCC of Greater Baltimore.
Rosen said he has been involved in the financial field for most of his life. He started as a tax attorney, representing businesses in tax-related cases. In late 2009, he joined Rosen, Sapperstein & Friedlander LLC as a partner and a chair of its tax department.
“Over time, I grew the practice from six people to over 70 people,” Rosen said. “I work with families to just structure their affairs in an appropriate manner for their business and family in a way that’s tax efficient and meets their objectives.”
Rosen has written two tax treatises, but was recognized with the award from Bloomberg Tax for writing his Family Offices Portfolio. This portfolio discusses issues affecting family offices like RS&F, advising family office stakeholders and owners about potential problems to watch out for and offering ideas for solutions.
This portfolio was published as part of Bloomberg BNA’s Tax Management Portfolios series, and is the only publication in the series to address issues affecting family offices. He wrote it over the course of three years while under contract with Bloomberg Tax.
“I’m a tax nerd, basically,” Rosen quipped. “So I stay more or less engaged in the tax world at all times. When new laws come out, I lecture about them and I speak about them to clients. I don’t learn about the law by reading what other people have said about it, I’m the one who goes out and explains it to people, supplementing it with what I’ve read from others.”
Initially, Rosen was not planning to publish this portfolio under any particular publisher. He did not have any relationship with Bloomberg Tax at the time, and did not intend to release it outside of his client base.
“I was going to write it and send it out, for my own benefit and my clients’,” he said. “I shared it with several people, and this led to me getting a call from Bloomberg asking if I would complete an application to publish this work in their series.”
Not only was this publication a surprise, but so was Rosen’s nomination for the award he recently received. He said that he is not sure who nominated him in the first place, but winning the award was a deeply humbling experience.
“The other winners of this award are some of the truest thought leaders in the history of the law in our country,” Rosen said. He described himself as “a kid from Baltimore” in comparison.
Rosen said he considers himself a Jew first and foremost. He describes his Jewish identity as being the building blocks for the value system he uses while working and in his personal life. These Jewish values have led to RS&F being the largest Jewish-owned firm left in Baltimore, currently 115 employees strong.
“I’ll be continuing to work in the family office space, with families around the country, to continue to develop thought leadership,” Rosen said of his future plans. “It’s going to be fun as we continue to work with interesting families in interesting situations.”
