New York City Bar
New York State Bar Association
American Bar Association
Fellow, American College of Investment Counsel
US Legal 500: Tax: Domestic tax: East Coast 2007-2011
Jacob I. Friedman is head of the Not-for-Profit/Exempt Organizations Group and is the immediate past Chair of the Tax Department. He has been a member of the Tax Department since 1975 and a Partner since 1983.
Jay has been involved in various facets of federal and state tax and employee benefits laws. In recent years, his major areas of practice have been the structuring of alternative investments for pension trusts and other exempt organizations, the rendering of fiduciary advice to ERISA trustees, and the implementation of employee benefit programs. Jay advises Proskauer’s philanthropic and other not-for-profit clients on fiduciary and tax exemption issues and their specialized tax problems, including unrelated business income tax ramifications of diverse investments, such as venture capital, hedge funds, futures, natural resources, buyout funds and corporate finance.
Among the clients who regularly seek Jay’s advice are the Bell Atlantic Master Pension Trust, Verizon Investment Management Corporation, Cooper Union, American Lung Association, AJC and various major tax-exempt trusts.
Jay was instrumental in negotiating a successful resolution of a divisive conflict between two large not-for-profit institutions. His legal advice to the City of New York resulted in multiyear savings of large sums of money. He regularly is called upon to devise strategy in tax-exempt trust litigation and to handle complex administrative negotiations with the IRS. Jay has actively structured and negotiated numerous significant investments in the U.S. and abroad for multibillion-dollar tax-exempt entities.
Jay has lectured at seminars sponsored by Proskauer, The New York Law Journal, New York University, The New York State Bar Association and the International Association of Financial Planners on areas such as real estate investment, tax credits, unrelated business taxable income, ERISA, and negotiating strategy with the IRS. He chairs Proskauer's annual "Trick or Treat Tax-Exempt Seminar," held at the end of every October. He is a co-author of the ERISA Fiduciary Answer Book published by Panel Publications and a contributing author to Complete Guide to Nonprofit Organizations published by Civic Research Institute. Jay also is an Adjunct Professor of Law in New York Law School's graduate tax program and is a member of the board of Metropolitan Jewish Health System.
Jay is the editor of Proskauer's Not-for-Profit/Exempt Organizations Blog