Priya Prakash Royal

Ms. Priya Prakash Royal, Esq., LL.M., MBA, is a former IRS attorney and an established expert in tax law and estate planning. Ms. Royal is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. In addition to being retained as tax counsel, she has served as an expert witness, has been published in trade journals and is a recognized speaker.

Ms. Royal was an attorney in the Estate and Gift Tax division of the Internal Revenue Service where she examined prominent and ultra high net worth estate and gift tax returns. She also developed course materials for internal attorneys, worked on a high profile, billion dollar estate, and supervised other Estate Tax Attorneys. She was instrumental in a project to develop a better understanding of the implications of income tax law in estate and gift tax and encourage better collaboration between the various tax divisions to help taxpayers by expediting the process.

Additionally, Ms. Royal has worked at established law firms in New Jersey on complex commercial litigation, tax, estate planning and estate administration matters. She has structured estate and gift plans including endowment agreements, irrevocable trusts such as life insurance trusts, and counseled clients on charitable planning to minimize estate and gift tax liabilities. She has also successfully disputed additional assessments by federal and state taxing authorities involving complex income and estate tax issues.

Ms. Royal is a recognized speaker and author. She has been published in the New Jersey Law Journal, by the American Bar Association, Section of Litigation, and in the Heritage Auctions’ Trusts and Estates Journal. She has presented on tax planning issues at local and national forums,including the USPTO’s National Trademark Expo (on rights of publicity and planning for celebrity estates), the Benjamin Franklin American Inn of Court, Strafford Webinars, the DC Bar, the Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and the DC Appraisal Institute.

She devotes significant time to pro bono service and on legal education. She is currently serving in the leadership with the DC Bar committee on Estates, Trusts, and Probate and as co-chair of the Tax Section for the South Asian Bar Association (SABA). She also mentors law students, serves on the advisory board of a film and animation non-profit, Project Twenty1, and was instrumental in developing a nonprofit focused on narrowing the wealth gap.

She has provided pro bono services through various charitable organizations, including, Pro Bono Partnership, Partners for Women and Justice (helping victims of domestic abuse) and the Animal Legal Defense Fund (preventing cruelty to animals).

She received a Juris Doctor (J.D.) and Masters in Law in Taxation (LL.M.) from Villanova University School of Law in Pennsylvania and completed her Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) at Rutgers University in New Jersey with majors in Journalism and Mass Media, Political Science, and Philosophy. She also has a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from American Public University System. She is conversant in Hindi, Tamil, Spanish, and French.