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Mary Louden Joins Herbie Legal as Head of Estate Planning Practice
Bringing a wealth of experience working at RIAs and law firms, Mary is an invaluable addition to Herbie.
We're thrilled to welcome Mary Louden as Head of Herbie Legal's estate planning practice. Mary joins us from Brighton Jones, where she spent the past eight years as Director of Estate Planning. Before that, she practiced trusts and estates at K&L Gates, one of the largest law firms in the world.
Mary brings a rare combination to our team: Biglaw training, deep fluency in community property law and an insider's understanding of how wealth management firms actually work. She is licensed to practice in Texas, California and Washington. All three are community property states, and she has practiced in each of them.
An insider's view of the RIA world
Most estate planning attorneys meet financial advisors across the table. Mary has spent nearly a decade on the same side of it.
Brighton Jones is one of the largest independent wealth managers in the country, with more than 4,000 clients and over $30 billion in assets under advisement, bringing wealth management, tax advisory, a family office and a trust company under one roof.
As Director of Estate Planning, Mary led estate planning for clients across 32 offices nationwide. Her job was to make estate planning work inside the advisory relationship. That meant turning each family's financial plan into the legal structures that carry it forward, in step with the advisors, tax professionals and trust officers serving the same family.
That experience maps directly onto how Herbie works. Advisors are one of our most important partners, and Mary knows firsthand what they need from an estate planning attorney, and what their clients expect.
Law firm foundations
Mary's practice was built across prominent firms in different markets. Before joining Brighton Jones, Mary practiced at K&L Gates, where she was a Private Clients/Trusts and Estates attorney in the firm's Seattle office. K&L Gates has about 1,700 lawyers in 47 offices across five continents, and its Private Clients group handles the complex estate, gift and trust work that comes with significant wealth.
Before K&L Gates, she was an estate planning attorney at Berliner Cohen in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began her career at Field, Manning, Stone, Hawthorne & Aycock in Lubbock, Texas.
Across these markets, Mary has worked with a wide range of clients. She has served families with oil and gas interests, founders and executives of startups, and owners of multigenerational family businesses. She knows the planning issues each of them brings, from mineral rights to equity compensation to business succession.
Mary's academic record is just as strong. Mary earned her law degree summa cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law, graduating first in her class, on a Regents Full Scholarship, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She holds an LL.M. in Taxation from NYU School of Law and a BA in Sociology from Duke University, where she ran track and field.
Why Herbie
For Mary, Herbie is a chance to bring what she's learned to many more families. "I've spent my career helping families align their financial plans with the legacy they want to leave," she said. "Herbie pairs real legal judgment with technology that makes great planning faster, clearer and available to far more people. I'm thrilled to help build it."
"Mary has spent eight years doing what we think estate planning should be: working hand in hand with advisors, at scale," said Michael Moritz, Co-Founder of Herbie and Managing Partner of Herbie Legal. "She understands RIAs from the inside, she trained at the highest level, and she's an expert in community property rules. We couldn't be more excited to have her on the team."
Please join us in welcoming Mary to Herbie.
We're thrilled to welcome Mary Louden as Head of Herbie Legal's estate planning practice. Mary joins us from Brighton Jones, where she spent the past eight years as Director of Estate Planning. Before that, she practiced trusts and estates at K&L Gates, one of the largest law firms in the world.
Mary brings a rare combination to our team: Biglaw training, deep fluency in community property law and an insider's understanding of how wealth management firms actually work. She is licensed to practice in Texas, California and Washington. All three are community property states, and she has practiced in each of them.
An insider's view of the RIA world
Most estate planning attorneys meet financial advisors across the table. Mary has spent nearly a decade on the same side of it.
Brighton Jones is one of the largest independent wealth managers in the country, with more than 4,000 clients and over $30 billion in assets under advisement, bringing wealth management, tax advisory, a family office and a trust company under one roof.
As Director of Estate Planning, Mary led estate planning for clients across 32 offices nationwide. Her job was to make estate planning work inside the advisory relationship. That meant turning each family's financial plan into the legal structures that carry it forward, in step with the advisors, tax professionals and trust officers serving the same family.
That experience maps directly onto how Herbie works. Advisors are one of our most important partners, and Mary knows firsthand what they need from an estate planning attorney, and what their clients expect.
Law firm foundations
Mary's practice was built across prominent firms in different markets. Before joining Brighton Jones, Mary practiced at K&L Gates, where she was a Private Clients/Trusts and Estates attorney in the firm's Seattle office. K&L Gates has about 1,700 lawyers in 47 offices across five continents, and its Private Clients group handles the complex estate, gift and trust work that comes with significant wealth.
Before K&L Gates, she was an estate planning attorney at Berliner Cohen in the San Francisco Bay Area. She began her career at Field, Manning, Stone, Hawthorne & Aycock in Lubbock, Texas.
Across these markets, Mary has worked with a wide range of clients. She has served families with oil and gas interests, founders and executives of startups, and owners of multigenerational family businesses. She knows the planning issues each of them brings, from mineral rights to equity compensation to business succession.
Mary's academic record is just as strong. Mary earned her law degree summa cum laude from Texas Tech University School of Law, graduating first in her class, on a Regents Full Scholarship, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. She holds an LL.M. in Taxation from NYU School of Law and a BA in Sociology from Duke University, where she ran track and field.
Why Herbie
For Mary, Herbie is a chance to bring what she's learned to many more families. "I've spent my career helping families align their financial plans with the legacy they want to leave," she said. "Herbie pairs real legal judgment with technology that makes great planning faster, clearer and available to far more people. I'm thrilled to help build it."
"Mary has spent eight years doing what we think estate planning should be: working hand in hand with advisors, at scale," said Michael Moritz, Co-Founder of Herbie and Managing Partner of Herbie Legal. "She understands RIAs from the inside, she trained at the highest level, and she's an expert in community property rules. We couldn't be more excited to have her on the team."
Please join us in welcoming Mary to Herbie.
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