500 West Madison Street Suite 3700, Chicago, IL USA 60661
Jeff Zaluda is co-leader of the firm's Private Client practice. He focuses his practice on wealth preservation, estate planning and administration, fiduciary counsel and litigation, business planning, asset protection planning, and philanthropic planning and deployment of capital for social impact. Jeff works with high-net worth families and individuals, corporate and individual trustees and other fiduciaries, business owners and entrepreneurs, charitable foundations, and donors. He helps clients preserve assets for the long-term, aligning growth strategies with their personal and civic objectives.
Jeff built his practice by creating long-term relationships with clients who value his accessibility and ability to bring creative, practical, and empathetic solutions to their unique matters. He prides himself on responding to calls and e-mails promptly and answering his own phone when sitting at his desk.
Prior to joining the firm, Jeff was a partner in the Private Client, Trust and Estates Group at HMB Legal Counsel, a well-established and tax focused law firm based in Chicago, Illinois.
Jeff is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is listed in the 2025 and 14 years prior editions of The Best Lawyers in America® for Family Law and Trusts and Estates Law. Jeff was named a “Leading Lawyer” in 2023 and 2024 for Trust, Will, and Estate Planning Law by Leading Lawyers magazine. He was recognized as an Illinois “Super Lawyer” from 2010 to 2021 and again in 2023, 2024 and 2025 for Estate Planning and Probate Law by Super Lawyers magazine.
Experience
*Assisted a high net worth client reestablish family and entity residency in Wyoming while simultaneously establishing a family office, initiating appropriate asset protection structures, implementing a private foundation, and creating vehicles for next generation involvement in entity and asset management.
*Established a business ownership succession plan involving gifts and sales among a variety of entities for the benefit of family members, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars of sale proceeds being excluded from the clients’ taxable estates.
*Working with an advisory team on behalf of a high-profile professional athlete to ensure proper protections and vehicles are in place to ensure long term cash flow, family support, and philanthropic goals are met.
*Experience gained by attorney prior to joining Kilpatrick
Insights View All
Closely Held Business Planning
Fiduciary Counsel and Litigation
American University Washington College of Law J.D. (1986) cum laude
University of Massachusetts B.A., Social Thought and Political Economy (1982) magna cum laude, Commonwealth Scholar
Illinois (1986)
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois (1986)
American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Fellow
American Bar Association, Member
American Civil Liberties Union, Member
Chicago Bar Association, Member
Chicago Estate Planning Council, Member
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, Member
JCUA Community Ventures Program, Advisory Board, Member
Social Venture Fund for Jewish-Arab Equality and Shared Society in Israel (SVF), Member
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