Attorney Richard De Stefano

Real Property, Trust and Probate
Taos NM

PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

Mr. De Stefano was admitted to practice in New Mexico in 1994 (# 7772) and California in 1975 (# 65630). In addition to all the state courts of New Mexico and California, Mr. De Stefano is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the United States Tax Court, and the United States District Courts for the Northern District of California (San Francisco), the Central District of California (Los Angeles), and the District of New Mexico. For his entire career he has focused on real estate, wills, trusts, and estates, and civil litigation relating to those areas.

EDUCATION

Mr. De Stefano graduated from the University of Southern California School of Law in 1975 with a Juris Doctor degree. His undergraduate education was at Dickinson College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he received an A. B. in Economics, in 1971.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

In 1974, while in law school, Mr. De Stefano began working as a part-time law clerk for a small Beverly Hills law firm, Kairys & Lippman, and continued full-time after graduation. On admission to the California Bar in December 1975, he became an associate attorney at the firm, then known as Kairys, Lippman & Weisel. In 1978, he left southern California for Monterey, where he was a founding partner in Duffy & De Stefano. In 1981 he returned to Beverly Hills as a senior associate in his former firm, and became a full partner in 1985, the firm name having evolved to Kairys, Lippman, Weisel, Kipper & De Stefano.

In 1993, Mr. De Stefano took a three-month leave from his firm and moved to Taos for the winter, having previously been a frequent ski-tourist. He decided to stay, commuting and tele-commuting to his home in Los Angeles and office in Beverly Hills. In 1995, he began accepting New Mexico clients, and opened a Taos office in June 1995. He has been a sole practitioner in Taos (1995-2001, 2005 to date), and was a founding partner in De Stefano & Paternoster (2001-2005).

Mr. De Stefano has been in private practice full-time for over forty years.

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PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Mr. De Stefano is a member of the Taos County Bar Association, and has been its president (two terms), vice president, and treasurer, and chair of the Law Day program.

COMMUNITY SERVICE

Mr. De Stefano served on the Board of Directors of Taos Center For The Arts, a non-profit arts organization which operates Taos’s best theatrical and musical venue: Board of Directors of Habitat for Humanity of Taos and served as its treasurer, fund-raising chairman, and representative to Habitat for Humanity of New Mexico; Board of Directors of Youth Alliance Inc., a non-profit organization involved in the development of children and adolescents; and currently is on the Board of Advisors of Artsoul, Inc., a non-profit which organizes and produces musical theater productions, workshops, and classes for young people and adults. Mr. De Stefano is corporate counsel to several non-profit organizations.

PERSONAL

Mr. De Stefano is a musician who performs regularly in northern New Mexico, and writes and records music. He enjoys skiing and bicycle riding.