Wendy E. Hartmann was born in Brooklyn, New York, and received her B.S. in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Oswego. She received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of LaVerne, College of Law and her Master of Laws (LL.M). in Taxation from Golden Gate University School of Law. Ms. Hartmann is admitted to the California Bar, the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, the United States Supreme Court and the United States Tax Court. Ms. Hartmann is certified by the State Bar of California, as a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law, and has received recognition as a Southern California Super Lawyer in 2011-2013 and 2015-2018, as well as being recognized as one of the Top Women Lawyers in Southern California. Prior to receiving her J.D. and LL.M, she practiced for more than twenty years in the areas of taxation, accounting, estate planning, business management and development, and human resources, as well as serving for several years as a Vice President at a nationwide human resource consulting firm. Ms. Hartmann now specializes in the areas of estate planning, trust administration, probate, taxation, business formation and development. A significant portion of her practice is devoted to advising same-sex couples and the LGBT community regarding estate planning, family formation, adoption and taxation matters. Ms. Hartmann is a frequent lecturer in the areas of taxation as well as the evolving laws affecting the LGBT community and taxation for same-sex couples, and has presented programs at the American Bar Association Tax Conference, the California State Bar Annual Meeting, State Bar Taxation Conference, as well as the Estate and Gift Tax Conference. In addition, she has made presentations to various sections of the Los Angeles County, Beverly Hills, San Fernando Valley, and Orange County Bar Associations, along with programs to Certified Public Accountants, estate planning councils and a wide variety of LGBT organizations, including Lambda Legal, Equality California, Love Honor Cherish, The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, Lavender Law, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.