David A. Handler is a partner in the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. Mr. Handler is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and a member of the professional advisory committees of several non-profit organizations, including the Chicago Community Trust, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Goodman Theatre, WTTW11/98.7WFMT (Chicago public broadcasting stations), and Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago, and serves on his local school board. He is one of only about 20 U.S. lawyers ranked in the top tier by Chambers USA in the wealth management category, is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (Trusts and Estates), in Guide to the World's Leading Trusts and Estates Practitioners and was identified as one of the top 100 lawyers in Illinois in the 2006 list of "Illinois Super Lawyers."

Mr. Handler is the creator or co-creator of the "HEET trust," the "RPM Trust," the "LPA Lid," the "Guaranteed GRAT," among other innovations The October 2011 edition of Leading Lawyers Magazine lists him as one of the "Top Ten Trust, Will & Estate" lawyers in America. He is a member of the Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Advisory Board, and an Editorial Advisory Board Member of Trusts & Estates Magazine for which he has written the monthly "tax update" column for the last 10 years, as well as the annual "Tax Year in Review." Mr. Handler is a co-author of a two-volume book on estate planning, Drafting the Estate Plan: Law and Forms. He has authored many articles that have appeared in prominent estate planning and taxation journals, magazines and newsletters, including Lawyer's Weekly, Trusts & Estates Magazine, Estate Planning Magazine, Journal of Taxation, Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal, The Chase Journal and RIA's Estate Planner's Alert. He is regularly interviewed for trade and news periodicals, including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Lawyer's Weekly, Registered Representative, Financial Advisor, Worth and Bloomberg Wealth Manager magazines. Mr. Handler is a frequent lecturer at professional education seminars.

Mr. Handler concentrates his practice on trust and estate planning and administration, representing owners of closely-held businesses, principals of private equity/venture capital/LBO funds, executives and families of significant wealth, and establishing and administering private foundations, public charities and other tax-exempt entities. Mr. Handler is a graduate of Northwestern University School of Law and received a B.S. Degree in Finance with highest honors from the University of Illinois College of Commerce.