Eduardo R. Arista

Eduardo "Ed" Arista is an attorney and a certified public accountant (CPA) in Holland & Knight's Miami and Washington, D.C., offices. Mr. Arista has more than 25 years of experience helping American and multinational families and private companies reduce their tax burden, protect their assets and businesses from legal risks and prepare for the eventual transfer of their wealth. As a partner at the firm, Mr. Arista routinely serves as outside general counsel for his clients and provides comprehensive representation in virtually any legal matter.

Mr. Arista is well known in the private client space and is routinely recommended by major financial institutions and professional firms nationally and internationally. His native, professional Spanish fluency and extensive international travel equip him to work more effectively with his foreign clients and their local counsel, drawing on a large and well-established network of professionals throughout the region.

In addition, Mr. Arista has substantial experience in a broad range of business matters, including contract drafting and negotiation, corporate governance, complex limited liability company (LLC) operating agreements and representing sellers and buyers of closely held businesses. He also has experience partnering with litigation counsel to help his clients resolve numerous business and family disputes.

As an attorney-CPA, Mr. Arista is intimately familiar with the most complex, international, income and estate tax forms and filing requirements, and he has assisted numerous clients in identifying and resolving their tax non-compliance by taking advantage of the various IRS tax amnesty programs.

Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Arista worked for a U.S. Tax Court judge and at large and small law and accounting firms. He has completed an in-house stint as general counsel and chief financial officer (CFO) of a technology startup, where he helped raise $15 million in venture capital and ramp up operations in preparation for acquisition by a public company.

Mr. Arista has served in leadership roles and remains active in several community and professional associations. Previously, he has taught Federal Wealth Transfer Taxation for more than a decade for the Florida International University graduate tax program, earning "Most Outstanding Professor" multiple times. Mr. Arista has also authored numerous publications and lectures frequently at local and international seminars for attorneys, accountants, bankers and businesspeople, in English and Spanish.

While in law school, Mr. Arista was a managing editor of the University of Miami Tax Law Chronicle. He also served as a judicial intern for a U.S. Magistrate Judge and as a certified legal intern with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Office of the Associate Chief Counsel.