Patricia Annino
Senior Advisor and Associate Partner
Cambridge Family Enterprise Group
Patricia M. Annino is a partner with the Boston office of global law firm, Rimon, P.C. and a Senior Advisor and Associate Partner with Cambridge Family Enterprise Group (CFEG). She is a nationally recognized authority on estate planning, family enterprise planning, and philanthropic planning with more than 30 years of experience serving the estate planning and philanthropic needs of families, individuals, and owners of closely held and family-owned businesses.
Ms. Annino has been voted by her peers as one of the Best Lawyers in America (trust and estates), a Super Lawyer, a top 50 Massachusetts Female Lawyer, Boston Estate Planning Council’s Estate Planner of the Year, High Net Worth- Private Wealth, Chambers and Partners, the initial recipient of EuroMoney/Legal Media’s “Best in Wealth Management-USA” award, the Richard Beckhard Practice Award (Family Firm Institute, a global organization of family enterprise advisors), Outstanding Achievement Award, Suffolk University Law School and Distinguished Alumnae Award, Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart.
Ms. Annino is the author of Estate Planning with Forms volumes 23-24 of the Thomson Reuters Massachusetts Practice Series (2007-2025, Thomson Reuters) and Probate Practice with Forms volumes 21-22 of the Massachusetts Practice Series (2019-2025, Thomson Reuters). She has authored several other books including Women & Money: A Practical Guide to Estate Planning (December 2004, BookSurge Publishing), Women in Family Business: What Keeps You Up at Night? (January 2009, BookSurge Publishing), It’s More Than Money: Protect Your Legacy (April 2014, Createspace Independent Publishing Platform) and Power, Strength & Perseverance: What Women Know About Other Women But Search For In Themselves (February 2021, R.R. Bowker). She is the author of the “Estate, Gift and Generation Skipping Transfer Tax” Chapter in M.C.L.E.’s A Practical Guide to Estate Planning In Massachusetts (August 2024, MCLE | New England), the “Will Provisions Pertaining to Literature, Art, Music, and Computer Programs Chapter in M.C.L.E.’s Drafting Wills and Trusts in Massachusetts (2019, MCLE | New England), the Chapter, “How You Can Prepare For Longevity and Mental Incapacity Among Family Members” in Wealth of Wisdom: The Top 50 Questions Wealthy Families Ask (December 2018, Wiley Publishing), and a coauthor of the Chapter, “Business Families and Family Businesses”, the STEP Handbook for Advisors, Third Edition 2025 (April 2025, Globe Law and Business). She is also the author of the recently released book, Italians of the North End: A History of Grit, Perseverance & Tradition (February 2024, The History Press).
Ms. Annino is a frequent speaker and has been quoted extensively on estate planning, family enterprise and philanthropy topics for national publications including, the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Barron’s, Chicago Tribune, MarketWatch and Investors.com. She has presented more than 250 keynote speeches, and panel discussions to national and global organizations, such as Boston Symphony Orchestra, Museum of Fine Arts, Detroit Institute of Art, Smith College, Harvard Business School Alumni Association, YPO, Harvard School of Public Health, Suffolk University, Cure Alzheimer’s, Family Firm Institute, Northeastern University, AICPA (American Institute of CPAs,), American Bar Association, National Tax Institute, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Mass General Brigham Hospital, Winchester Hospital, MCLE (Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education), University of Rochester, North Texas Community Foundation, Louisville Kentucky Estate Planning Council, Houston Planned Giving Council, Houston Opera, Birmingham Alabama Estate Planning Council, and Planned Giving.
Ms. Annino is currently teaching Planning for The Family-Owned Enterprise at Suffolk University Law School, Boston, MA. This topic is traditionally taught in business schools and Patricia is bringing the concept for the first time to a law school. Family-owned enterprises—ranging from global corporations such as Fidelity Investments, Walmart, and Cargill to local car dealerships, professional practices, and retail stores—are the backbone of the American economy. This intensive intersession course examines the unique challenges faced by family enterprises and the advisors who serve them.
Key topics include choice of business entity, corporate governance structures, succession planning, family conflict management, estate and gift tax planning, risk management, and the integration of family and business objectives. Special attention will be given to the fiduciary tensions that arise when the enterprise is held in trust form, particularly the conflicting duties of Trustees versus Corporate Directors.
Through case studies—including Harry Winston’s decades-long litigation among his heirs and with the corporate fiduciary, Rupert Murdoch’s succession dispute, and the landmark Demoulas family litigation—students will see how corporate law, tax law, trust and estate principles, and family dynamics intersect in real-world conflicts.
By the conclusion of the course, students will have a working knowledge of how to approach advising owners and stakeholders in family enterprises with both legal rigor and sensitivity to interpersonal dynamics.
Ms. Annino holds a LLM in Taxation from Boston University School of Law, a JD from Suffolk University School of Law, an AB from Smith College, and is a graduate of Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart. She completed the Harvard Business School Executive Education Program, Preparing to Serve on Corporate Boards. She is a Fellow of ACTEC (American College of Trust and Estates Council), and a Fellow of the Family Firm Institute (F.F.I.).
Ms. Annino is currently a member of the Suffolk University Law School Dean’s Cabinet, a member of the North End Historical Society Board of Directors (North End Boston where she and the board are creating the first ever Museum in Boston’s North End which represents 400 years of American history, Family Firm Institute Board of Directors and Boston Ballet Board of Advisors.
Ms. Annino is a former Member of Smith College’s Center for Women and Financial Independence Board of Advisors, Newton Country Day School Alumni Association (and President), Suffolk University Law School Alumni Association (and President), The Women’s Philanthropy Institute Council, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at Indiana University, Boston Estate Planning Council, and the Winchester Hospital Professional Advisory Council.
