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Carolyn M. Osteen

carolyn osteenCarolyn M. Osteen
Ropes & Gray LLP
Prudential Tower, 800 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02199-3600
Email Address: costeen@ropesgray.com
Direct Phone: 617-951-7252
Fax Number:  617-235-0086

Carolyn is a retired partner with the Boston office of Ropes & Gray LLP and was a member of its tax department.  She joined the firm in 1970 and her practice has focused on exempt organizations, including representation of a number of colleges, universities, museums, and hospitals.  She speaks regularly on issues of charitable giving and tax and corporate problems of tax‑exempt organizations.

Carolyn is the co‑author of the “Harvard Manual ‑ Tax Aspects of Charitable Giving” last published in its 8th Edition as well as co‑author of the BNA portfolio, “Charitable Contributions for Corporations.”  She has served as a member of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Public Charities Advisory Committee.  She is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and has served as a Regent of the American College of Tax Counsel and on the Governing Council of the Tax Section of the American Bar Association.  She has also served as a Chairman of the Exempt Organizations Committee of the Tax Section.

Carolyn is an alumna of Wellesley College and holds LL.B. and LL.M. degrees from Duke University School of Law, where she serves as a member of the Board of Visitors.  Carolyn is a director of Historic Boston, Incorporated, the Boston Athenaeum, and New England Wildflower Society, and serves in a volunteer capacity with various non‑profit organizations including The Trustees of Reservations and John F. Kennedy Library Foundation.

Carolyn has been listed in The Best Lawyers in America for twenty years.

Outside of Ropes & Gray, Carolyn is married to Robert T. Osteen, M.D. (B.A., Dartmouth College), and has two daughters.

Honors & Awards

  • The Best Lawyers in America (1995-2012)
  • Best Lawyers Boston Non-Profit/Charities Law Lawyer of the Year (2012)
  • Massachusetts Super Lawyers (2004-2010)
  • The 1998 David Donaldson Award from the Planned Giving Group of New England in recognition of service to the planned giving community

Bar Admissions

  • North Carolina, 1966
  • Massachusetts, 1971

Education

  • 1970, LL.M., Duke University School of Law
  • 1966, LL.B., Duke University School of Law
  • Wellesley College