VIRGINIA F. COLEMAN is a partner in the Boston law firm of Ropes & Gray LLP who specializes in estate planning and fiduciary income taxation. She graduated from Radcliffe College (magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa), and from Harvard Law School (cum laude). She is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a member of its estate and gift tax committee and chair of its employee benefits in estate planning committee. She is also an academician of the International Academy of Trust and Estate Law and a member of the real property, probate and trust law and tax sections of the American Bar Association. She is listed in the current edition of The Best Lawyers in America and has been listed in prior editions since 1991. She is a member of the editorial board of Estate Planning, a monthly magazine published by RIA. She has frequently lectured on estate planning topics both locally and nationally. (January 2007)