Integrated business, tax & estate counsel for the DMV
Senior counsel for the decisions that compound.
Thienel Law advises business owners and families across Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. — integrating business, tax, and estate strategy so each decision strengthens the next.
Integrated counsel
Business, tax, and estate strategy — under one roof.
Most firms treat these as separate matters. Thienel Law treats them as one. With graduate training in economics and an LL.M. in Taxation, Stephen Thienel brings the perspective to see how a contract today shapes your taxes next year and your estate a decade from now — and to plan accordingly.
Practice areas
How we help
Business Law
Strategic counsel for forming, growing, and protecting closely held businesses across the DMV.
Tax
Planning, compliance, and controversy work that keeps tax strategy aligned with your larger goals.
Estate Planning
Wills, trusts, and protective planning that carry your intentions through with clarity.
Estate Administration
Steady guidance for personal representatives and trustees through probate and settlement.
Elder Law
Planning for long-term care, Medicaid, and protective arrangements that preserve dignity and assets.
Fractional General Counsel
Senior, on-call legal leadership for growing companies — without a full-time hire.
Business Law
Counsel that grows with your business
From formation to sale, get an advisor who sees the whole company — entity, contracts, tax, and succession — not a single transaction in isolation.
- Formation, governance, and operating agreements
- Contracts drafted and reviewed with risk in view
- Purchases, sales, and succession planning
Estate Planning & Administration
Certainty for the people who rely on you
Wills, trusts, and protective planning built around your family and your assets — then steady guidance for those who carry the plan out.
- Wills, trusts, and powers of attorney
- Asset protection and special needs planning
- Probate, trust administration, and estate settlement
The attorney
A practice built on perspective
Stephen Thienel's path to law ran through economics — including graduate study connected to Nobel-laureate research at Virginia Tech — before an LL.M. in Taxation focused his practice on the financial machinery behind every business and estate decision.
Client outcomes
What clients say
“Stephen handled the sale of our company with a level of care and clarity we did not expect. He saw tax issues our accountant had missed.”
“Our estate plan finally makes sense. Stephen connected it to the business succession we had been putting off for years.”
What to expect
The Thienel Difference
Direct attorney contact
You work with Stephen — not a rotating cast of associates. The person advising you is the person who knows your matter.
Integrated counsel, one roof
Business, tax, and estate questions rarely stay separate. We see how each decision affects the others, so nothing falls through the cracks.
Clear guidance, plain language
Sophisticated strategy explained in terms you can act on — no jargon, no guesswork about where things stand.
Senior judgment
An LL.M. in Taxation and 26+ years of practice behind every recommendation, from the first conversation forward.
Talk through your situation with a senior attorney
Business, tax, and estate matters rarely sit in one box. Get integrated counsel from a firm that sees how they connect.