Throughout her career, Leigh A. Kaylor has provided legal counsel to numerous family foundations and has played a key role in establishing nonprofits and helping organizations obtain necessary tax exemptions — including her contributions during Super Bowl XXX in Arizona. There was a time when Kaylor thought she’d always work in the world of corporate tax. But eventually, estate planning and estate administration would win her over. Today, Kaylor is Of Counsel in Dentons Sirote’s Trusts, Estates and Wealth Preservation practice, based in Birmingham. A key strength of Kaylor’s practice is her ability to integrate charitable giving into estate plans, and doing so has become her passion.

On Nov. 12 at The Club, Kaylor will be honored during the Alabama Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ National Philanthropy Day as the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Outstanding Professional Advisor. View the 2025 honorees list here.

Recognized by The Best Lawyers in America® 2013–2026: Trusts and Estates, Kaylor strives to help her clients achieve their charitable goals and leave a lasting legacy of generosity. We talked with Kaylor about her work, her love for Birmingham, and more.

How did you get interested in estate planning?

After I finished law school, I went an extra year to get my Master’s in Taxation and began practicing at a large law firm in Phoenix, Ariz. I expected to be working on corporate tax transactions, but I found it was so much more meaningful to work with families who wanted to protect and preserve their personal assets and pass them along to future generations. Often those plans include a charitable component.

How did you come to work with the Community Foundation?

The late, great Judy Todd was a profound influence on me when I came back from Phoenix to practice at the same law firm in Birmingham where she practiced in 1996. She was a great supporter of the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, having helped create its Professional Advisors Committee. I worked with Judy for clients who were working with the Community Foundation to make a gift. Her belief in the Community Foundation’s mission rubbed off on me and I’ve always been keen to work with the Foundation in many forms. In addition to client consultations, I have also served on the Professional Advisors Committee and have volunteered on several rounds of grant reviews.

 

 

 

Why is helping people with their charitable goals a passion of yours? 

I believe that all of us should give what we can to those less fortunate, be it with your time, your wealth, or your knowledge. When I have a client who has a charitable dream and I can help them find a way to make their charitable vision become a reality, it is very satisfying to put my professional skills to work and marry their passion with my own for helping people.

What’s been the most challenging and the most rewarding parts of your career?

The most challenging part of my job is keeping up with the nearly annual tax law changes that always seem to be passed at the end of the year, giving us very little time to put things in place before they become effective on Jan. 1 of the following year. All estate planners will tell you that year end is often an incredibly busy and nerve-wracking time with long hours finishing trusts and making gifts right up until midnight on Dec. 31. It is also rewarding to look back after that kind of fire drill to see what we’ve accomplished. But more than the dizzying year-end planning is the reward of helping people year-round by listening to what they want to do for their families and community and then being able to offer them ideas to accomplish those goals and then writing the documents that will implement those desires.

What do you love most about Birmingham?

I am a Birmingham native, although as I’ve mentioned, I spent the first nine years of my professional life in Phoenix. I loved it out there, but there is just nothing like home. The family, the rhythms of life, the seasons, the football! Birmingham is home.

What I love most about Birmingham is what you see before you when you crest the hill on Highway 31 coming into the city. You see dogwood and other flowering trees in spring, green leaves in summer, and beautiful colors in fall. You see lots of church steeples; you see Vulcan and downtown Birmingham. Our city has so much going for it: strong people, strong businesses, strong faith, and natural beauty.

Why do you feel charitable giving is important and what role do you think philanthropy plays in improving a community? 

As much as we have going for us in Birmingham, there are still so many inequities to be addressed. I think government has a role in doing that, but I view charities as a partner with government in the never-ending efforts to make things better for everyone. Big national, even international charities can do that, but I love learning about and working with those local charities that start with someone who recognizes a need and is willing to do something to fill that need. I’ve seen so many creative ways to fill needs that people right here in our community have conceived and implemented, without which our community would be a lesser place.

What does being recognized as the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham Outstanding Professional Advisor mean to you? 

This recognition, from being nominated by the Community Foundation to being judged worthy by fellow professionals, is an honor. We have a very deep bench of outstanding professional advisors here in Birmingham, as evidenced by the people who have been awarded this recognition in the past, and I’m grateful to take a place among them this year.