Connecticut's
Best Lawyers 2023
Featured Firms
Firm
Ryan & Ryan, LLC
New Haven, Connecticut
2 Best Lawyers awards
Featured in Best Lawyers
B. Cort Delany is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the Greenwich office. Cort, a Greenwich native, has worked with families from Connecticut and around the country to protect family assets from unnecessary taxes and attacks from third parties. Cort's ultimate goal is to allow successive generations to benefit from family wealth without precluding each family member from maximizing his or her personal potential.
Caroline Demirs Calio is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the West Hartford office. She practices in the areas of estate and gift tax planning, asset protection, estate settlement and trust administration. In addition, Caroline advises closely-held business owners on succession planning issues and various general corporate matters. She also has experience serving as an Executor and Trustee. Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, Caroline worked...
Daniel G. Johnson is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the Stamford office where he has practiced since joining the Firm in 1997. He practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, family business succession planning, estate administration and trust administration. Dan frequently lectures on estate and tax planning topics before both lawyer and non-lawyer audiences.
Daniel P. Fitzgerald is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and Principal-in-Charge of the Greenwich office. His practice focuses on estate planning, estate administration, taxation, partnerships, probate litigation and defending tax audits. Dan's extensive estate administration experience allows him to develop estate plans that address issues and concerns before they become problematic. He has worked with a broad range of finance, accounting, hedge fund and private...
David T. Martin is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Litigation Group and is based in the Stamford office. Dave's practice focuses on complex commercial litigation in both state and federal courts. Dave is the author and general editor of the LexisNexis Practice Guide: Connecticut Contract Litigation. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation as well as in Connecticut and New England Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Business Litigation. He has represented b...
Douglas H. Olin is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the Greenwich office. Doug joined Cummings & Lockwood in 1999 and became a Principal in 2001. His practice focuses on estate planning, family business succession planning, and estate and trust administration. Doug speaks frequently on estate and tax planning topics before both lawyer and non-lawyer audiences.
Edward F. Rodenbach is based in the Greenwich office. He has served as the Partner-in-Charge of the Greenwich office, a member of the Firm's Board of Directors and it's Vice Chairman, and co-Chair of the Firm's Private Clients Group. Ed's practice has included estate planning for high net worth individuals and families; all aspects of estate settlement and administration; and trust planning, formation and administration. Today, Ed spends most of his time as an executor and trustee for numerou...
Featured in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch
Katherine (“Kacie”) Cotter Gent is an Associate in Cummings & Lockwood’s Private Clients Group and is based in the Greenwich office. Kacie joined Cummings & Lockwood in 2016 and focuses her practice on estate planning, which includes the drafting of Wills, Revocable and Irrevocable Trusts, Powers of Attorney and Health Care documents. She also advises high net worth individuals on estate and taxation issues, including estate and gift tax planning, generation-skipping...
Scott T. Witthuhn is Counsel in Cummings & Lockwood's Commercial Real Estate Group and is based in the Stamford office. Scott’s practice covers a broad range of commercial real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions and development of office, retail, hotel, industrial and multifamily assets. He has experience in portfolio transactions, joint ventures, equity investments, leasing and mortgage financings. Prior to joining Cummings & Lockwood, Scott was an Associ...
Steven J. Georgiades is an associate in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the Greenwich office. Steve joined Cummings & Lockwood in March 2021 and his practice focuses on estate planning for high net worth individuals, with a particular emphasis on minimizing exposure to gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes while maximizing administrative flexibility. He also focuses on income tax planning for his clients and represents fiduciaries in the settl...
William N. Wright is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Litigation Group and is based in the Stamford office. Will primarily practices in the areas of commercial litigation and trust and probate litigation, and was recognized as among the “Ones to Watch” by The Best Lawyers in America in 2021. He represents individuals and institutional clients in a broad range of matters, including contract and partnership disputes, employment actions, trust and will contests, probate appea...
Justin Contratto is an experienced family law practitioner and trial attorney. Prior to joining BodnarMilone, Justin was employed by well-regarded matrimonial firms in Manhattan and Northern Virginia, where he represented clients in complex matrimonial matters. Justin’s matrimonial practice has focused on the representation of high net worth individuals, including partners at major law firms, tech industry and finance executives, and high-profile public figures. Justin began his legal c...
Ellen focuses her practice on elder law and trusts and estates. She assists her clients in meeting their estate planning goals and protecting their assets for their loved ones. Ellen has significant experience in navigating the complicated long-term care system, and preparing for and filing Medicaid long-term care applications. She regularly works with clients who are able to plan for asset preservation, as well as those who must act immediately to access public benefits systems. Ellen repres...
Featured "Lawyer of the Year" Honorees
Antonio Ponvert III focuses on civil rights, constitutional law, prisoner rights, police misconduct, product liability, wrongful death, catastrophic personal injury, and other complex individual and class action cases in Federal and State courts in Connecticut and across the nation. He has represented plaintiffs in hundreds of high profile lawsuits, and has argued more than 40 appeals in State Appellate and Federal Circuit Courts.Since joining Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder in 1999, he has achi...
Attorney Kelly E. Reardon spent several years as a television reporter before finding her true calling in representing victims of negligence. As a television reporter in Burlington, Vermont and Hartford, Connecticut, Attorney Reardon earned praise for her empathy and integrity. News directors turned to her first when reaching out to the family of a soldier killed in Iraq or Afghanistan because of her ability to connect with those in need. This ability won her two Associated Press Awards for h...
Conrad Teitell is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the Stamford office. Through his law practice, lectures, publications, columns and congressional activities, Conrad strives to help charitable organizations receive and donors make taxwise charitable gifts that take into account their entire estate plan for themselves and their families. He is also frequently called upon to help clients patch-up plans that have gone awry. He has been an adjunct la...
Heather J. Rhoades is Chairman of Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the West Hartford office. She practices in the areas of estate planning, estate settlement, trust administration and charitable planning. Heather is a member of the Firm's National Charitable Planning Group.
Kelley Galica Peck is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is the Principal in Charge of the West Hartford office. Kelley focuses her practice in the areas of estate and trust planning and probate law. Kelley has significant experience working with individuals and families to plan for the management, protection, and transfer of wealth, including succession planning for owners of closely-held businesses. She handles complex charitable gift planning, estate plannin...
Laura Weintraub Beck is Firm-wide Chairman and Managing Director of Cummings & Lockwood. She is based in the Greenwich office. She focuses her practice on estate planning, including business succession planning and planning for real estate holdings, estate administration, probate litigation and trust administration. Laura was formerly the Chairman of Cummings & Lockwood’s Private Clients Group. In addition, she was previously Director of Client Communication for the Private Clie...
Paul L. Bourdeau is a Principal in Cummings & Lockwood's Private Clients Group and is based in the West Hartford office. He joined the Firm in 1980 and was the founder of the West Hartford office. Paul advises clients in the areas of estate planning, tax efficient wealth transfer, estate settlement, trust administration, business succession planning, taxation and charitable giving. In addition, he has extensive experience serving as an Executor and Trustee. His clients include corporate e...
Greta E. Solomon is a principal and chair of Cohen and Wolf's Trusts & Estates, Elder Law, and Tax Groups. Ms. Solomon has been assisting clients in the areas of estate planning, elder law, and probate administration (including estates, trusts, conservatorships, guardianship, etc.) for more than 30 years. Her in-depth knowledge of the tax codes and sophisticated estate planning techniques allows her to provide counsel on complex estate matters. Ms. Solomon also has experience in retiremen...
Rachel A. Pencu is a principal in Cohen and Wolf's Family Law and Litigation Groups. Dividing her time between the firm's Bridgeport and Westport offices, Ms. Pencu practices primarily in the area of family law litigation. Ms. Pencu serves as a Special Master, appointed by the Superior Court, to mediate divorce disputes in the judicial districts of Bridgeport, Danbury and Milford. She is admitted to practice in Connecticut and is a member of the American, Connecticut Fairfield County and Grea...
Richard Di Marco is a principal in Cohen and Wolf’s Tax, Trusts and Estates, and Business & Corporate Groups. He has thirty years' experience advising clients in tax matters, estate planning and administration, and business law; and representing taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Di Marco practiced as a CPA prior to entering the practice of law. His clients include closely held corporations, partnerships, funds, tax-exempt organizations, and high net worth individual...
Richard Slavin is the managing partner of the firm's Westport office. He is a principal and chair of Cohen and Wolf's SecuritiesGroup. He is also a member of the firm's Litigation and Business & Corporate Groups. Mr. Slavin practices in the areas of securities regulation, securities litigation in state and federal courts, and banking regulation. He regularly represents broker-dealers, investment advisers, broker-dealer agents, investment adviser agents and solicitors, and issuers of secur...
In Brief
IN PARTNERSHIP
Securing Justice in the Aftermath of Tragedy
by Justin Smulison
Koskoff Koskoff & Bieder has always fought for truth. In 2022, the firm exposed how an infamous opportunist weaponized lies and misinformation at the expense of families still grieving those taken in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. After several years in and out of the courtroom, the firm’s advocacy resulted a historic $1.4 billion verdict in Connecticut's Superior Court.