Best Lawyers Near You in Chicago, Illinois for Trusts and Estates
Kate Scallan maintains an international trusts and estates practice, representing clients across the globe in high net worth estate and gift tax planning matters. Kate provides sophisticated tax advice to some of the most successful hedge fund and private equity fund principals in the world. She advises with regard to closely held business planning and tax structuring, bringing her personal touch and attention to each client’s unique situation. Kate’s practice encompasses wills, t...
Patrick D. Owens is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Patrick D., who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Patrick D. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Michael (Mike) J. Sorrow focuses his practice on tax, estate planning, family business and trust and estate administration matters. Mike regularly advises wealthy individuals and families on all aspects of wealth and tax planning matters. In addition, Mike works extensively with families that control significant public and private businesses, counseling them and their family offices on matters relating to effective tax planning, succession and governance planning and the intra-family issues t...
Carol A. Harrington advises clients on a variety of matters, including estate, gift and generation-skipping tax issues, closely held businesses and succession planning, family office structures and issues, private trust companies, private foundations, trust and estate administration, and contested trust and tax matters. Carol is the former global head of McDermott’s Private Client Practice. Read full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/harrington-carol-a/
Elise J. McGee advises high-net-worth individuals and business owners on all aspects of wealth-transfer planning, including estate and trust administration, leveraged wealth-transfer techniques, tax matters, cryptocurrency and QSBS planning, real estate transactions and closely held business matters. Elise has extensive experience working with owners of closely held businesses to develop governance and succession plans, and on corporate, tax and compliance matters relating to those businesses...
Adam Damerow is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Trusts and Estates. Adam, who practices law in Chicago, Illinois, has been recognized since 2025. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Adam is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Larry is chair of the firm’s Private Wealth Services practice group. He facilitates successful legal strategies for entrepreneurs, tax-exempt organizations, fiduciaries and high-net worth families and individuals. This work involves estate, gift and charitable planning issues, including business succession, tax-efficient ownership structures, sophisticated tax-exempt structures, trust and estate administration, executive benefits, life insurance and international estate planning for wea...
David A. Handler is a partner in the Trusts and Estates Practice Group of Kirkland & Ellis LLP. He concentrates his practice on trust and estate planning and administration, representing owners of closely-held businesses, family offices, principals of private equity and venture capital funds, individuals and families of significant wealth, and establishing and administering private foundations and other charitable organizations. David is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estat...
Jordan Klein’s broad-based trust and estate practice encompasses all aspects of estate planning, trust and estate administration and settlement, wealth transfer, philanthropy and fiduciary counseling services. His clients include corporate executives, families with dynastic wealth, privately held business owners, professionals, fund managers, family offices and private foundations. Jordan has significant experience designing creative solutions to achieve his clients’ estate planni...
Jeanette Suarez Hunter advises high-net-worth individuals, families, business owners and family offices on a wide range of tax, wealth-transfer, succession planning and charitable-giving matters. Jeanette takes a holistic approach to helping her clients implement and manage comprehensive estate plans and business succession plans that meet their immediate and long-term goals. Read full biography: https://www.mwe.com/people/hunter-jeanette-suarez/
Charles Harris helps high-net-worth individuals and owners of closely held businesses on matters related to tax and estate planning. Charles is recognized as a leading lawyer on tax and estate planning by the Chambers High Net Worth guide, which cited his "expertise in handling planning for US citizens with foreign interests, including US citizens who live elsewhere, or who are marrying a non-US citizen. As a certified public accountant as well as a private practicing attorney, Charles helps ...
Timothy J. Ritchey is a partner at Peck Ritchey, LLC who concentrates his practice in estate and trust litigation , elder law , and guardianship . Tim has been appointed Special Assistant Attorney General in numerous matters to represent the State’s interests in actions relating to Illinois healthcare and disability law. In 2014, Tim wrote legislation and testified as an expert before the Illinois Senate on an amendment to the Illinois Probate Act regarding elder abuse and financial exp...
Bobbi J. Bierhals has built her practice by developing creative and customized solutions for her clients. Her experience centers on tax and business planning for high-net-worth individuals and families. Her clients range from executives and first-generation entrepreneurs to multi-generational families, with net worth from $40 million to many billions of dollars, and include a number of individuals listed in the Forbes 400. Bobbi’s breadth of experience across a wide range of client prof...
Andy Gelman is an attorney in Holland & Knight's Chicago office. He concentrates his practice in estate planning and estate and trust administration and controversies and is the immediate past chair of the firm's Illinois Private Wealth Services Practice Group. He counsels individuals, executives and business owners on the use of wills and insurance and inter vivos or living trusts and powers of attorney for property and health care in their estate planning. Often his advice is in the are...
Stephanie advises on complex tax issues, investment structures, acquisitions and sales of special assets, trust and probate administration and charitable giving. She serves as a fiduciary consultant on litigation matters for corporate fiduciaries and interfamily disputes. Stephanie also represents taxpayers on contested tax matters, including federal and state audits and administrative appeals. Stephanie’s clients include high net worth individuals, family offices and corporate fiduciar...
David Allen helps high-net-worth individuals and families with all their legal needs. With an approach that seamlessly integrates estate planning, tax minimization and concierge lawyering, David's advice allows his clients to spend less time managing advisors and more time focusing on their passions, their businesses and their families. From restructuring valuable art collections to coordinating legal services for multibillion-dollar family businesses and family offices, David is often the fi...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.