Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Trusts and Estates
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State
Ilene Sherwyn Cooper is a partner practicing litigation and estate planning in Surrogate’s Courts throughout Metropolitan New York. Before joining Farrell Fritz, she served for ten years as the Chief Law Assistant of the Suffolk County Surrogate’s Court. Her responsibilities there included preparing judicial opinions on complex and novel issues; acting as the Trial Assistant to the Surrogate, preparing pretrial memoranda, jury charges, evidentiary rulings and post-trial decisions;...
Jeff Marvan is the lead attorney at MarvanLaw, A.P.C. MarvanLaw, A.P.C. is a boutique firm focused on probate litigation, trust litigation, estate planning, guardianships, and conservatorships. After graduating from UC Davis’ King Hall School of Law, Jeff began his legal career a public defender in Yolo County. Over the four years at the public defender office Jeff handled misdemeanors, felonies, juvenile delinquencies, dependencies, and LPS Conservatorships. This time period allowed Je...
Mr. Knisely is a partner of Osborne, Helman, Scott, Knisely & Stanton, LLP. His practice involves representing individuals and institutions in fiduciary litigation, including primarily trust, estate and guardianship disputes. Mr. Knisely also advises fiduciaries and beneficiaries with regard to complex and contentious trust and estate administrations. In addition, he handles appeals of a wide array of civil matters in both state and federal courts, with a focus on appeals involving trust,...
Jackson G. Kramer, a highly skilled, knowledgeable and trusted counselor who has over 33 years of legal experience, concentrates his practice in the areas of Corporate and Transactional, Real Estate, Estate Planning, Administration and Trusts, and Local Government and Public Utilities. He is a strong but reasonable advocate for his clients. His primary goal is to help his clients solve their legal issues and achieve their overall objectives while simultaneously protecting their best interests.
Theodore L. Tripp Jr. has more than four decades of experience handling a wide range of complex civil lawsuits in both state and federal courts. This includes acting as lead trial counsel in significant business disputes, probate, trust and other litigation matters. He has represented businesses, business owners, personal representatives, trustees, municipal and county governments, and landowners in multimillion-dollar litigation at both the trial and appellate level in state and federal cour...
Neil R. Chrystal is a founding shareholder of Dunwody White & Landon, P.A. Mr. Chrystal attended Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland where he received his J.D., and Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea where he received his undergraduate degree in business administration. He attends numerous continuing legal education seminars annually. Mr. Chrystal is admitted to the Florida, Ohio and Federal Bar, U.S. Tax Court. Mr. Chrystal is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate C...
Biography Kurt Kusiak is a graduate of Boston University School of Law (J.D., magna cum laude, 1991) where he was a member of the Law Review, a Liacos Distinguished Scholar, and winner of the American Jurisprudence Award for excellence in trial advocacy. Following law school, Kurt was a law clerk for the Hon. A David Mazzone, U.S. District Court, District of Massachusetts. Kurt then worked as a trial lawyer for Ropes & Gray before joining Fitch Law Partners. Each year since 2004, Kurt has...
Although Jim's legal practice is broad, much of his work involves conflict resolution. He often represents businesses and individuals who find themselves in crisis – they may have been named as a defendant in a lawsuit, have a disagreement over a contract, or have a dispute with a tenant. Jim's role is to learn as much as possible about the legal problem and the individuals involved, help his client understand the potential consequences, weigh potential solutions, and assist the client ...
Robert A. McLeod is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Litigation - Trusts and Estates and Trusts and Estates. Robert A., who practices law in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has been recognized since 2023. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Robert A. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Pierce Atwood Trusts and Estates partner Deborah DiNardo advises individuals and multiple generations of families on preserving and protecting their assets. Deborah's work includes reducing transfer taxes, both during lifetime and after death, with sophisticated planning techniques such as lifetime gifts to grantor trusts and using charitable trusts and private foundations. She advises clients regarding planning opportunities to protect significant retirement accounts from the creditors of de...
Jeremy is a partner in the trust and estate litigation team at Withers Bergman LLP and is the Office Managing Director of the San Diego office. He focuses on trust, estate, conservatorship and fiduciary related litigation. He represents clients in litigation and administration matters, including trust administrations, probate administrations, wills and trust contests, accountings, fiduciary representation, creditor’s claims proceedings, conservatorships, and elder abuse matters. Jeremy ...
My approach in my practice is one of empathy and support. I provide my clients with peace of mind as I help them plan for the future and guide them through difficult times. Creating an estate plan can be daunting, and it is tempting to put it off. I make the process as easy and stress-free as possible, and my clients leave feeling a sense of accomplishment and relief. My team and I also guide families through the handling of the estate after the death of a loved one. We understand how difficu...
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.