Best Lawyers in America for Litigation - Trusts and Estates
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Robert B. Judd is a shareholder whose practice encompasses estate and healthcare planning, the administration of complex estates and trusts, and probate, trust, and fiduciary related litigation. Originally from upstate New York, Mr. Judd has been a resident of Fort Lauderdale since 1985. He has earned an AV Preeminent rating as independently determined by Martindale-Hubbell, has been designated in “Best Lawyers in America” for several years in the areas of trusts and estates and r...
Paul J. Abraham is the founder and CEO of PJI Law. After growing up in Northern Virginia, Mr. Abraham earned two academic majors at Cornell University and came back to Northern Virginia to obtain a Juris Doctor degree at the George Mason University School of Law. Mr. Abraham has represented clients in trusts & estates, litigation, and business law for over 15 years. Additionally, Mr. Abraham has been an active participant in several legal pro bono programs, including the Family Legal Assi...
David Lenz joined the Firm in 2006, became a Partner in 2013, and was elected to serve as Managing Partner in 2020. His practice focuses primarily on planning for and administering wealth transfer for individuals and families, in addition to counseling charitable organizations. David considers each client’s unique estate planning needs, creating comprehensive plans and helping families communicate their purpose and goals to the next generation. This often includes complex charitable, re...
Audrey Patrone specializes in litigation and trust and estate matters, offering guidance and counsel to individuals and families in Pittsford, New York and the surrounding areas. She assists with asset transitions during life and after death, handling transfers and sales of family-owned businesses, and managing trust and estate administration. Her practice includes creating essential documents such as wills, revocable trusts, irrevocable trusts, and pre-nuptial agreements. Audrey is committed...
Nick Taylor was raised on an Iowa century farm and is licensed to practice in both Nebraska and Iowa. He is married with three adult children and one grandson. His entire career since law school has been with the Fitzgerald, Schorr law firm with a practice solely devoted to estate planning and estate administration. Estate planning includes an emphasis on charitable planning and on succession planning for family businesses and other closely-held businesses. Nick received a Bachelor of Science...
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 ...
Jerome Elwell is a litigator with extensive experience in complex civil and commercial litigation, including plaintiff’s personal injury and trust and estate litigation. The Best Lawyers ® and Super Lawyers honoree devotes a significant portion of his practice to probate and estate litigation, including contested guardianship and conservatorship matters, will and trust contests, disputed estate administrations and elder abuse violations. He received his B.S. in general business and ...
H. Brewton “Brew” Hagood has been with the firm since his admission to practice law in 1978. He concentrates his practice primarily in the areas of construction litigation, mediation and arbitration, commercial litigation, insurance litigation and probate and estate litigation. In his construction practice, Brew has substantial experience representing private and public owners, condominium associations, architects, construction managers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and ...
John Sheftall, a Partner in Hall Booth Smith’s Columbus offices, concentrates his practice in fiduciary law including estate planning, estate administration, and fiduciary litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, serves as a Director of SunTrust Bank in Columbus, and is a former Trustee of the St. Francis Hospital Foundation. John was admitted to the Georgia State Bar in 1983. He was born in Macon, Georgia, and received his Bachelor of Arts, magna ...
Lee H. Ayres is principally a trial lawyer. He has extensive experience in civil litigation, including business and commercial disputes, oil and gas litigation, property disputes, natural resources litigation, products liability claims, professional malpractice defense, trucking defense, personal injury claims, fraud claims, insurance coverage, and insurance bad faith defense. Lee received his undergraduate and law degrees at Louisiana State University Law Center, where he was a member of the...
Michael J. Willis is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Corporate Law and Litigation - Trusts and Estates. Michael J., who practices law in Kalamazoo, Michigan, has been recognized since 2013. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Michael J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.
Kirk Kolodner is a trial lawyer with 30 years of litigation and transactional experience in many diverse areas of law. He is AV rated by Martindale-Hubble, which is the highest rating for legal ability and professional ethics. He has been selected to Maryland Super Lawyers for 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 21014 and 2015. In 2012 and 2013, he had the distinction of being named among the 100 top lawyers in Maryland. He was selected for 2015 among Best Lawyers® in America in the pract...
Eric W. Penzer is a trust and estate litigator representing high-net-worth individuals and families. Eric is a trusted advisor for clients involved in complex challenges related to generational wealth and asset transfer. As an experienced trial lawyer, Eric provides strategic representation in contested probate proceedings, fiduciary accounting disputes, discovery and turnover proceedings, and other trust and estate matters. He is known for being responsive, fair, and committed to achieving f...
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.