Private Client

At McDermott Will & Emery, the members of our Private Client Practice Group represent high net worth individuals, families and closely held businesses with an extraordinary focus on our clients’ specific, unique objectives. Our team of more than 60 lawyers and 20 non-lawyer professionals is recognized by prestigious organizations as the top private client practice in the United States and among the top practices worldwide. In 2011,U.S. News–Best Lawyers named us “Law Firm of the Year” in Trusts & Estates Law, and Chambers USA ranked our private client practice alone in the top tier in wealth management. Year after year, we have been singled out by legal and industry publications such as Chambers USA, Chambers Global, PLC Which Lawyer? and Worth for the quality of our service and the sophistication of our counsel. Additionally, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel has elected more McDermott lawyers to its membership (15) than from any other firm (three of whom served as president) and the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law has more members (5) from McDermott than from any other firm in the world (one of whom has served as president)

Our Core Services

As a leading firm in the areas of taxation, wealth transfer and estate and business planning, we offer clients unparalleled, wide-ranging legal resources; as seasoned individual practitioners, we provide creative, customized representation for their most sensitive needs. Our core services include:

Wealth transfer and generation-skipping planning
Family-owned and closely held business consulting
Representation of executors, trustees and other fiduciaries
International, cross-border estate planning
Trust, estate and tax litigation and dispute resolution
Family office and private trust company formation and operation
Charitable gift and family philanthropic planning
Creation and operation of private foundations and other charitable organizations
Life insurance and leveraged asset planning

Our clients face a complex blend of individual, family and business concerns, all of which must be understood to advance their personal goals in a highly dynamic environment. Our lawyers monitor all our clients’ legal issues, marshal and deploy resources to accomplish the strategy, and anticipate risks in changing circumstances. As personal general counsel to our clients, we craft solutions that protect what matters most to each client.

Full Spectrum of Private Clients

Closely held businesses
Corporate executives
Corporate & family foundations
Corporate & individual fiduciaries
Families & individuals
Family offices
International families and businesses
Investment managers
Private trust companies
Private equity fund partners
Public charities

Customized Solutions

Generations of Experience …
McDermott began as a tax law practice in 1934. Over the years, as we have grown into a full-service international Firm, we have never forgotten this core area of importance to our clients. Since the beginning, our lawyers have provided an ideal combination of wealth transfer, estate planning and tax counsel for individuals and families. Even now, we continue to strengthen the private client practice, attracting many of the top legal minds in the world to our offices across the United States and in Europe.

The issues facing our clients often involve a unique blend of personal and commercial concerns. As a result, our guidance is never one dimensional—we help clients make critical decisions that affect important personal, civic and charitable commitments, as well as business concerns. With our broad view of our clients’ diverse needs, we identify and resolve issues that might be overlooked by even experienced counsel focused solely on business matters.

From our offices in key U.S. financial centers and in Europe, we provide comprehensive advice on the exclusive issues facing our private clients where they live, work, invest and travel. With resources on the ground around the globe, we partner with clients to manage business and personal demands across jurisdictions, whether purchasing a home in South Africa or selling a startup business in Silicon Valley.

… In a Full-Service Firm
For many of our clients, their myriad business concerns are inextricably bound with their personal planning. The Private Client Practice Group has the full support of one of the world’s leading full-service international law firms (more than 1,000 lawyers) to provide efficient, cross-disciplinary counsel in the following areas, among others:

Corporate—including choice of entity and entity formation and organization of ownership, control interests and general corporate governance to align business and personal planning
Tax—including state, federal and international tax strategies relevant to individuals and closely held enterprises with holdings spanning the globe
Exempt organizations—including tax, governance and organizational matters relating to not-for-profit organizations created by families or their companies
Finance and securities—including equity investments, initial public offerings, subscription agreements and transactions to raise private capital or return to private ownership
Employment and employee benefits—including executive compensation, deferred compensation plans, employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs) and domestic help and household staff
Litigation and dispute resolution—including will and trust contests, fiduciary defense, reformation suits, state and federal tax audit and litigation, and other general litigation
Immigration—including obtaining visas and work permits for key executives and employees, and negotiating disputes with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Residential and commercial real estate—including purchases, sales, leases and other agreements, and property-improvement contracts with architects, builders and other parties
Private aircraft—including all aspects of equipment purchases and leases for individual, executive and corporate use