McDermott Will & Schulte, a global law firm

From our offices in key financial centers across the United States and in Europe, we provide comprehensive advice on a wide range of issues facing high-net-worth multinational individuals and families, multi-generational families, large closely and privately held businesses, foundations, estates, trusts, private trust companies, corporate trustees, and special purpose investment management entities. We assist clients with complex, cross-border legal and taxation needs where they live, work, invest and travel, and on all types of transactions, from purchasing a home in South Africa to selling a startup business in Silicon Valley.

Our private client practice has been recognized by Chambers USA as the top firm in wealth management (estates and trusts). The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law has more members from our firm than from any other firm in the world, and one of our partners has served as president of the organization.

Our practice is global, representing clients with interests and family members in Africa, Asia, Australia, China, Europe, South America and the United States. We advise clients on the international dimensions of wealth transfer and corporate succession planning, private foundations and charitable organizations, family office and private trust company formation and operation, international tax planning, cross-border estate planning, life insurance and leveraged asset planning, and representation of executors, trustees and other fiduciaries.

As a leading firm in the areas of taxation, wealth transfer, and estate and business planning, we offer clients unparalleled, wide-ranging legal resources, including access to the services of our lawyers in dozens of practice areas. As seasoned individual practitioners, we provide creative, customized representation for clients’ most important and sensitive needs. We serve as clients’ personal general counsel, crafting solutions that protect what matters most to internationally based multinational families, trusts and privately held businesses.

The concerns of today’s closely held business owners and high-net-worth individuals are global—both geographically and in the breadth of legal issues that require attention. Such clients have assets, businesses and family members located worldwide. Effective transfer and income tax planning is just the first step in addressing the management and transmission of holdings that may include companies, real estate, farms and ranches, marketable and non-marketable investments, private aircraft, and artwork and other collectibles. Effective implementation of philanthropic goals is also an important objective for many individuals and families. More than ever, wealthy clients need personal legal advisors who provide sophisticated counsel in a complex, dynamic environment, and who offer direct access to the cross-disciplinary resources of a full-service law firm.

The lawyers and non-lawyer professionals in our Private Client & Wealth Management practice have extensive experience providing creative, customized solutions to our clients’ most sensitive and pressing needs. Our guidance is multidimensional—we help clients make critical decisions that affect important personal, business, tax, civic and charitable concerns.

We marshal and deploy the full resources of the Firm to develop and implement effective financial, business and legal strategies. When disputes with family members, business partners, or tax, regulatory and law enforcement officials arise, we help clients achieve resolution through mediation, negotiated settlements and, when necessary, civil and criminal litigation.

Our clients include US and international business owners, executives, families, family offices, fiduciaries, private trust companies, public charities, private charities, closely held businesses, private equity fund partners, investment managers, and publicly traded, family-controlled companies. We provide counsel in a wide range of areas, including wealth transfer and generation-skipping planning, business succession planning, representation of executors and trustees, family office and private trust company structure, creation and operation, charitable gift and family philanthropic planning.

Clients and peers alike praise us for the quality of our personal and business counsel. Year after year, Chambers Global, Chambers USA, Worth, Citywealth, The Best Lawyers in America, and other publications and organizations have recognized our group and individual practitioners in the areas of trust and estate planning and litigation. Members of our team are respected as thought leaders, and frequently speak and write on a wide variety of private client issues.

Resources

2025 Federal Estate, Gift and GST Tax Rates & Exemptions

For more than a quarter of a century, the firm’s private client disputes team has been a full-time, full-service group of lawyers, representing fiduciaries and other parties involved in will contests, trust contests, will and trust construction and reformation suits, and other fiduciary litigation.

There is no substitute for experience, whether defending a fiduciary charged with personal exposure for handling an estate, trust or guardianship, representing a plaintiff in a will or trust contest, or navigating a fiduciary or non-fiduciary party through the pitfalls of guardianship or charitable and exempt organization litigation. From having handled hundreds of cases, we have a keen understanding of the critical issues involving the defense of executors and trustees as well as representing plaintiffs in will and trust contests and parties in guardianship controversy, including many complicated will and trust construction suits, charitable and exempt-entity qualification problems, and estate and fiduciary tax-related litigation.

We regularly develop and apply creative solutions that can help deliver timely, client-favorable resolutions to a dispute. Drawing on the resources of one of the world’s top-tier private client practice groups and a strong bench of first-chair lawyers in the firm’s litigation department, our team achieves consistently strong results for clients on cases involving wills, trusts and guardianships, as well as in charitable and exempt-organization litigation. Our dedicated litigators apply deep understanding of oftentimes complex and multifaceted legal issues to develop strong case strategy at the outset and deliver consistent results at a fair cost.

Dealmakers need deal lawyers. Everything we do—from thinking creatively to acting with agility—is designed to help you secure the best possible outcome in every transaction.

Our first priority is to manage and assess your risks and opportunities, all while looking for the most efficient way to get the deal done. That begins with developing a strong thesis for the transaction, outlining exactly how you’ll benefit. We align our strategy and advice with your objectives to guide you through each step of the private equity lifecycle. When we spot a complex issue, we tackle it and move on, so your deal won’t get caught in the weeds. With our business-focused team working to anticipate the unknown and deliver actionable solutions, we help you stay ahead of the curve from fund formation to exit.

Deals are complex and require mastery of multiple disciplines. That’s why cross-practice collaboration is an integral part of our unique model. You have direct access to all of our experienced lawyers in any area you need. Our integrated team includes lawyers focused on a wide variety of practices, including:

Learn more about our Private Equity Practice.