2019 Family Office Symposium

William (Bill) J. Butler focuses his practice on estate planning and probate administration matters. Bill counsels family groups and individuals on all aspects of wealth transfer planning, with an emphasis on formulating estate plans that maximize and protect wealth while minimizing transfer taxes. Bill formerly served as an elected member of the Firm's Management Committee and is the immediate past global head of McDermott's Private Client group.

Bill represents many large, multigenerational family groups, and also advises with their family office executives on family office administration and structure issues. Bill regularly counsels younger generation family members on learning to be responsible wealth managers. He also assists a number of families on all legal issues involving their privately owned business, including governance matters, succession planning and shareholder agreements.

Trusted advisor to ultra-high-net-worth individuals, multigenerational families, family offices, founders, and business owners on estate planning, philanthropy, governance, and succession

Represents individuals, families, and their charitable entities on the design, implementation, funding, operation, audit, succession, and sunset of tax-exempt entities

Counsels clients on sophisticated estate and wealth transfer planning; business, fiduciary, and family office succession; and the administration of large and complex trusts and estates

Guides families and family offices during critical times, including major family life and business events, transitions, and succession

Nicole M. Pearl advises clients on estate planning, wealth transfer planning, marital property agreements, business succession planning and post-death administration. Her clients include family offices, entrepreneurs and business owners, real property investors, private equity fund managers, and entertainment industry figures.

Nicole helps high-net-worth individuals pass wealth to the next generation, while minimizing their tax burden. To that end, she creates estate plans and charitable giving programs designed to meet her clients' family succession and wealth management objectives. She also advises families in the creation and ongoing administration of their family offices, and works with business owners to maintain control of their companies through buy-sell agreements or to relinquish control via responsibly conducted transition of ownership to family members or employees.

Nicole primarily works with clients throughout Southern California, but also maintains a statewide practice that includes a strong Northern California client base.

Christen K. Douglas advises high net worth individuals and families regarding all aspects of their personal legal needs, including estate, gift, GST, and income tax planning, family dispute resolution, business succession planning, charitable giving, and trust and estate controversy matters. Drawing on her experience as a litigator, she is able to anticipate and avoid common missteps in planning clients’ estates that might otherwise lead to costly litigation. When litigation is necessary, Christen offers a unique perspective by understanding the highly technical aspects of estate and tax planning as well as the strategy of litigation.

Toni Ann Kruse has a broad-based estate and wealth transfer planning practice in New York. She advises ultra-high net worth individuals and families on estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax issues, trust and estate administration, state fiduciary income tax planning, and charitable gifting, as well as contested trust and estate matters. She has significant experience working with multinational clients on structuring efficient ways to benefit US persons as well as inbound and outbound planning opportunities. Toni Ann regularly works with family companies, advising on governance and succession issues between generations; drafts and administers complex estate plans; implements leveraged lifetime wealth transfer techniques; and counsels fiduciaries in complex trust and estate administration matters, often involving various asset classes across several jurisdictions.

Toni Ann has published articles in publications such as Trusts & Estates Magazine, Bloomberg Tax, Law360, and the New York Law Journal. She regularly speaks at estate planning conferences on various topics and has been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and Reuters as an industry expert.