Fiduciary Disputes

Fiduciary relationships - in which a person or entity undertakes a duty to act primarily for another's benefit with respect to specific property - are found in a variety of trust, estate, partnership, corporate and charitable contexts. In today's complex legal environment, one person may wear multiple fiduciary "hats," with different duties owed to different beneficiaries. Moreover, with an aging U.S. population, the accompanying shift in wealth between generations will inevitably yield disputes among fiduciaries, beneficiaries, advisors and other third parties.

Attorneys in our Fiduciary Disputes practice have a breadth and depth of experience in both counseling fiduciaries on executing their duties and representing diverse parties in connection with alleged breaches of those duties. We represent a wide range of individuals in fiduciary relationships including trustees, executors, directors, officers, partners, investors and beneficiaries, as well as entities such as trusts, corporations, banks and foundations.

Trust and Estate Matters

The handling of fiduciary disputes - and counseling clients on how to avoid such disputes - requires a command of the various areas of law that may affect fiduciaries. The firm's Fiduciary Disputes attorneys draw on their expertise in:

• Family wealth and estate planning 
• Tax-exempt organizations and private foundations 
• Trust and estate administration 
• Trust and estate litigation 

Corporate Fiduciary Matters

Drawing on the firm's history of expertise in corporate governance, attorneys in our Fiduciary Disputes practice frequently represent directors, officers, and other parties in a variety of matters involving corporate fiduciary principles, including:

• Shareholder derivative actions 
• Securities class actions and parallel ERISA class actions 
• Merger and acquisition litigation 
• Proxy contests and corporate control litigation 
• Shareholder oppression claims