The Private Client Group at Ropes & Gray has represented individuals and families for more than a century and is one of the largest practices of its kind in the United States.  Our practice is focused primarily on three areas: estate and gift planning, estate settlement, and trust services, including investment management of trust assets.  We help clients to address complex issues involving real estate, art work, and closely held businesses, to plan for multiple generations, and to structure arrangements in light of estate, gift, and income tax considerations.  The group’s lawyers are supported by more than 35 professionals including trust administrators, tax preparers, probate accountants, financial planners, philanthropic advisers, and trusts and estates paralegals.  The advantage of our practice stems from our integrated, comprehensive approach to planning, which provides you with control over your affairs and allows for flexibility to adapt to changing needs.

By tailoring our advice to the needs of each client and maintaining regular, ongoing communication, we have been successful at growing and protecting our clients’ assets to achieve their long-term goals. While our experience is deep and our services are broad, our approach to working with you and the level of service you will receive is what sets us apart.  Our commitment is based on:

• Personalized Service – Each client we work with has unique goals, backgrounds, perspectives, and thoughts on long-term planning. Our success depends upon understanding your individual objectives and advising appropriately on strategies.
• Long-Term Partnerships – In many cases, we have the opportunity to work with clients through multiple generations.  We want to work with you today and with you and your family tomorrow, as well.
• Integrated Service – As described below, the Private Client Group offers a spectrum of services which benefit our clients by creating a cohesive approach to meeting client needs.
• Coordinated Service – Our clients have a primary lawyer who ensures that, as client needs change, the relevant resources are consulted and incorporated in a timely manner.

Practice Focus Areas

Estate Planning and Settlement

Our lawyers work closely with our clients to fully understand their priorities and goals, their family situations and philanthropic interests, and their wishes for the legacies they want to provide.  We make financial and estate planning recommendations, advise on the tax effects of each scenario, prepare the documents necessary to implement the plan, and review the plan periodically for appropriate revisions.

The process of estate settlement is as complex and important as estate planning.  Families need experienced and sensitive counsel in the midst of difficult transitions -such as in the months following an individual’s death when there are numerous decisions to be made that require careful guidance.  Our lawyers are skilled in the personal and the technical aspects of estate administration.

Gift Planning

The strategies for developing gift planning can be highly complex.  Our lawyers are experienced in advising clients on the options that align with their goals.  With the support of our tax attorneys, the Ropes & Gray team can make suggestions to minimize the impact of taxation.  Representative services include the following:

• Education plans (529 Plans and children’s trusts);
• Qualified Personal Residence Trusts (QPRTs);
• Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs);
• Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs);
• Private foundations;
• Family partnerships; and
• Limited Liability Companies (LLCs).

Trust Services

Ropes & Gray partners, acting as trustees, are responsible for over 2,000 accounts with over $4 billion in assets.  Our trust services group assists the lawyers in the administration and investment management of trust accounts, as well as in the settlement of clients’ estates, by working directly with clients to deal with non-legal aspects of trust and estate account administration.

Investment Management – Partnering with Wellington Management Company, LLP

Ropes & Gray has been overseeing investments since our founding in 1865.  The Private Client Group helps affluent families and individuals achieve their goals by providing comprehensive wealth management services.  Our disciplined, long-term approach is tailored to the unique needs of our high-net-worth clients, including business owners and executives, professionals, retirees, and families with inherited wealth.  We help them set goals and maintain flexibility in meeting their personal objectives.

Our investment strategies are formulated by working with Wellington Management Company, LLP.  Founded in 1928, Wellington advises over 400 institutional clients and 150 mutual funds, with responsibility for more than $200 billion of investment assets.  Ropes & Gray’s 20-year relationship with Wellington gives our clients access to focused advice from more than 35 securities analysts on Wellington’s research staff, and the advice of Wellington’s experienced investment managers.  We are committed to achieving consistent long-term performance for your account that meets your investment objectives.

Fiduciary Services

Ropes & Gray has a long history of providing fiduciary services:  our partners are seasoned trustees and provide advice in that capacity to many of our clients.  We handle matters involving the appointment of fiduciaries, allowance of fiduciary accounts, and resolution of disputes over wills and trusts.  Our attorneys are often requested by clients to serve not only as trustees but also as executors, custodians, guardian/conservators, and coordinators for health care and social security matters.  Our group is also highly skilled at administering charitable trusts and private foundations.

Supporting Services

To further support the needs of our clients, Ropes & Gray offers additional services which complement our core focus.  By working with clients in these additional areas, we gain deeper insight into the client’s situation and goals and can make more informed recommendations.  These services include:

• Tax Services – Ropes & Gray offers a full range of tax services to clients including preparation of returns and tax planning.  Ropes & Gray has the technical and investment expertise to provide strategies to reduce income and estate taxes, and to minimize taxes created by transferring or distributing assets.  Our return preparers are experienced in preparing estate, fiduciary income, personal income, gift, and tax returns for charities, foundations, and not-for-profit organizations.
• Philanthropic Advice – From assistance on making a specific donation to forming a family foundation, we help our clients identify priorities and develop strategies based upon a philanthropic vision and mission, and constantly monitor and evaluate results.  We can also identify the roles and responsibilities of trustees, family members, staff, and donors, and help our clients structure relationships with donees and collaborate with other donors and nonprofits. 
• Financial Planning –  Recognizing that every case is unique, we help clients clarify and implement their personal financial goals and customize a plan to their specific situation.  As we coordinate financial affairs, we address the range of financial and estate planning issues that our clients and their beneficiaries are likely to face.

Contact

For further information on this area of practice, please contact:

• Martin Hall 

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