Description
Contributors
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Susan T. Bart
Schiff Hardin, Chicago
Susan T. Bart is a partner in the Private Clients, Trusts & Estates Group of the Chicago office of Schiff Hardin LLP. Her practice focuses on estate and gift tax planning, trust and estate administration, charitable planning, and fiduciary counsel. Her clients include wealthy individuals and families, family business owners, corporate executives, banks and trust companies, trustees and executors and private foundations. Susan is a fellow of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC), the leading national association for trust and estate lawyers, chair of its Estate & Gift Tax Committee, and former regent and Illinois state chair. She was the Reporter of the Uniform Trust Decanting Act, which is now being enacted in several states. She has also been active in Illinois trust law legislation, including as co-chair of the drafting committee for the recently enacted Illinois Trust Code. A recognized industry thought leader, Susan has written extensively on trust and estate law topics and lectured to professional groups around the country. Susan has garnered many accolades for her work, including a Band 1 ranking in Chambers, Private Wealth Law, recognition as a 2017 National Law Journal Divorce, Trusts & Estates Trailblazer, and recognition as one of the top ten Trust, Will and Estate Planning attorneys and one of the top 100 Women Consumer Lawyers in the 2019 Leading Lawyers Magazine. She received the 2013 Austin Fleming Award from the Chicago Estate Planning Council for achievement in estate planning practices, among other awards. -
Adam M. Damerow
Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, Chicago
Adam Damerow is a Partner in the Private Wealth practice group at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP, where he assists ultra high-net-worth individuals in creating tax-efficient estate plans to preserve, protect and transfer wealth to future generations. He also guides fiduciaries and beneficiaries through disputes over estates and trusts, often helping them avoid the time, expense and burden of litigation. Adam focuses solely on private client matters. He knows that wealth creators don't just want to transfer their wealth in tax-efficient ways; they want to give their beneficiaries the flexibility to use and maintain that wealth for future generations. He works to understand his clients' values and goals with their tax planning, and then achieve those goals as efficiently and creatively as possible. Toward that end, Adam undertakes varied strategies for his clients — from the formation and funding of family investment holding companies and family offices to the creation of dynasty trusts. The thoughtfulness of his planning stands the test of time; years after working with a first-generation wealth creator, for instance, the second generation of family members asked Adam to reinforce the planning that had positioned them so well.
Adam also advises individual and corporate fiduciaries on the often-challenging task of administering trusts and estates. When he is not advising the fiduciary, Adam will represent estate and trust beneficiaries and zealously advocate for their rights under the governing documents of the estate plan. While he represents clients in contested court proceedings, he more often helps fiduciary clients find creative ways to resolve disputes before they evolve into litigation. In one matter involving a multi-billion-dollar estate and litigious beneficiaries, he facilitated two different settlements among the beneficiaries and the tax authorities, avoiding further litigation.
Adam helps public charities, foundations and charitable trusts ensure their compliance with state and federal laws. He also represents clients before the Internal Revenue Service in controversies over estate and gift tax filings and audits.