The Firm: This trusts and estates practice is historically strong in New York and Florida, but increasingly is making a name for itself in Los Angeles as well. The team handles the full gamut of estate planning and administration matters both domestically and internationally, and wins particular praise for its expertise in fiduciary litigation. Its high-profile client base includes the estates of Keith Haring, George Balanchine and Leonard Bernstein. The group also receives referrals of high net worth clients from institutions such as JPMorgan, US Trust, Bessemer, Goldman Sachs, The Bank of New York Mellon and Merrill Lynch.

Client Servce: "An exceptionally responsive group, which always makes sure matters are appropriately staffed."

Key Individuals: Department chair Jay Waxenberg operates out of New York and is noted for his extensive expertise in the area of life insurance planning. He is greatly respected by clients and peers, with sources describing him as "simply wonderful – he has a fine disposition and is very good at putting people at ease." The "brilliantly gifted" David Pratt focuses on trusts and estates, gift and generation-skipping transfer, and fiduciary and individual income taxation. He is also regularly called upon to advise on post-mortem tax planning and asset protection. He is head of the Boca Raton office where he works alongside Al Gortz, who principally concentrates on the areas of gift, estate and generation-skipping tax planning. The highly regarded Andrew Katzenstein is based in Los Angeles and assists high net worth individuals, companies and charitable organizations with the full range of tax and estate planning.