McDermott Will & Emery LLP has recruited a team led by Carlyn S. McCaffrey-a prominent estate planning attorney and law school lecturer-as part of an expansion of its New York City private client group.
McCaffrey, who joins McDermott after serving as chair of the estate planning practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, will be joined by her team members from that firm: Amy E. Heller, Elyse G. Kirschner, Laura W. Hirschfeld, Christopher M. Parker, Shu-Ping Shen and Dena L. Wolf. McCaffrey, Heller and Kirschner will join McDermott as partners, according to the firm.
"Carlyn is one of the most highly respected practitioners in the country and we are impressed by the results she and her team have continually delivered," McDermott co-chair Jeffrey E. Stone said. "In particular, Carlyn's deep experience advising very high-net-worth clients on estate tax matters and closely-held business planning will be tremendous assets as we continue to grow our private client practice."
Carol A. Harrington, partner and head of McDermott Will & Emery's Private Client Practice Group, commented, "Carlyn is a truly brilliant and highly sought-after advisor. She along with Elyse, Amy and their colleagues will make wonderful additions to our team. These very experienced lawyers represent clients in all aspects of their estate planning needs, from wealth transfer advice to counseling on tax-related business issues. Having Carlyn and her team at McDermott will strengthen our ability to give our clients the most creative and sophisticated representation possible for their most sensitive needs."
McCaffrey will join current McDermott partner Henry Christensen III as a co-head of the firm's New York City private client practice group. The group currently has 60 lawyers and is among the largest in the nation. The firm represents families and individuals, family offices, closely held businesses, foundations, estates, trusts and special purpose asset transfer and investment management entities in the United States and throughout the world, according to McDermott.
McCaffrey has been recognized by Chambers USA, a lawyer rating organization that has consistently ranked her as among the nation's top estate planning attorneys, according to McDermott. In 2010, Chambers USA said McCaffrey is "at the cutting edge of trusts and estates law."
McCaffrey is an adjunct professor of law at New York University School of Law and the Miami Law School. She frequently lectures on subjects relating to tax law, trusts and estates, foreign trusts and matrimonial law, according to McDermott.