Senior Trusts and Estates Associate Attorney

A law firm in Detroit is seeking a Senior Trusts and Estates Associate Attorney with over 10 years of experience. The successful candidate will be responsible for developing comprehensive estate plans, providing tax advice, managing probate processes, and administering trusts. The role requires expertise in estate planning, tax law, probate law, and trust law, with a focus on serving high-net-worth families. Strong communication, analytical, and problem-solving skills are essential, along with the ability to handle confidential information with discretion.

Duties:

• Develop comprehensive estate plans tailored to client's specific needs and goals.
• Advise clients on the tax implications of estate planning, minimizing tax liabilities through strategies like gift and estate tax planning.
• Manage the probate process, including court proceedings, asset valuation, debt settlement, and distribution of assets.
• Administer trusts, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and the trust agreement.
• Handle estate and gift tax complex planning, including CRUTS, SLATS, GRATS, FLPs, QPRTs, IDGTs, and ILITs.
• Assist with succession planning, fiduciary accounting, will and trust contests, family settlement agreements, and tax preparation.
• Communicate complex legal concepts to clients in a clear and understandable manner.
• Actively listen to clients' concerns and goals, providing legal advice aligned with their wishes.
• Analyze complex financial and legal situations, devising appropriate solutions.
• Draft legal documents with precision to accurately reflect clients' intentions and comply with relevant laws.
• Handle sensitive and confidential information with the utmost discretion and professionalism.

Requirements:

• Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school.
• Licensed and in good standing to practice law in the state of Michigan.
• 10+ years of experience in estate planning, trust and estate settlement, and related tax and corporate matters, preferably in a law firm setting.
• Strong interest in building a book of business.

Education:

Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited law school.

Certifications:

Licensed and in good standing to practice law in the state of Michigan.

Skills:

• Strong foundation in estate planning, tax law, probate law, and trust law.
• Experience with high-net-worth families and individuals.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Precision in drafting legal documents.
• Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.

With four offices in Michigan and over 150 attorneys, this is truly one of the greatest places to work. Concentrating on a broad civil and criminal practices, these attorneys represent a broad spectrum of clients who are industry leaders, both nationally and internationally, including publicly traded companies, privately held companies, financial institutions and foreign corporations. Although founded primarily to serve clients in a corporate capacity, this firm now offers expertise in financial institutions (large practice), IP, employee benefits, litigation, real estate, tax, trusts and estates and health care. This firm is looking for attorneys with top academic credentials and it attracts many candidates who have practiced at major law firms. Associates seem happy here -- perhaps because they are allowed to choose areas of concentration and their average billables are lower than at other comparable firms. Associates love the non-competitive environment here. These attorneys are extremely cooperative with one another and are focused on the growth and development of the firm. The professional development programs here are exceptional. This firm definitely gets our gold star for its high-quality work, great atmosphere and investment in the development of its attorneys.