March 2020 LOCAL STRENGTH | GLOBAL INSIGHT

Wyatt Jansen was named to the technology subcommittee of the Connecticut Bar Association’s Covid-19 Pandemic Task Force.  The task force is coordinating the response to legal issues and needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.  Its members include lawyers, judges, and professionals statewide who are working collaboratively and swiftly to ensure issues and concerns raised by the legal community and the public are met.

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Harry E. Peden, III, Katie O’Neill, Kevin Walsh and Drew Nelson represented the largest investor in a restructuring of a private company in the healthcare industry.   The transaction involved a secondary sale of equity to a private equity firm.  The equity sold was valued at over One Hundred Million Dollars ($100,000,000).  In addition to negotiating and closing a significant transaction in the current economic climate, the Whitman Breed team addressed purchase and sale issues, tax issues and restrictive covenant issues as part of the transaction.

The Firm is proud to announce that Charlie Pieterse was recently elected as a Fellow by The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).

ACTEC is an organization of peer-elected lawyers and law professors who are skilled and experienced in the preparation of wills and trusts, estate planning, and probate procedure; and administration of trusts and estates of decedents, minors, and incompetents.  To become an ACTEC Fellow an attorney must first be nominated by an existing Fellow, undergo a substantial application process, and then be voted on by the ACTEC Fellows in the states in which the Lawyer has practiced in the past ten years (i.e. Connecticut and New York for Charlie). After being approved by the Fellows in the states, the attorney is voted on by the ACTEC Board of Regents at a national level.  Lawyers and law professors are elected to be Fellows based on their outstanding reputation, exceptional skill, and substantial contributions to the field by establishing a history of lecturing, writing, teaching, and participating in bar leadership and legislative activities. ACTEC is the premiere estate planners’ organization in the United States, comprised of leading trusts and estates lawyers in all 50 states.

Whitman Breed Partners and Associates have been named “Connecticut Super Lawyers®” for 2019. Connecticut selection information at http://www.superlawyers.com/connecticut/selection_details.html

Charles Pieterse (Trusts & Estates Litigation), Jim Riley (Business Litigation), Rod Saggese (General Litigation), Thomas O’Connor (Rising Star – Civil Litigation), Luke Tashjian (Rising Star – Estate Planning & Probate), Kathryn O’Neill (Rising Star – Business/Corporate), Wyatt Jansen (Rising Star – Business Litigation and Trusts & Estates Litigation), Michael Battema (Rising Star – General Litigation) and Rosanna Rosenthal (Rising Star – Estate Planning & Probate) were named Connecticut Super Lawyers.

The Firm is proud to announce that two of our attorneys have been selected for inclusion in the 2020 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America. 

Charlie Pieterse and Jim Riley were each named to this year’s “Best Lawyer” list in their respective areas of practice: Charlie for “Litigation – Trust & Estates”, and Jim for “Commercial Litigation”.

Additionally, Charlie was named a 2020 “Lawyer of the Year”, which will also be included in the 26^th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Charlie received this accolade for his work in “Litigation – Trusts and Estates in Stamford”. Only a single lawyer in each practice area and and geographic location is honored with a “Lawyer of the Year” award.

Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. The methodology is designed to capture the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographic area and legal practice area. Lawyer of the Year recognitions are awarded to individual attorneys with the highest overall peer-feedback. This designation is awarded to only one attorney for each specialty and geographic location.

Margaret Conboy represented The Greenwich Land Trust in connection with a conservation easement.  Through the easement, The Greenwich Land Trust was given a 12-acre conservation easement on property located on John Street in Greenwich, CT.  The property will remain as protected open space, and is the largest easement donation to The Greenwich Land Trust since 2001.

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The Firm is proud to announce that Charlie Pieterse has been selected for inclusion in the 2019 Chambers High Net Worth (HNW) Guide.

The HNW Guide is a Chambers and Partners publication that covers private wealth management work and related areas around the world, featuring in-depth editorials about the leading professional advisers to wealthy individuals and families in each market.  Charlie, for the second year in a row, was recognized as a “leading individual” practitioner, one of twenty-seven attorneys in Connecticut so honored.  The qualities on which Chambers rankings are assessed include technical legal ability, professional conduct, client service, commercial astuteness, diligence, commitment, and other qualities most valued by clients.

Comments concerning Charlie in the 2018 and 2019 HNW Guides include: “He is truly one of the best people for this and is at the top of his class;” “I just think he is extremely bright and an extremely effective lawyer. He’s a good person to work with . . . his real strength is his willingness to work towards a solution. He’s very engaging, very polite and very collegial;” “He is very experienced at the technicalities and the procedural nuances – he is a thoughtful strategist.” “I had a big matter with him, and I was very impressed. He was very professional in his advocacy, a pleasure to deal with, and represented his client diligently and in a reasonable way. He was oriented toward getting a solution.”

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Rod Saggese was re-elected to serve as Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Greenwich Emergency Medical Service. Known affectionately as GEMS, it is the non-profit organization that is the sole provider of pre-hospital emergency medical services to the Town of Greenwich.

Charles W. Pieterse and Wyatt R. Jansen presented “When Offshore Trust Disputes Wash Up Onshore” at the American Law Institute’s annual Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries conference. Together with their co-presenter, Richard LeVine of Withers Bergman LLP, Charlie and Wyatt discussed all aspects of domestic litigation concerning offshore trusts, including who uses offshore trusts, how offshore trust disputes end up in US courts, and the unique complications that arise in domestic litigation of offshore trust disputes. Their presentation materials are available here.

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On June 10, 2019, Charles W. Pieterse moderated a panel discussion at the Connecticut Bar Association’s 2019 Connecticut Legal Conference entitled “Conservatorship Litigation – A discussion of Strategic, Legal and Ethical Issues.”  Together with fellow panelists the Honorable David W. Hopper, Day Pitney LLP Partner Keith Bradoc “Brad” Gallant and Brody Wilkerson PC partner Heather J. Lange, the panel discussed issues practitioners are typically confronted with in these challenging matters, including (i) advising a client on the risks and benefits of commencing a conservatorship application, (ii)  what ethical obligations a lawyer has under Rule 1.14 to take protective measures when the client is impaired, (iii) how one addresses the “least restrictive means of intervention standard” in a contested proceeding and (iv) the import of recent court decisions.  Michael Battema prepared the presentation materials for the panel, a copy of which is available here.