MWE hires Estate Planning Attorney from Sullivan & Cromwell

International law firm McDermott Will & Emery has announce that premier estate planning attorney Henry ‘Terry’ Christensen III will join on August 1, as partner in the New York office. Mr. Christensen’s arrival establishes a private client practice in New York to add to the Firm’s 40+ private client lawyers.

Mr. Christensen is one of the most prominent private client attorneys in New York and is especially well known in the area of international estate planning. He represents some of the wealthiest individuals and families in the United States and around the world. He advises families and their closely held businesses on such legal matters as U.S. and foreign tax planning and disputes, wealth transfers, company structure, charitable foundations, the merging and selling of private companies, and trust and estate matters, including fiduciaries and individuals in disputes.

Mr. Christensen has more than 35 years experience in private client and estate planning work. He focuses on international estate planning and conducts an active Surrogate’s Court and Tax Court litigation practice. His practice also includes tax, tax controversy, tax exempt organizations, corporate, litigation and cross-border work. He joins McDermott from the New York office of Sullivan & Cromwell, where he has been the senior partner in the firm’s Estates and Personal Clients Group, and served as the administrative head from 1986 to 1995. He has been a partner of Sullivan & Cromwell for the past 30 years.

“Terry has built a premier international and domestic private client practice,” commented Peter Sacripanti, head of the Firm’s New York office. “His arrival will establish this important practice in our New York office while building on our existing premier estate planning practice.”

Mr. Christensen is president-elect of the International Academy of Trust and Estate Counsel, a member of Board of Regents of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC), the author of the treatise, International Estate Planning, and an adjunct faculty member of NYU Law School and the University of Miami Law School, teaching international estate planning. In addition, Mr. Christensen represents many charitable entities and educational organizations. Mr. Christensen earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School and his B.A. from Yale University.

The Private Client Department of McDermott Will & Emery is one of the largest and best-known departments of its kind in the United States. The 2006 and 2007 editions of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business ranked the Firm’s wealth management practice in the top tier in the United States. (Mr. Christensen is also ranked in the top tier, individually, by Chambers USA). McDermott 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, and provides to them a spectrum of estate, succession, gift transfer and wealth planning services. McDermott’s experience covers all significant facets of wealth planning.