We advise principals on the long arc — corporate formation, asset protection, estate transfer, and tax controversy. The matters you bring us tend to outlast the markets that surrounded them.
We were founded in 1962 by Edwin A. Hartwell on a single conviction: that the law is most useful when it is least dramatic. Sixty-two years on, the firm still operates from that conviction — quietly, patiently, and almost entirely by referral.
We do not advertise on television. We do not run volume practices. We take a small number of matters each year and see them through to their proper conclusion — whether that is a transaction, a transfer, a defense, or a quiet restructuring. Our clients are founders, families, trustees, and entities that have been on the books longer than most market cycles.
If you are looking for a firm that will return your call within the calendar year, hold your matters in confidence across generations, and tell you when you are wrong — we should probably talk.
— Edwin A. Hartwell, Senior Founding Partner
Our work is grouped into six practice areas that, together, cover the legal life of a private principal — from the day the entity is formed to the day the trust distributes. Most matters touch at least two of them.
Formation, governance, mergers, divestitures, and operating agreements. We draft the documents you will not have to re-draft. Particular experience with multi-generation family corporations and entity conversions across jurisdictions.
Shielding structures for principals facing foreseeable creditor exposure — series LLCs, dynasty trusts, offshore jurisdictions where appropriate, and domestic lien-stripping. We plan for the litigation you have not yet been served.
Intergenerational transfer — wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, GRATs, ILITs, and the unglamorous mechanics of administration. We have probated estates for clients whose grandparents we also probated.
Federal and state examinations, appeals, and — when required — trial. We have argued depreciation recapture before the Second Circuit and a 1031 exchange before the Seventh. We prefer the matter never reaches either.
trials, arbitrations, and mediations for the matters that cannot be quietly resolved. Selective intake — we accept roughly one in eleven matters reviewed. Tried bench and jury matters in six federal districts.
The quiet practice of restoring corporations that have been on the books for decades — reinstatement, good-standing recovery, and continuity planning for entities whose original incorporators are no longer living. A niche we have held since 1971.
We steward a small portfolio of aged corporate entities — corporations formed between 1948 and 1998 that have remained in continuous good standing under our care. Several are available for acquisition by qualified principals; most are not. The list below is partial and updated quarterly.
Acquisition of an available entity includes full transfer of registered agent, governing instruments, good-standing certificate, and three years of historical filings. All transfers are conducted in-office and notarized. Pricing is disclosed only to qualified principals. Contact the firm for the current list and intake form.
Founded the firm in 1962 after five years as a foreign-service officer. Tried the Pemberton estate before the Surrogate's Court in 1981; has not lost a bench trial since. Admitted in NY, DC, and before the United States Supreme Court.
Joined the firm in 1981, made partner in 1989. Built our asset-protection practice from the ground up; has structured shields in seven U.S. jurisdictions and three offshore. Teaches the subject at two law schools.
Six years at the IRS Office of Chief Counsel before joining the firm in 1997. Has tried matters before the U.S. Tax Court and the Second, Seventh, and Ninth Circuits. Particular focus on depreciation recapture and section 1031.
Joined the firm in 2004 after private practice in Chicago. Drafted the dynasty trust instrument that has, to date, distributed to three generations without contest. Lectures on GRAT structure for the Heckerling Institute.
Three decades as a trial lawyer before joining the firm as counsel in 2010. Tries the matters that cannot be quietly resolved. Has obtained directed verdicts in four federal districts. Selective intake — roughly one in eleven matters reviewed.
Joined in 2014 from a Wall Street M&A practice. Handles the firm's transactional matters — formation, conversion, mergers, and the rare contested acquisition. Reads governing documents the way most people read novels.
The matters below are redacted per engagement terms. Full citations and unredacted briefs are available to qualified principals upon execution of a mutual confidentiality undertaking.
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. Each engagement is evaluated on its particular facts and circumstances. Track record matters listed are redacted in compliance with engagement confidentiality provisions; full citations available upon execution of a mutual NDA.
The firm has operated from the same address since 1971 — the 41st floor of One Bowling Green, overlooking the harbor. The furniture has been reupholstered twice. The letterhead, three times.
Edwin A. Hartwell opens a one-room office at 25 Broad Street, New York, after five years as a foreign-service officer. First retainer: estate administration for the widow of a shipping executive. Three hundred dollars.
The firm relocates to One Bowling Green, 41st floor — a building originally constructed as the Bowling Green Offices in 1907 and the longest continuously operating office building in lower Manhattan. We have not moved since.
Margaret Crane, then three years into partnership, formalizes the firm's asset-protection practice — among the first in New York to do so as a distinct group rather than under general trusts. The first Cook Islands structure follows in 1988.
The firm opens a second office at 1200 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, D.C. — initially to handle tax controversy matters before the IRS Office of Chief Counsel, where Theodore Reeves had been a staff attorney.
James W. Hollis, after three decades at a white-shoe litigation boutique, joins the firm as counsel — bringing the commercial litigation bench in-house for the first time. Selective intake begins the following year.
Daniel K. Osei joins from a Wall Street M&A practice, formalizing the firm's corporate and transactional practice — which had previously been handled ad hoc by Hartwell and Crane. The firm crosses six attorneys for the first time.
The firm marks its sixty-second year of continuous practice. The current letterhead, the third, was set in EB Garamond by a printer on Bleecker Street. The previous two — set in Caslon and Centennial, respectively — are framed in the reception area.
We accept a small number of new engagements each year. Initial consultations are one hour, in-person or by video, and are held in confidence. A modest fee is charged; it is waived for existing clients and referred principals.