Experience:
James Casey has a wide-ranging estates, trusts, and foundations practice. He counsels high net-worth individuals and families in all aspects of estate planning and business succession, including the design and drafting of legal documents to achieve both tax and non-tax motivated objectives. Among the estate planning instruments he prepares are wills, revocable trusts (living trusts), irrevocable trusts, dynasty or "perpetual" trusts (GST exempt trusts), grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), qualified personal residence trusts (QPRTs), charitable remainder trusts, and charitable lead trusts. Jim also assists clients with charitable gift agreements, premarital agreements, powers of attorney for property and for health care, and living wills. For business clients he structures corporations, partnership agreements, limited liability company agreements, and buy-sell agreements.
Fiduciaries (executors and trustees) rely on Jim for all aspects of estate and trust administration, including probate administration, preparation of state and Federal estate tax returns, preparation of accountings, and termination and distribution of estates and trusts. He also represents fiduciaries and individual clients in a variety of trust and estate litigation, including controversies over will and trust construction and alleged breaches of fiduciary responsibilities.
Jim represents not-for-profit organizations in all matters relating to formation, administration, grant making, fundraising and planned-giving, tax planning and compliance, and litigation. His clients include public charities, community foundations, university endowments, corporate foundations, private foundations, private operating foundations, and social clubs.
Before joining Mayer Brown LLP in 2000, Jim practiced with two other law firms. Following law school graduation he served a judicial clerkship with Justice Anne M. Burke, Illinois Appellate Court, First Judicial District, Second Division. A Certified Public Accountant, Jim worked with a national accounting firm for three years prior to law school.
Education:
The John Marshall Law School, JD, cum laude, 1995; Executive Editor, The John Marshall Law Review, Western Michigan University, BBA, 1989, Certified Public Accountant, Illinois, 1989. |