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Sep 22, 2010
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Attorney Profile

Ilene S. Cooper is a partner at Farrell Fritz concentrating in Trusts and Estates. She practices litigation in Surrogate's Courts throughout the Metropolitan area. She also has experience in the drafting and execution of will and trust instruments, powers of attorney, health care proxies and living wills. In addition to her work at Farrell Fritz, Ms. Cooper is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Touro Law School, as well as a member of the School's Board of Trustees. Previously, Ms. Cooper worked as a Principal Law Assistant/Referee for the Surrogate of Suffolk County, Honorable Ernest L. Signorelli. She is a frequent contributor to Farrell Fritz's New York Trusts & Estates Litigation blog.

Ms. Cooper is the immediate past President of the Suffolk County Bar Association. She is a columnist for the Suffolk Lawyer, a publication of the Suffolk County Bar Association. Ms. Cooper serves on the Advisory Committee of the Suffolk Academy of Law, is a member of the Association's Surrogate's Court Committee, its Professionalism Committee and is one of the founding members of the Association's Scholarship Fund. Formerly, Ms. Cooper was a member of the Association's Judicial Screening Committee, a Co-chair of its Grievance Committee and a member of its Board of Directors.

In 2010, Ms. Cooper received a special award from The Carol M. Baldwin Breast Cancer Fund for her extraordinary efforts in promoting women's health issues. In 2009 and 2010, Ms. Cooper, on behalf of the Suffolk County Bar Association, and in conjunction with the Suffolk County Women's Bar Association and North Shore-LIJ Health System/Katz Women's Hospital, coordinated a Women's Health Symposium to address important and timely health issues.

In 2008, Ms. Cooper was appointed to the Suffolk County Youth Board Coordination Council. She was nominated by Steven H. Stern, Legislator for the 16th Legislative District. Her appointment to serve as a member of the Council was approved by a vote of the Suffolk County Legislature. The Youth Board advises the County Executive on matters pertaining to children and youth and ensures effective countywide planning, development and management of resources necessary to sustain the youth service system.

In 2007, Ms. Cooper became, by invitation of the Administrative Judge of Suffolk County, a member of Suffolk County's Pro Bono Action Committee.

In 2006, Ms. Cooper was appointed by the Appellate Division, Second Judicial Department, to the Supreme Court of the State of New York's Grievance Committee for the Tenth Judicial District. She was reappointed in 2010 to serve another four-year term.

Together with her local Bar Association activities, Ms. Cooper is an Officer of the New York State Bar Association Trust and Estate Law Section; a Fellow of the New York Bar Foundation; and a member of the House of Delegates. In addition, she is a member of the Theodore Roosevelt American Inn of Court. In 2003, she was nominated as a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Council (ACTEC). Ms. Cooper is a former Chairperson of the New York State Bar Association's Committee on Trust and Estate Administration and a former member of the Special Committee on Fiduciary Appointments. She is also a former Officer of the Suffolk County Women's Bar Association.

In 2006, Ms. Cooper drafted legislation, signed into law by Governor Pataki, which provides that abusive parents, whose rights have been terminated under Social Services Law, are disqualified from receiving an inheritance from the abused child's estate. In addition, she was responsible for drafting an amendment to EPTL 5-3.2, which was signed into law in June, 2007, in order to increase the inheritance rights of non-marital children.

Further, Ms. Cooper, together with members of the New York State Bar Association's Trusts and Estates Law Section, drafted a 2004 amendment to SCPA 2307-a, dealing with attorney-fiduciaries, and was instrumental in initiating and spearheading an amendment to Surrogate's Court Procedure Act (SCPA) § 2211, which became law on August 1, 2007. The amendment provides for discovery prior to the filing of objections in contested accounting proceedings.

Ms. Cooper is presently a columnist for the New York Law Journal, where she writes an article entitled "Trusts and Estates Update", and is the author of "Case Notes", a quarterly column published in the New York State Bar Association's Trusts and Estates Newsletter. In 2002, Ms. Cooper published a textbook entitled "Wills, Trusts and Estates - Essential Tools For The New York Paralegal", which serves as a practice tool and guide for paralegals, as well as general practitioners involved in the field of trusts and estates. Further, Ms. Cooper is the editor of the volume on litigation in New York Surrogate's Courts, published by Warren's Heaton.

In addition to her professional activities, Ms. Cooper has been a member of the West Hollow Middle School's School-Based Management Team. She is presently a board member of numerous organizations, including The Hills Foundation, the Suffolk County Child Care Council, Child Abuse Prevention Services, Half Hollow Hills Business Advisory Council, Children's Medical Fund Corporate Alliance, Touro Law School's Board of Governors and the Long Island Women's Agenda (LIWA). Ms. Cooper serves on the Honorary Board of the Suffolk County Coalition Against Domestic Violence (SCCADV). She formerly served on a special task force to evaluate the quality of education in the Half Hollow Hills Middle Schools.

Ms. Cooper was selected for inclusion in 2008 and 2009 New York Super Lawyers® - Metro Edition (Estate & Trust Litigation). In 2007, she was named as an Achiever in Law by the Long Island Center for Business and Professional Women. In addition, she was named one of Long Island's Top 50 Women in Business by Long Island Business News in 2002 and 2003, and in May 2005, was inducted into the Top 50 Women's Hall of Fame. In 2003, she received the President's Award from the Suffolk County Bar Association. She was also named Adjunct Professor of the Year by Touro Law School in 2000 and 2001.

A 1979 graduate of Hofstra University Law School, she received her Bachelor of Arts Degree from Cornell University in 1976. Ms. Cooper is admitted in the State of New York. She has an AV Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Rating.