Spencer L. Reames

Spencer L. Reames is a trusts and estates counselor and litigator representing individuals, families, fiduciaries, and beneficiaries throughout the New York metropolitan area. Spencer handles a broad range of sophisticated and complex probate and trust disputes, including will contests, contested accounting proceedings, discovery proceedings, fiduciary removal and surcharge, will and trust construction and reformation, asset discovery proceedings and other miscellaneous proceedings. His practice includes conducting pretrial discovery, advanced legal research, settlement negotiation and drafting, motion practice and appellate advocacy. Spencer also represents clients in contested and uncontested guardianship proceedings.

With more than a decade of estate litigation experience, Spencer is known for his discerning understanding of the applicable law and his attention to detail. Spencer is skilled at simplifying and synthesizing complicated facts and circumstances and he has preceptive grasp of the varied challenges clients face. Noted for his composed and attentive temperament, Spencer has had great success in achieving settlement outside of court. Nevertheless, when litigation is necessary, he is an assertive and effective advocate inside and outside of the courtroom.

A respected member of the Trusts & Estates bar, Spencer also writes and lectures on issues relating to trusts and estates for noteworthy organizations.

Prior to joining Farrell Fritz, Spencer was an estate planning and administration associate at a New York City AmLaw 100 firm and later a civil litigator with another New York City AmLaw 100 firm, establishing a strong foundation for his present estate litigation practice.

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Experience

• Successfully obtained an appellate reversal of a will construction decision, resulting in significant tax efficiencies and multi-million dollar savings to the client.
• Secured termination of a contested Article 81 guardianship, over opposition, and successfully advocated for appellate affirmance of the trial court’s guardianship termination.
• Successfully negotiated a settlement requiring a trust fiduciary to make substantial distributions to the clients and then secured summary judgment enforcing the negotiated trust settlement against the defiant fiduciary.
• Obtained Surrogate’s Court decision and decree reforming provisions of family trusts avoiding potential inefficient distributions and termination disputes.
• Successfully negotiated multi-million dollar global settlement of multiple litigated trust disputes against trustee arising from breaches of fiduciary duty, and secured appointment of the client as a successor fiduciary.
• After a Supreme Court hearing, successfully negotiated a settlement substantially reducing and dismissing legal fees sought from a guardianship estate and related trusts.
• Secured a negotiated dismissal of claims against a former fiduciary after filing a summary judgment motion.
• Secured limited letters of administration for client over opposition by executor, entitling client to investigate decedent’s transactions.

Community Work

• St. John’s University, President’s Dinner Committee Member
• New York Philharmonic, Young New Yorkers Gala Co-Chair

Recognition

• New York Bar Foundation, Fellow