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At a Glance
| Founded by | Nancy Burner in 1995 as Nancy Burner & Associates, from a small basement office; daughter Britt Burner opened the Manhattan office in 2014 and became Managing Partner in 2025 (per the firm) |
| Focus | Elder law, estate planning, trusts and estates, and real estate, as a women-owned boutique (per the firm) |
| Office | 45 West 34th Street, Suite 1203, New York, NY 10001 (Midtown Manhattan), one of four New York offices; firm headquarters on Long Island |
| Signature results | No published verdict table; the firm’s practice centers on planning, Medicaid, probate, and guardianship work rather than litigated outcomes |
| Distinctive edge | Name partner Hon. Gail Prudenti served as New York State’s Chief Administrative Judge and as the first woman Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department (independently verified) |
| Fee model | One-time consultation fee for first-time clients, applied as a credit toward any legal work subsequently hired (per the firm) |
| Known for | Elder law, Medicaid planning, trusts, probate and estate administration, and guardianship proceedings for estates of all sizes (per the firm) |
Origin and Background
Nancy Burner founded the firm in 1995 as Nancy Burner & Associates, working out of what the firm describes as a small basement office on Long Island. Thirty years later it operates four New York offices under the name Burner Prudenti Law, a change made in 2023 when the Hon. Gail Prudenti joined as a name partner — a jurist who, per independent public records, served as Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division, Second Department (the first woman to hold that position), as New York State’s Chief Administrative Judge overseeing a court system with roughly 3,600 judges and 15,000 employees, and later as dean of Hofstra’s law school. The Manhattan office at 45 West 34th Street opened in 2014 when Britt Burner, Nancy’s daughter, joined the firm; Britt became the firm’s Managing Partner in 2025, making this one of the few New York estate planning practices run by a second-generation, mother-daughter leadership line.
What Makes This Firm Structurally Different
Most Manhattan trusts and estates practices are built around high-net-worth tax planning or contested Surrogate’s Court litigation; Burner Prudenti is built around elder law — Medicaid planning, long-term care, guardianships, and what the firm calls innovative approaches to estates of all sizes, not just large ones. The bench strength behind that focus is documented rather than asserted: founding partner Nancy Burner holds the Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) designation awarded by the National Elder Law Foundation, which is accredited by the American Bar Association, and Britt Burner chairs the Elder Law and Special Needs Section of the New York State Bar Association after previously chairing the New York City Bar Association’s Committee on the Legal Problems of the Aging.
Practice Areas
- Estate planning and trusts
- Elder law and Medicaid planning
- Probate and estate administration
- Guardianship proceedings
- Business succession planning
- Real estate
Track Record
The firm does not publish an itemized verdict-and-settlement table, which is consistent with a practice centered on planning, administration, and guardianship rather than contested litigation outcomes. Its published track record takes the form of institutional history: thirty years of continuous operation, growth from one basement office to four locations, and leadership positions its attorneys hold in the state’s elder law bar. Past results in any matter do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
The firm’s Manhattan office carries a 4.9-star rating from 30 Google reviewers as of the research date. One reviewer identified as Dorene wrote that Britt Burner “handled my aging mothers legal affairs impeccably and with grace,” and another, identified as Tom, described the firm as patient and accommodating while setting up irrevocable trusts. These are independently posted, first-name-attributed reviews on a third-party platform, which Awesome Attorneys treats as more reliable than firm-published testimonials while noting that full reviewer identities are not verifiable.
Beyond the Courtroom
Britt Burner serves as Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Elder Law and Special Needs Section, per her independent attorney-directory profile, and Gail Prudenti was appointed to New York’s COVID-19 Recovery Task Force overseeing a pro bono network of lawyers assisting New Yorkers during the pandemic, per the firm’s own published timeline.
Recognition
Nancy Burner holds the Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) designation from the National Elder Law Foundation, accredited by the American Bar Association, and has been selected to Best Lawyers in America for Elder Law since 2014, per her independent directory profile. Britt Burner has been recognized in the 2024 and 2025 Best Lawyers rankings for Elder Law and Trusts & Estates in Manhattan and was named a Super Lawyer in Elder Law in 2024. These are peer-review and certification-based recognitions, distinct from pay-to-play marketing awards. New York does not maintain a state board-certification system for trusts and estates; the CELA credential noted above is a national, ABA-accredited certification and is attributed here exactly as conferred.
New York Legal Backdrop
Estate planning and probate in New York are governed primarily by the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law, which sets the rules for will validity (EPTL § 3-2.1) and a surviving spouse’s right of election (EPTL § 5-1.1-A), with probate and administration proceeding through Surrogate’s Court under the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act. Guardianship proceedings for incapacitated adults are governed by Mental Hygiene Law Article 81, and Medicaid eligibility for long-term care involves both federal rules and New York’s own Social Services Law provisions, including look-back periods for asset transfers. None of this is legal advice; a specific estate, elder law, or Medicaid planning question should be evaluated by a licensed New York attorney based on the actual facts involved.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Burner Prudenti Law’s clearest differentiator is credentialed depth in elder law specifically — an ABA-accredited CELA-certified founder, a managing partner who chairs the state bar’s elder law section, and a name partner who ran New York’s entire court system — packaged in a women-owned, second-generation family firm with a genuine Manhattan office since 2014. The honest trade-off is that the firm’s headquarters and most of its offices are on Long Island rather than in the city, it charges a consultation fee where some competitors offer free consultations (though the fee is credited toward hired work), and it is not built for contested, high-stakes Surrogate’s Court litigation the way a dedicated estate-litigation boutique is. For a Manhattan family navigating aging-parent planning, Medicaid eligibility, guardianship, or a modest-to-substantial estate plan, this firm’s specific elder-law credentials make it a reasonable one to have on a shortlist; someone anticipating a bitterly contested will fight may want a litigation-first firm instead.
Methodology and Sourcing
This profile was researched from Burner Prudenti Law’s own website, including its firm history and 30th-anniversary timeline, Manhattan location page, and attorney biographies, cross-referenced against independent sources including Cornell LII attorney-directory profiles for Nancy and Britt Burner, the Wikipedia entry documenting Gail Prudenti’s judicial career, a Dan’s Papers profile of the firm’s leadership transition, and Google review data confirming the Manhattan office address and rating.
Publisher Disclosure and Independence Notice
Awesome Attorneys is an independent legal directory and editorial publication. This profile was not paid for, commissioned, or reviewed by Burner Prudenti Law, P.C. prior to publication. Awesome Attorneys does not endorse, recommend, or warrant any profiled firm, and inclusion in this directory is not a paid placement. “Awesome Attorneys” is a brand name only and does not constitute a rating or ranking claim. Facts stated are current only as of this profile’s research date.