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At a Glance
| Founded by | Gabriel Katzner, founded 2009 (per the firm) |
| Focus | Estate planning boutique built around trust-based plans, asset protection, and probate/trust administration (per the firm) |
| Office | 360 Lexington Avenue, 15th Floor, New York, NY 10017 (Manhattan), with a San Diego office |
| Signature results | No published itemized case-value table; firm markets flat-fee planning rather than litigation outcomes |
| Distinctive edge | All estate planning work billed on a disclosed flat-fee basis, set before work begins (per the firm) |
| Fee model | Flat fee, selected by the client based on plan complexity, disclosed on the firm’s site (per the firm) |
| Known for | Revocable and irrevocable trusts, wills, asset protection, and probate/trust administration for New York and California clients (per the firm) |
Origin and Background
Gabriel Katzner graduated Fordham Law School in 2002 and began his career in “big law” before founding Katzner Law Group in 2009. Before law school he completed the certified public accounting examination, a detail the firm’s own site frames as informing how Katzner approaches the tax and asset-titling mechanics of a trust, not just its legal drafting. The firm’s Manhattan office sits at 360 Lexington Avenue; Katzner also maintains a San Diego office serving California clients under the same flat-fee model.
What Makes This Firm Structurally Different
Katzner Law Group is built almost entirely around one structural choice: flat, disclosed fees instead of hourly billing, set before the engagement begins. The firm’s own marketing is explicit that this is a trust-based practice, not a will-based one — its site argues that a will, contrary to common assumption, “guarantees that your estate will need to go through the probate process,” while a properly funded trust is what actually avoids probate. That positioning is also reflected in the firm’s stated practice of reviewing estate plans drafted by other firms or online services, which the firm says frequently turn up wills mistakenly sold to clients as trusts.
Practice Areas
- Revocable and irrevocable trusts
- Wills
- Asset protection planning
- Probate and trust administration
- Medicaid planning
- Trust-funding and asset re-titling
Track Record
Awesome Attorneys did not identify a published, itemized table of case outcomes on the firm’s site, consistent with a planning-focused (rather than litigation-focused) practice. Past results in any matter do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
The firm’s site collects independently platformed reviews from Google, Yelp, and Facebook rather than only self-hosted testimonials. A Google reviewer named Bob Burns states the firm “was always available and responded quickly via email/phone anytime we had a question.” A Yelp reviewer identified as Chad P. states Gabriel Katzner “responded to all our questions promptly and completely, and we had full confidence in his advice.” A Facebook reviewer identified as Joanne Chen describes being “very impressed with the amount” of attention given during an initial consultation before signing on as a client. Awesome Attorneys did not independently contact these reviewers to confirm authorship.
Beyond the Courtroom
Awesome Attorneys did not identify specific published community or pro bono activity for this firm as of the research date.
Recognition
The firm’s site displays an Avvo badge and an Expertise.com “Best Probate Lawyers” badge; Awesome Attorneys treats vendor-issued directory badges of this kind as marketing placements rather than independent, peer-reviewed rankings, and did not identify a Martindale, Best Lawyers, or Super Lawyers recognition for this firm. New York does not maintain a board-certification system for trusts and estates comparable to Texas’s TBLS, so Awesome Attorneys does not apply “specialist” language to any attorney at this firm on that basis.
New York Legal Backdrop
The firm’s core pitch — that a will alone guarantees probate while a properly funded trust can avoid it — reflects how New York’s Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act actually operates: assets titled in a decedent’s individual name generally must pass through probate or administration, while assets properly retitled into a revocable trust during life generally do not. Separately, New York’s estate tax exemption carries a “cliff”: under current New York Tax Law, an estate valued at more than 105% of the exemption amount loses the exemption entirely rather than only being taxed on the excess, which is a meaningfully different rule than the federal estate tax’s marginal structure. None of this is legal advice; a specific estate plan should be evaluated by a licensed New York attorney based on the actual facts involved.
Awesome Attorneys Assessment
Katzner Law Group’s clearest differentiator is fee transparency paired with a genuinely trust-first planning philosophy: flat fees disclosed before engagement, a founder with a CPA-exam background applied to trust funding and tax mechanics, and independently platformed client reviews rather than only self-hosted testimonials. The honest trade-off is that this is a planning-only practice without a litigation bench, so a client already in a contested probate or trust dispute would need separate counsel, and Awesome Attorneys could not identify independent, peer-reviewed legal rankings (as distinct from vendor directory badges) for this firm. For a New York individual or family who wants a disclosed-cost, trust-based estate plan from a founder who treats plan-funding mechanics as seriously as the documents themselves, that combination fits well; someone already facing estate litigation needs a different kind of firm.
Methodology and Sourcing
This profile was researched from Katzner Law Group’s own website, including its homepage, attorney biography, and locations pages, and from independently platformed Google, Yelp, and Facebook reviews linked from the firm’s own site.
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 Katzner Law Group, 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.