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At a Glance
| Founded | 1963, now a midsized full-service firm with entertainment, media, and real estate roots alongside a growing private client practice (per the firm) |
| Focus | Estate planning for high-net-worth individuals and families, with particular experience serving entrepreneurs, executives, and investors including equity owners in high-growth companies |
| Office | 7 Times Square, 40th Floor, New York, NY 10036 |
| Signature results | Firm added three Trusts + Estates partners in roughly two years — Paul Van Horn, Erica Howard-Potter, and Brian Sweet — a deliberate build-out the firm’s managing partner described as “broadening and deepening” the practice (per the firm) |
| Distinctive edge | A 160-attorney entertainment and media-rooted firm actively expanding its Private Client Group specifically to serve founders and equity holders navigating business formations, funding rounds, and liquidity events alongside their personal estate plans |
| Fee model | Not published; prospective clients should confirm directly |
| Known for | Estate planning tied to business transitions, charitable giving, and complex estate administration for entrepreneurs and executives (per the firm) |
Most trusts and estates practices grow slowly, one lateral hire at a time, over a decade or more. Pryor Cashman’s Trusts + Estates Practice took a different, more deliberate path: three partner hires in roughly two years, each one publicly announced and each one explicitly framed by firm leadership as building out a specific, expanding capability rather than simply replacing departed attorneys.
Origin and Background
Pryor Cashman was founded in 1963 and built its core reputation representing entrepreneurs and start-ups, music publishers and filmmakers, and Fortune 500 companies from its headquarters at 7 Times Square. The firm’s Trusts + Estates Practice sits within its Private Client Group, and its most recent hire, Brian Sweet, joined in December 2024 from Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler, where he had been counsel, becoming the third addition to the practice following partners Paul Van Horn and Erica Howard-Potter the year before. Daniel Kesten co-chairs the practice.
What Makes This Firm Structurally Different
Brian Sweet’s practice focus, as described in the firm’s own hiring announcement, centers on estate planning for high-net-worth individuals and families with a client base that includes entrepreneurs, executives, and investors — and particular experience helping equity owners in high-growth companies take advantage of planning opportunities tied to business formations, transitions, and funding rounds. That is a meaningfully different orientation than a traditional private wealth practice built around inherited or accumulated wealth; Pryor Cashman’s group is explicitly positioned around the estate planning needs that arise from building and selling a business, not just managing wealth that already exists.
Practice Areas
- Estate planning for high-net-worth individuals and families
- Tax-efficient transfers to family members and charitable organizations
- Estate planning tied to equity, funding rounds, and business transitions
- Complex estate administration
- Charitable giving
- Tax, closely held business, and estate planning and probate
Track Record
The firm’s own announcement of Brian Sweet’s hire states that his “impressive background” and “active practice” would “further advance” the firm’s existing Trusts + Estates group, following the earlier additions of Paul Van Horn and Erica Howard-Potter. Ronald Shechtman, the firm’s managing partner, and Daniel Kesten, the practice’s co-chair, both spoke publicly about the hire as a deliberate broadening and deepening of the group’s capabilities. These are the firm’s own characterizations of its hiring and growth strategy rather than reported case outcomes or dollar figures; the practice is too recently expanded to have an extensive public track record of its own under its current roster. Past results in any matter do not guarantee or predict a similar outcome in any future matter.
Client Voice
Pryor Cashman’s Trusts + Estates practice does not yet have a substantial base of independently posted, practice-specific client reviews given its recent expansion; the firm’s broader New York office reviews on legal directories are limited in volume. Awesome Attorneys notes this rather than substituting testimonials from unrelated practice areas or generic praise.
Beyond the Courtroom
Brian Sweet has significant experience administering complex estates and counseling clients on charitable giving beyond his core planning work, and the practice’s client base of entrepreneurs and executives connects it to Pryor Cashman’s broader entertainment, media, and emerging-company client relationships, giving the Trusts + Estates group visibility into clients’ business lives that a standalone private wealth boutique would not have.
Recognition
Pryor Cashman’s Trusts + Estates practice is a named practice group within the firm’s Private Client Group, and the firm has 122 Super Lawyers-recognized attorneys across its practice areas, per Super Lawyers’ firm listing, though the number specific to trusts and estates is smaller. New York does not maintain a formal board-certification system for trusts and estates law comparable to Texas’s TBLS, so Awesome Attorneys does not apply “specialist” language to any attorney at this firm on that basis; the credentials above are peer-review recognitions, not government-conferred certifications.
New York Legal Backdrop
Estate planning and administration in New York are governed primarily by the Estates, Powers and Trusts Law (EPTL) and the Surrogate’s Court Procedure Act (SCPA). New York’s basic estate tax exclusion for 2026 is $7,350,000, with estates exceeding 105% of that threshold losing the exemption entirely. For entrepreneurs and equity holders, estate planning around a liquidity event or funding round often intersects with valuation discounting, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), and qualified small business stock exclusions under IRC § 1202, all of which require careful timing relative to the underlying business transaction. 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
Pryor Cashman’s clearest differentiator is a Trusts + Estates practice built deliberately and recently around the specific needs of entrepreneurs and equity holders navigating business transitions, evidenced by three named partner hires in about two years rather than organic, unannounced growth. The honest trade-off is that a recently rebuilt practice has a shorter public track record at its current roster than a firm whose trusts and estates group has been stable for decades; a client prioritizing decades of continuity with the same named attorneys may weigh that differently. For a founder, executive, or investor whose estate planning needs are closely tied to an active or upcoming business transition, Pryor Cashman’s specific orientation toward that client type makes it a reasonable firm to have on a shortlist.
Methodology and Sourcing
This profile was researched from Pryor Cashman’s own website (pryorcashman.com) and its Business Wire announcement of Brian Sweet’s hire, cross-referenced against Chambers and Partners’ High Net Worth office listing for the firm, Super Lawyers’ firm profile, and Martindale-Hubbell’s firm listing.
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 Pryor Cashman LLP 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.