Firm Profile

Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP

High Net Worth Guide 2024

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High Net Worth

Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP

Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP

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+1 501 376 2011

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About

Provided by Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP
High Net Worth

Managing Partner: Price C Gardner
Number of Partners: 63
Number of Lawyers: 90

FIRM OVERVIEW: FRIDAY, ELDREDGE & CLARK, LLP (FEC) is a full-service law firm representing businesses, nonprofits, healthcare organizations, government entities and individual clients in Arkansas and across the United States. The firm is the largest in Arkansas with 90 attorneys and 100 support personnel.

Recognised as one of the oldest law firms in Arkansas, FEC has had the privilege of representing clients for 150 years. The firm attributes its success to a strong foundation of devoted leadership and a continuous, sharp focus on clients’ needs.

FEC believes that this foundation, along with offering services in more than 50 areas of the law, has allowed the firm to become the largest law firm in Arkansas with offices in Little Rock (headquarters) and Rogers. Price C. Gardner, the firm’s managing partner, also serves as chairman of the management committee. William Mell Griffin III is vice-chairman of the committee that includes a total of 15 partners. Known for its rich history and vast scope of services, FEC is committed to further development and growth within the firm and the community to best serve its clients. Clients are FEC's focus — every day.

At FEC, wealth management is at the core of the trust and estate planning practice group. The attorneys' team has experience with various complex estate plans, estate matters, trust administration, trust and estate controversies, preparation of gift and estate tax returns, review of fiduciary income tax returns and nonprofit trusts. The practice group focuses mostly on individuals and private clients, some of whom own businesses in almost all industry sectors.

FOCUSED ON CLIENTS Business owners, farmers and ranchers, physicians, lawyers and other professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, executives, retirees and their families all trust Friday, Eldredge & Clark for counsel on these matters. The organisation not only helps individuals but also family-owned businesses and all types of tax-exempt organisations. It also advises fiduciaries on the administration of estates and trusts.

The firm effectively counsels individual and corporate fiduciaries, executors, administrators, guardians, trustees and beneficiaries on the estate administration and settlement process, guiding them through the legal requirements imposed by the governing documents and state law as well as the tax compliance obligations for fiduciary income taxes, estate and gift taxes and generation-skipping transfer taxes.

FOCUSED ON SERVICES
Estate Planning - The accumulation, preservation and transfer of familys' wealth is at the heart of the trust and estate planning practice group. They are focused every day on helping clients achieve these goals through comprehensive tax, business, and personal planning strategies. Clients receive personalised estate planning solutions to carry out their particular desires while minimizing taxes, maximizing financial benefits to their families and fulfilling philanthropic objectives.
  • Personal tax planning
  • Business planning
  • Retirement planning
  • Life insurance planning
  • Planning for disability and special needs
  • Risk management and asset protection
  • Family legacy and philanthropy
  • Prenuptial/premarital agreements

Probate & Trust Administration - Your estate plan is effective only if it is properly executed and administered. The team's lawyers will work with your executors and trustees in matters of probate and estate and trust administration to see that your wishes are carried out and your loved ones are protected.
Charitable Giving - If your plans include a significant role for philanthropy, help to maximize the impact of your giving is offered by determining the most tax-efficient techniques and the most effective vehicles to accomplish your charitable objectives. The lawyers are experienced in establishing family foundations and public charity-supporting organizations, as well as charitable remainder trusts and charitable lead trusts which benefit both family and charity while securing the advantages of income, estate, and gift tax deductions.
Family Business Planning - Family businesses pose special estate planning challenges, and Friday, Eldredge & Clark is skilled at all aspects of business asset and succession planning.  The firm will help you achieve personal and business objectives through effective corporate and tax strategies. The tax lawyers have advised the founders of many public and private companies on estate planning, business succession planning, financial and liquidity planning.

FOCUSED ON THE TEAM Many of the attorneys in the trust and estate planning practice area are Certified Public Accountants (inactive) and all have masters of laws in taxation. Six attorneys have been named as a fellow by the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Ranked Offices

Provided by Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP

USA - Head office

Friday, Eldredge & Clark, LLP rankings

High Net Worth Guide 2024
Arkansas
Private Wealth Law
1 Department
7 Ranked Lawyers
Department
Private Wealth Law
1
Private Wealth Law
1
Band 1
Lawyers
S
Byron Eiseman
S
Senior Statespeople
1
W. Thomas Baxter
1
Band 1
2
J. Lee Brown
Head of Private Wealth Law
2
Band 2
2
Sarah Cotton Patterson
2
Band 2
3
Allison J. Cornwell
3
Band 3
3
K. Coleman Westbrook
3
Band 3
3
Katie Watson Bingham
3
Band 3

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