I’m told I inspire confidence in my clients through listening carefully and guiding them tactfully. My practice requires excellent communication and personal skills. These are especially crucial in handling family disputes. In litigation I avoid needless aggression and prefer a positive, engaging and disarming approach that I find produces better results for clients.
With broad experience in both trusts and estates law and commercial litigation, Charles Berry is ardently dedicated to resolving a wide range of client issues. Drawing on knowledge from more than four decades of practice, he represents individuals, families, fiduciaries and charities in disputes stemming from wills and trusts and counsels them in estate planning and related matters. Charles has also long advocated for clients in business disputes in federal and state courts and has represented many international banks.
Charles finds it rewarding to overcome complications, difficulties and hostilities in contentious trust and estates matters and resolve these cases favorably for all parties. He works to keep clients positive and united on issues that can strengthen—rather than damage—the personal relationships of family members. As a noted T&E litigator, Charles has been involved in prominent will contests, disputed accountings, and other proceedings in the Surrogate’s Court in New York and other jurisdictions throughout the country.
As lead counsel, Charles has represented US businesses in breach of contract and business tort cases and advised many overseas banks, including on issues involving parallel proceedings in foreign jurisdictions. He also handles matters that include breach of fiduciary duty, real estate, corporate control, inter-creditor agreements, recovery of assets, ownership of art, and international enforcement of judgments. On behalf of both plaintiffs and defendants, Charles has achieved numerous trial, appellate and arbitration victories, landmark court rulings, and major settlements in a wide range of cases.
As a lawyer who employs exceptional writing and speaking skills, Charles takes true pleasure in the written word. He believes that even relatively casual communications should be expressed with care and thoughtfulness. His clients frequently comment on his ability to write persuasively, diplomatically, and with a perceptive sense of his audience. Over the years Charles has given seminars on legal writing for younger lawyers and written and lectured on fiduciary conduct and litigation.
Charles serves as a fiduciary, an appointed trustee for significant trusts, and executor of several estates. He has served on the boards of non-profits in New York City and nationally and received court appointments as guardian ad litem. The Chief Judge of the Appellate Division, First Department, has appointed him referee to hear and make recommendations on several attorney disciplinary cases.