Burns & Levinson congratulates partner Lisa Cukier, Co-Chair of the firm’s Private Client Group and Chair of the Fiduciary Litigation Group, on her recent authorship and publication of a scholarly law review article entitled, “Trusts, Inheritances, Gifts and Opportunities in Divorce,” which was published in the Massachusetts Law Review. Cukier co-authored the article with Judge George Phelan, who has served on the Massachusetts Probate and Family Court since 2010. The article provides an in-depth analysis of the court’s treatment of the division of the marital estate in divorce and specifically the vulnerability of trusts incident to divorce related asset division, and the consequent impact on estate planning.
With a practice split between complex trust and estate litigation, service as a trustee and conservator, and sophisticated high-asset divorce/custody cases, Cukier is considered one of the most knowledgeable attorneys in her field. She also has a niche fiduciary and family law practice in concierge trusteeship, conservatorship and guardianship for individuals who have significant assets and reputations to protect, and who desire her high touch service as a professional fiduciary in lieu of family members or who are experiencing diminished capacity or otherwise wish to have Cukier serve in a hands-on fiduciary role. Cukier often mediates or privately adjudicates trust & estate litigation, guardianship & conservatorship disputes, and divorce & custody controversies. She is known for developing highly creative resolutions to family law and fiduciary litigation disputes, and resolving matters that others refer to as “unsolvable.” She is often asked by the courts to serve as guardian ad litem in trust & estate disputes, conservatorship litigation, and high-conflict divorce custody disputes and to represent elders who are at risk of financial exploitation by third parties.
Cukier is a sought-after speaker and has presented at 40 conferences/events over the past three years. She has been named to the Lawdragon 500: Leading Family Lawyers (2024); Boston Magazine’s Top Lawyers list for Divorce and Family Law (2021-2023), Best Lawyers in America for Family Law (2010-2024), and a National Law Journal Divorce, Trusts & Estates Trailblazer, among many other awards. She received her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School and her B.A. from Northeastern University.
About Burns & Levinson LLP
At Burns & Levinson, we provide high-level, client-centric and results-oriented legal services to our regional, national and international clients. We are a full-service law firm with 130 lawyers in Boston, Providence and London. Our areas of expertise include: business/finance, business litigation, divorce/family law, venture capital/emerging companies, employment, estate planning, government investigations, intellectual property, M&A/private equity, probate/trust litigation, and real estate. We partner with our clients to solve their business and personal legal issues in a collaborative, creative and cost-effective way. For more information, visit Burns & Levinson at www.burnslev.com.
