Fletcher Tilton boosts elder law division
Fred Misilo, director, officer and chair of trust and estates department, Fletcher Tilton, PC.
As Worcester law firm Fletcher Tilton nears its 200th year of serving clients, the business has gotten increasingly complex in order to serve its clients throughout their entire lives. The latest move came in April when it brought the two-person Medfield practice of Jack McNicholas and Mary Proulx into the firm, to augment Fletcher’s already robust elder law division.
How does elder law fit into Fletcher’s services?
It is part of our core practice within the trust and estate department. Elder law is really a factor in a broad trust and estate services to clients. It is at that point in life where people are looking at retirement, planning, and preserving their assets while trying to set aside as much as they can for their families and maintaining a certain quality of life for themselves.
Think of trusts and estates as a very highly personal service delivery. We counsel families on the preservation of their money for their lives and their children. It is really about legacy in some fashion. People want to preserve what they have worked for.
How big is the department?
The trust and estate department is a very significant part of this firm. We, as a department, manage about $500 million in assets for our clients, including families, foundations, trusts and estates. That serves as a real anchor for this firm and our clients that have been with us a number of years.
Is all of your work in Massachusetts?
The bulk of our practice is Massachusetts-based, and most of the lawyers in the trusts and estates department focus on Massachusetts. However, I am accredited in Rhode Island and Florida, as are other lawyers in the firm.
Why Florida?
That is a reflection of a philosophy that has served this law firm since its founding in 1822, which is to continually look to ways to be responsive to clients’ needs and clients’ desires. Certain clients of ours who may have come from the Worcester or MetroWest area may now gravitate toward Florida. It is called the Sunshine State for good reasons – it is a nice climate – and it also has favorable tax treatment in income tax and estate tax. By being licensed down there, we can really help families that have changed their domicile from Massachusetts to Florida to meet their legal needs.
Why bring on the two Medfield attorneys?
Jack McNicholas and Mary Proulx bring with them more than 60 years of combined experience in the elder law area. They are leaders in the field of elder law. Jack has been been at the forefront of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, serving on its public policy committee and the litigation committee. They are very active in the elder law bar. We wanted to bring the best talent possible in order to serve our clients needs.
Culturally, they are aligned with the philosophy of our trust and estate department, which is important in selecting attorneys to ensure they work with clients in the way that we work with clients.
What is that cultural philosophy?
We want to maintain a commitment with families that lasts a lifetime.
That is one of the things we try to espouse in the special needs and elder law areas: as you go through various life experience – buying a house, having a first child, buying a second property, having a child with disability, retiring, downsizing, perhaps going through a divorce, opening a business – you often don’t know where to go for advice. What we try to do is provide a range of legal services to enable our clients to get the best legal advice.
As technology narrows the gap between large and small firms, how does Fletcher stand out?
A firm like Fletcher Tilton differs from so many other firms – which is why I have been here for 30 years – is we really strive to provide the state-of-the-art practice within each practice group within each department. Not only are you getting the fungible level of service, but you are getting the expertise that has been developed over decades from people that practice that specific area of law.
-This interview was conducted and edited for length and clarity by Brad Kane, WBJ editor.
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