Palo Alto (January 2, 2008) — Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP today announced that Kim T. Schoknecht will join the firm’s Silicon Valley office as partner in the Estates, Trusts Tax Planning (ETTP) practice.

Schoknecht comes to Pillsbury from Barulich Schoknecht Dugoni, a San Mateo estate planning boutique where he focused on estate planning, administering large and complex probate and trust estates, and resolving beneficiary and fiduciary disputes. He previously spent 22 years as a partner with Hanson Bridgett Marcus Vlahos Rudy in San Francisco, where he held a number of management positions.

At Pillsbury, Schoknecht will focus his practice on the full range of estate succession, gift transfer and wealth planning services, working with individuals and families on the development and administration of trusts and estates and the tax, financial and legal issues that are associated with them. Pillsbury’s ETTP team also assists on matters concerning the transition of closely held companies, including advising on buy-sell agreements, recapitalizations, sales of non-voting stock to trusts with income and transfer tax savings, and coordinating tax planning with advice to corporate management.

“Kim will add critical mass to our national Estates, Trusts Tax Planning practice, and will be fundamental in expanding our presence in Silicon Valley,” said Jennifer Jordan McCall, who heads Pillsbury’s ETTP practice and splits her time between Palo Alto and New York. “The ETTP practice is experiencing an increased volume of new work and Kim’s 30-year background in trust and estate law will help to not only further develop this work, but also to attract additional business.”

As a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, Schoknecht joins Pillsbury partners McCall, Ellen Harrison and Richard Franklin in this prestigious peer-nominated group of the nation’s top trust and estate attorneys. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Schoknecht earned his J.D. from the UCLA School of Law.

“Growing the Silicon Valley office is one of our strategic goals for 2008 and we are very excited to kick off the new year with the addition of Kim to our Estates, Trusts Tax Planning practice,” said Stephen Wurzburg, Managing Partner of Pillsbury’s Silicon Valley office. “Kim is unique in that he brings not only exceptional legal acumen, but also exceptional business savvy from his management duties at Hanson Bridgett.”

The 2006 and 2007 Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business named Pillsbury’s ETTP group as a leading national practice in the Wealth Management field. Chambers also recognized McCall and Harrison individually, naming Harrison to the top tier of Wealth Management lawyers in the Eastern region in 2007.

“Pillsbury’s Estates, Trusts Tax Planning practice is regarded as one of the premier in the U.S.,” said Schoknecht. “That recognition and the resources it brings will allow me to provide my clients an enhanced level of service.”

About Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP is a dynamic full-service law firm with market-leading strengths in the energy, financial services, real estate and technology sectors. Our lawyers serve clients throughout the U.S. and internationally from key global financial centers including New York, London, Tokyo and Shanghai. Industry-driven client teams and a multidisciplinary approach to crucial business issues of the day also ensure our clients receive thorough counsel on all aspects of a matter.

The 2008 Corporate Counsel survey of in-house counsel at Fortune 500 companies named Pillsbury a "Go-To Firm" in six practice areas—corporate transactions, international, IP, litigation, labor and employment and securities.