Charles W. Pieterse

Practice Areas

• Litigation Group

• Fiduciary and Probate Litigation Group - Principal and Co-Chair

• Trusts and Estates Litigation

• Business and Commercial Litigation

• Appellate Litigation

• Closely-Held Business Litigation

• Tax Controversy and Litigation

• Asbestos Defense/Toxic Torts/Product Liability Litigation

Professional Memberships

• American Bar Association

• Connecticut Bar Association

- Estates & Probate Section (Executive Committee)

- Litigation Section

- Connecticut Bar Foundation: (James W. Cooper Fellow)

• American College of Trust and Estate Counsel

- Fiduciary Litigation Committee

- Professional Responsibility Committee

• Fairfield County Bar Association

• Greenwich Bar Association (President, 2004, and 2005)

• Family and Children’s Agency (Vice President, Board of Directors, 2008 - present)

• Community Centers, Inc. (President, Board of Directors, 1993-1999)

• Lawyers for Children America Volunteer Attorney (Connecticut Regional Leadership Council Member)

• Dean’s Law Firm Advisory Council, Fordham Law School (2014-present)

• President, Connecticut Chapter, Fordham Law School Alumni Association (2010-2012, 2014-2016)

Publications

• Speaker, 2025 Cambridge Forum on Private Wealth Litigation, "Scope of Disclosure Trustee Owes Beneficiary as to Trust Owned

Business," April 2025

• Speaker, Connecticut Bar Association, Estates and Probate Section, "Litigation Under the Connecticut Uniform Trust Code," April

2025

• Speaker, New England Regional Meeting of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”), “Hot Topics in Fiduciary

Litigation,” October 20, 2024

• Speaker, 2024 ACTEC Full Meeting, Chicago, Illinois, Fiduciary Litigation Committee: “Too Little, Too Much or Just Right – Notice

Issues for Beneficiaries, Trustees and Other Fiduciaries,” September 21, 2024

• Speaker, 2024 ACTEC Summer Meeting, Toronto, Canada, Fiduciary Administration Committee, “Powers of Appointment Gone Awry,”

June 21, 2024

• Speaker, 2024 Cambridge Forum on Private Wealth Litigation, “Powers of Appointment in Litigation,” April 2024

• Speaker, 2024 New England ACTEC Fellows Institute, “Fiduciary Litigation – Emerging Trends,” April 5, 2024

• Moderator and Speaker, 2023 Federal Tax Institute of New England, “Common Conflicts in Trust, Estate, and Fiduciary Matters:

Problems and Solutions," November 2, 2023

• Speaker, 2023 Cambridge Forum on Private Wealth Litigation, “Aging of America – The Impact of Declining Capacity on the Transfer of

Wealth,” April 2023

• Moderator and Speaker, New England Regional Meeting of ACTEC, “Ethics Potpourri – A Discussion of Current Ethical Issues,”

September 2022

• Moderator and Speaker, 2022 Federal Tax Institute of New England, “Measure Twice, Cut Once – Revisiting Ethical Issues Commonly

Encountered by Trust & Estate Practitioners,” April 28, 2022

• Moderator and Speaker, American Law Institute, "Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries 2021:" “Where Angels

Fear to Tread – Representing the Impaired Client,” October 2021

• Moderator and Speaker, Connecticut Bar Association, Elder Law Section, “Preservation of the Estate Plan in the Face of Incapacity,

Disruption and Avarice,” April 28, 2021

• Moderator and Speaker, 2020 Federal Tax Institute of New England, “The Hazards of Ethical Lawyering,” November 10, 2020

• Moderator and Speaker, American Law Institute, “Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries 2018,” “When Offshore

Trust Disputes Washup Onshore” (a presentation focusing on the legal, procedural and strategic issues arising in domestic litigation

involving offshore trusts), July 2019

• Moderator and Speaker, Connecticut Bar Association Attorneys Connecticut Legal Conference: Conservatorship Litigation – “A

Discussion of Strategic, Legal and Ethical Issues,” June 2019

• Speaker, Cambridge Forum on Private Wealth Litigation: "Guardianship/Conservatorship Litigation Strategies," April 2019

• Speaker, Quinnipiac University School of Law Attorney/Law Students/Law Faculty Emerging Scholars Discussion Series: "A

Discussion of Tortious Inheritance with Inheritance – whether it should be recognized in Connecticut," April 2019

• Speaker, “The Ultimate Guide to Probate,” National Business Institute, September 2018, Topic: “Ethical Practice Considerations and

Concerns in Probate Court”

• Speaker, “Estate Administration from Start to Finish,” National Business Institute, May 2018, Topic: “Ethics and Estate Administration”

• Speaker, “Estate Administration from Start to Finish,” National Business Institute, May 2017, Topic: “Ethical Practice Considerations

and Concerns in Probate Court”

• Speaker, “The Probate Process from Start to Finish for Paralegals,” National Business Institute, April 2017, Topic: “Ethical Perils in the

Probate Process”

• Speaker, “The Ultimate Guide to Probate,” National Business Institute, November 2016, Topic: “Ethical Practice Considerations and

Concerns in Probate Court”

• Speaker, “Drafting Trustee Releases and Beneficiary Consents,” Connecticut Bar Association, Estates and Probate Section and Young

Lawyers Section, New Haven, CT, May 12, 2015

• “Releases between Trustees and Beneficiaries: Ensuring Enforceability” published in the Connecticut Bar Association Estates &

Probate Newsletter, December 2014

• Speaker, “Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries,” American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education Group (ALI-CLE),

Chicago, Ill., July 2014, Topic: “Releases and Their Challenges.”

• “The Effectiveness of Retention Clauses and Exculpatory Language under Connecticut Law” published in the Connecticut Bar

Association Estates & Probate Newsletter, May 2010 (Co-Author)

• “Exculpation and Proaction,” Estate Planning Magazine, February, 2010 (Co-Author)

• Speaker, “Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries,” American Law Institute-American Bar Association, Chicago,

Illinois, July 2009, Topic: “Exculpatory Language in Wills and Trusts”

• Guest Commentary: “Companion Opinions Address Emerging Trend in Standard of Proof of Debt Owed,” Bank Bailout Litigation

News, November 9, 1998, Commercial Lending Litigation News, November 1998

• “A Question of Fault – Apportioning Contract Damages,” Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, October 1997

Experience

Charlie is a Principal and Co-Chair of Cummings & Lockwood's Fiduciary and Probate Litigation Group. Described by Chambers & Partners as one of the leading probate litigators in the United States, Charlie has represented clients before state and federal trial and appellate courts, probate courts, and surrogate's courts in a broad range of matters, including trusts and estate litigation and complex business and commercial litigation.

Charlie’s trust and estate litigation experience includes representation of corporate and individual trustees, executors, beneficiaries, conservators, guardians and attorneys-in-fact in disputes involving all aspects of probate and trust and estate litigation, including breach of fiduciary duty claims, trustee surcharge and removal proceedings, contested accountings, will and trust contests, construction and decanting proceedings, conservatorship and guardianship proceedings and contested lifetime transfers. Charlie is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”) and serves on its Fiduciary Litigation and Professional Responsibility Committees, as well as its Fiduciary Administration Task Force.

Charlie has been recognized as a Trust & Estate Litigation Lawyer of the Year on multiple occasions by The Best Lawyers in America, and as a leading private wealth disputes lawyer (Tier 1) by Chambers & Partners, which described him as “a renowned trust and estate litigator," and as "smart, creative, and aggressive - a winning combination.”

Expert in these Jurisdictions

• Connecticut

• Massachusetts

• New York

• U.S. Supreme Court

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Second Circuit

• U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut

• U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York

• U.S. Tax Court

Education