Calfee’s Family Office Practice is built upon decades of experience working with single-family and multi-family offices providing comprehensive legal services to family office personnel and family office clients alike.
We advise family offices across the full lifecycle of strategic transactions – formation and structuring, mergers & acquisitions, private investment, joint ventures, etc. – tailoring legal, tax, and governance solutions to preserve family objectives and wealth continuity. Our multidisciplinary team conducts targeted due diligence, negotiates deal terms and governance rights, structures tax-efficient acquisitions and dispositions, and integrates risk management and succession planning so each transaction advances long-term financial, operational and legacy goals.
Whether investing directly or through funds and co-investments, we design bespoke investment vehicles, align economic and control structures among stakeholders, and draft robust joint venture agreements and operating documents that balance flexibility with protection. We coordinate with advisors on regulatory, tax and estate considerations, implement compliance frameworks, and deliver practical playbooks for post-closing integration, reporting and exit planning – giving family offices confidence to pursue growth while safeguarding governance, confidentiality and family priorities. We pride ourselves on anticipating and responding to the unique challenges that present themselves in this highly complex, yet distinctly personal practice area.
Calfee’s Family Office attorneys regularly interface with family office personnel and family office clients directly, and we are committed to providing timely, efficient, and effective solutions to the sensitive legal issues faced by our clients.
Whether you are a principal service provider in a family office, a client of a family office, or interested in establishing a family office, our family office lawyers are keenly focused on the important issues encountered in this specialty practice.
Estate planning is a critical component to Calfee’s Family Office Practice. Those services run the gamut, from the "blocking and tackling" necessary to get fundamental estate plans in place, to the highly complex issues surrounding advanced strategies such as GRATs, SLATs, IDGTs, CRATs, CLATs, and CRUTs.
We also have been actively assisting clients in the formation and administration of Private Family Trust Companies (a relatively new form of institutional trustee allowed under Ohio statute).
Calfee is ranked as a "Leading Law Firm" in Private Wealth Law in Ohio in the Chambers High Net Worth Guide, most recently in 2025 in Band 2.
Chambers HNW is the only independent directory specifically aimed at the private wealth market that ranks law firms according to their private client disciplines. As part of the ranking process, Chambers HNW interviews clients and sources to obtain feedback on the firm’s practice. A source said Calfee’s attorneys “have an outstanding reputation – they are known for being very sophisticated planners but also warm and genuine with clients, and they have a very, very loyal following. They're extremely collaborative, they're comfortable being part of a team, communicating with everyone on the team, and getting things done cost-effectively."
A market insider highlights the firm's "strong reputation with small businesses," going on to explain that "they believe in personal relationships, they get intimately involved with businesses they represent. They understand the family dynamics of a small business."
Another Chambers HNW source reports that "the firm's experience with this market is extensive. Calfee provides thorough, efficient, and timely legal services to clients of all sizes. Calfee lawyers understand the need for empathy and kindness and are available to counsel family clients as needed. A strong suit is their communication talents. No question is left unanswered; their responses are thought-out and thorough. They use their experience to anticipate future events. Then they explain their thinking in clear, concise terms that maintain the clients' understanding. Their advice and counsel are always reasoned and always relevant.”
Calfee was selected for inclusion in the 2026 "Best Law Firms" rankings in the following areas:
"The firm's experience with this market is extensive. Calfee provides thorough, efficient, and timely legal services to clients of all sizes. Calfee lawyers understand the need for empathy and kindness and are available to counsel family clients as needed...Their advice and counsel are always reasoned and always relevant.”
Chambers HNW, Private Wealth Law
