Karen Schaefer

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Partner, Barclay Damon LLP

Years in current role: 37

What do you enjoy most about your position?

The most rewarding aspect of what I do every day is building deep relationships with my clients. To develop comprehensive estate and business succession plans, we discuss not only their finances, family and strategic business matters, but their intimate goals for protecting the people they care about and the businesses they so carefully nurtured. This type of planning saves enormous amounts of taxes and other costs, thereby maximizing the value of my clients’ legacies, but also provides peace of mind that the work they developed over a lifetime is preserved and protected.

What are the biggest current challenges in trusts and estates law?

The biggest challenge we face as estate planners is keeping pace with the accelerating changes in technology, laws and our clients’ needs. My firm and in particular, our trusts and estates, business and tax teams here in Rochester, as well as over our platform in the Northeast and Florida, are continuously researching and implementing new software systems as well as legal and tax strategies to maximize value to our clients. This process of continuous improvement involves a significant and proactive commitment of time and focus by our team members and training of next-generation attorneys.

What do you think the biggest change in your practice area will be over the next 3-5 years?

One of the biggest changes we face is the increasing complexity of our clients’ needs as they have assets, businesses and family members spanning multiple jurisdictions. The demographic profile of our clients, their family members and key personnel is undergoing rapid change too as generations X and Y reach the point of requiring sophisticated counsel. Not surprisingly, those from the oncoming generations have different and unique priorities and objectives. Thankfully we have team members that reflect our clients’ demographic profile and who are well versed in the complexities they face.

This profile is part of The Daily Record's Power List for Trusts & Estates for 2023. Information used in this profile was sourced from the honoree. View the full list here.