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Leonard J. Adler
Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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Len Adler is a Managing Director and Associate Fiduciary Counsel for Bessemer's Florida offices. Prior to joining Bessemer, Mr. Adler was a Managing Director at JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A, where he was responsible for tax and estate planning strategy for clients of the Private Bank in Florida. Earlier, Mr. Adler spent 23 years in the private practice of law in New York and Florida, most recently as a shareholder with Greenberg Traurig, P.A.
Mr. Adler is a frequent lecturer on estate planning topics and has been quoted in national publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Barron's and Business Week. He is active in community organizations and in the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the Florida Bar.
Mr. Adler earned a B.S. in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, a J.D. from Columbia University, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University. He is a member of the New York and Florida bars.
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Steve R. Akers
Fiduciary Counsel, Southwest Region
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Steve R. Akers, JD, is a Managing Director with Bessemer Trust in Dallas, Texas, where he is Fiduciary Counsel, Southwest Region.
Mr. Akers is a member of the Advisory Committee to the University of Miami Philip E. Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning and is a frequent speaker at that Institute, as well as other estate planning seminars across the country. He is a past Chair of the American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust & Estate Law and continues to serve on various committees of that Section. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and currently serves as a Regent, as the Editor of the ACTEC Journal and as a member of the ACTEC Long Range Planning Committee. He is a past Chair of the State Bar of Texas Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section and of the Dallas Bar Probate, Trusts and Estates Section. He is a co-author of A Planning Guide to Buy-Sell Agreements.
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Alice C. Davenport
Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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Ms. Davenport is a member of the Legacy Planning Department at Bessemer Trust, working with Bessemer clients and their attorneys and other advisors to develop multigenerational wealth transfer plans. Prior to joining Bessemer in 2011, Ms. Davenport was at Bernstein Global Wealth Management for nine years, initially as a Senior Tax and Estate Planning Analyst in the Wealth Management Group and then as Director, Private Client Learning & Development. Previously, she was an attorney in the Trusts and Estates department of Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP and also practiced law at Jackson Tufts Cole & Black in San Francisco.
Ms. Davenport received an A.B. in Russian and Soviet Studies and an M.P.A. from Cornell University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. She serves on the Yale Law School Fund Board.
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George W. Kern
Senior Resident Officer/Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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George W. Kern, V is Principal and Senior Resident Officer/Associate Fiduciary Counsel residing in Bessemer Trust's Delaware office. Prior to joining the company in 2006, Mr. Kern served as Fiduciary Manager and Vice President with J.P. Morgan Trust Company of Delaware. Before that, he was a practicing estates and trusts attorney in Pennsylvania and Delaware.
Mr. Kern is an active member of the Delaware Bar Association and currently serves as Vice-Chair of its Trust and Estates Section. He is also member of its Trust Act Drafting Committee. In addition, Mr. Kern is a member of the Philadelphia and Delaware Estate Planning Councils as well as a member of the international organization, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners.
Mr. Kern earned a B.A. in International Relations from Ursinus College in Pennsylvania, a J.D. from Widener University School of Law in Delaware, and an LL.M. in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law.
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James L. Kronenberg
Chief Fiduciary Counsel
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Mr. Kronenberg is a Managing Director and Chief Fiduciary Counsel for the Bessemer Trust companies. In that capacity he oversees the Legacy Planning and Estate Administration departments. He also supervises Bessemer’s Philanthropic Advisory and Family Wealth Stewardship services.
Prior to joining Bessemer in 2001, Mr. Kronenberg was an attorney at Patterson, Belknap, Webb & Tyler LLP in New York, practicing in its Trusts and Estates and Tax Exempt Organizations departments. Before that, he worked as a law clerk at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Mr. Kronenberg is active in the Tax Section of the American Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association.
Mr. Kronenberg received a J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from the New York University School of Law and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Pennsylvania.
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Lynn Halpern Lederman
Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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Lynn Halpern Lederman is a member of the Legacy Planning Department at Bessemer Trust and assists clients in developing wealth transfer planning strategies. Prior to joining Bessemer in 2007, Ms. Lederman was a member of the Estate Planning Department at United States Trust Company of New York for nearly eight years. Prior to that, she was an attorney in the trusts and estates department of Pitney, Hardin, Kipp & Szuch (now Day Pitney, LLP) in Morristown, New Jersey. Before entering private practice, she served as a law clerk for Associate Justice Robert L. Clifford of the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Ms. Lederman is a frequent lecturer on topics related to trust and estate planning, including for the Practicing Law Institute and the New York Bankers Association. She has also served as an Adjunct Professor at New York Law School.
She is a past President of the Estate Planning Council of Northern New Jersey and belongs to the New Jersey and American Bar Associations, including the Real Property, Trust and Estate Law sections. She is also a member of the New Jersey and International Women’s Forums.
Ms. Lederman graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in History and received her J.D., with honors, from Duke University School of Law. She is a member of the Board of the Penn Club of Metropolitan New Jersey and is a member of The Board of Directors of the Duke Law School Law Alumni Association.
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Mark R. Parthemer
Fiduciary Counsel, Southeast Region
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Mr. Parthemer is Fiduciary Counsel and Head of Legacy Planning for the Southeast Region. He joined Bessemer Trust, an exclusive wealth management firm, in 2004 as a Legacy Planner working with our Florida clients. Prior to joining Bessemer Trust, Mr. Parthemer was in private law practice in Pennsylvania and Florida, most recently as a Trust and Estate partner with Duane Morris LLP. He also spent several years at PricewaterhouseCoopers and was involved in private businesses.
Mr. Parthemer is a frequent national lecturer and published author; Vice Chair, ABA Insurance & Financial Planning Committee; member Florida Bankers Association, Trust Executive Committee, and Chair of the FBA's Trust Legislation Committee; member, Synergy Summit Steering Committee; and member, Florida and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. He also writes a regular column for the Journal of Financial Service Professionals magazine.
He has been faculty for the University of Miami's Heckerling Institute, Adjunct Professor, Widener University School of Law, and a guest lecturer at the University of Miami School of Law's LLM program. He frequently has been honored as one of the Best Lawyers in America and a Florida Super Lawyer.
Mr. Parthemer received his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law, Penn State University, and his B.A. and B.S. degrees from Franklin and Marshall College.
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Benjamin H. Pruett
Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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Mr. Pruett is a Senior Vice President and Associate Fiduciary Counsel with our Legacy Planning Group. His responsibilities include developing inter-generational wealth transfer planning strategies for clients served by our offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Washington, D.C., where he is based. Prior to joining Bessemer Trust in 2006, Mr. Pruett practiced law for eighteen years, most recently with King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta, where he assisted clients with a wide range of wealth transfer, trust, estate planning, estate administration, and tax issues.
Mr. Pruett is a past chair of both the Fiduciary Legislation Committee of the State Bar of Georgia and the Estate Planning and Probate Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), where he serves on the Business Planning and State Laws Committees, and is active in the American Bar Association's Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section. Mr. Pruett is a frequent speaker at continuing education programs for attorneys, and his publications include Tales from the Dark Side: Drafting Issues from the Fiduciary's Perspective, published in the Spring 2010 edition of the ACTEC Journal, Internal Revenue Code Section 6166: Comments to Tax Counsel for The Senate Finance Committee, published in the Spring 2006 edition of the Real Property Probate and Trust Journal, and The Georgia Higher Education Savings Plan: Georgia's Qualified Tuition Program Offers Substantial Tax Benefits, published in the August 2002 edition of the Georgia Bar Journal. Mr. Pruett received his B.B.A. in Accounting and J.D. from the University of Georgia.
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Susan R. Schoenfeld
Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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Ms. Schoenfeld joined Bessemer's legacy planning department in 1998, and helps Bessemer's clients develop and implement generational wealth transfer planning strategies. She also chairs the Special Investments and Discretionary Distributions Committee and is a member of the Officers Committee. Ms. Schoenfeld has more than 20 years of experience in tax law and estate planning.
Ms. Schoenfeld was awarded an LL.M. (in Taxation) from New York University School of Law, a J.D. from Pace University School of Law, and MBA (with distinction) and BBA (summa cum laude) degrees in Accounting from Pace University. She is also a Certified Public Accountant.
Ms. Schoenfeld has authored a number of published articles, and frequently speaks to professional groups on estate planning matters. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association (Estate Planning Committee 2003- ), the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Estate and Gift Taxation Committee 2000-2003) and the Westchester County Bar Association. She formerly edited the Estates & Trusts Column of the CPA Journal and chaired the Estate Planning Committee and the Tax Division Oversight Committee of the New York State Society of Certified Public Accountants. She is also past-President of the Westchester Chapter of that Society. She chaired the Foundation for Accounting Education's 2000 through 2003 Estate Planning Conferences, and also its 2002 and 2003 Annual Tax Conferences.
Ms. Schoenfeld serves as volunteer Treasurer of a non-profit performing arts school in Westchester County, New York.
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Laura Waters Zeigler
Associate Fiduciary Counsel
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Ms. Zeigler is a Senior Vice President in the Legacy Planning Group and Associate Fiduciary Counsel. Prior to joining Bessemer in 2008, Ms. Zeigler was a senior associate attorney at Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Century City practicing in the area of trusts and estates, charitable giving, and trust controversy.
Ms. Zeigler is the former Chairman of the Estate and Gift Tax Section of the Los Angeles County Bar Association (2006-2007) and a former junior board member of the Make A Wish Foundation of Greater Los Angeles (2004-2006). Ms. Zeigler has been listed as Southern California Rising Star in Estate Planning and Trusts (2005-2009) in Los Angeles Magazine and Southern California Super Lawyers Magazine.
Ms. Zeigler earned an LL.M. in Taxation from Boston University School of Law, 1999, her J.D. from The John Marshall Law School, magna cum laude, in 1995, and her B.A., from Southern Methodist University, 1991.
