CHARLES J. GROPPE for forty-nine years has concentrated his practice in the area of estates and trusts, including estate planning; tax planning; drafting of wills, trusts and related documents; administration, settlement and distribution of estates and trusts, and Surrogate's Court litigation in contested matters. Mr. Groppe currently advises numerous estate and trust beneficiaries as well as executors and trustees as to their rights and obligations. He has written extensively on professional subjects. He is lead editor of Harris, New York Estates: Probate, Administration and Litigation, Fifth Edition, published by Thomson West, a leading estate practice text for New York State practitioners. He was an adjunct Professor at Pace Law School from 1989 - 1994, teaching Federal Estate and Gift Taxation. He has lectured before professional and lay audiences on estate and trust related subjects, and New York Bankers Association schools, New York State Bar Association and Practising Law Institute programs. Mr. Groppe is a member of the American Bar Association, New York State Bar Association (Trusts & Estates Law Section of which he has chaired several substantive law committees). He has been a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) since 1972. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (2001 - 2009). Mr. Groppe received his undergraduate degree from City College of New York in 1953 and his law degree from St. John's University School of Law in 1959, where he was on the Deans List.