McGuireWoods partner Charles D. “Skip” Fox IV is the new president of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), the nation’s premier association of trust and estate lawyers – the third McGuireWoods lawyer to hold the post in the past 15 years.
Fox began his one-year term on March 11 at the annual meeting of ACTEC, a nonprofit association of 2,600 trust and estate lawyers peer-elected to membership based on leadership in the field. He has been an ACTEC member since 1996 and an officer of the organization since 2014. McGuireWoods partner Ron Aucutt (2003-2004) and the late Dennis Belcher (2009-2010) previously served as ACTEC’s president.
Fox chairs McGuireWoods’ Tax & Employee Benefits Department and is the former chair of the Private Wealth Services Group, which holds a top nationwide ranking in Chambers and Partners’ High Net Worth Guide. His practice focuses on estate planning, trust and estate administration, and charitable organizations.
Throughout his career, Fox has been an influential voice in shaping U.S. estate tax policy and legislation. As general counsel for the advocacy organization Policy and Taxation Group, he helped lead research for a study that was instrumental in persuading Congress to enact estate tax reforms in 2001. He served on the editorial board of Trusts & Estates magazine and chaired the board of Trust & Investments, two leading industry publications. He wrote a monthly column for the American Bankers Association Trust Letter for 17 years, has been the co-presenter of the American Bankers Association’s monthly teleconferences on trusts and estates topics since 2000, and is a sought-after speaker on estate planning and trust administration issues for banks, trust associations, estate planning councils, tax institutes, bar associations and other organizations.
Based in the firm’s Charlottesville, Virginia, office, Fox is a faculty member of the National Trust School and the National Graduate Trust School, where he has taught many of the leaders of trust departments throughout the country for over 30 years. A peer described Fox as the “voice of authority” in the private wealth community in Chambers’ 2017 High Net Worth Guide.
“ACTEC plays a vital role in promoting the effective administration of trust and estate law and upholding the highest standards of professionalism,” Fox said. “It is a tremendous privilege to serve as ACTEC’s president and to follow Ron and Dennis in continuing McGuireWoods’ proud tradition of leadership.”
“This is a wonderful honor for Skip and the firm,” said David Pusateri, deputy managing partner of McGuireWoods’ corporate practice. “Skip’s leadership has been instrumental in the success of our Private Wealth Services Group and this recognition affirms the respect his peers throughout the country have for him.”
McGuireWoods was named “Law Firm of the Year” for trust and estate law in the 2018 edition of U.S. News-Best Lawyers’ “Best Law Firms.” It was one of only two firms to receive a nationwide Band 1 ranking for private wealth law in 2016 and 2017 in Chambers’ High Net Worth Guide.