What the GC Relationship Covers
The scope is defined at engagement and adjusted as the family’s needs evolve. A typical Dilendorf GC engagement includes:
Structural and entity management. Ongoing maintenance of the family’s holding structure — entity formation and dissolution, trust amendments, beneficial-ownership changes, succession events, and integration of new acquisitions or investments into the existing architecture.
Regulatory compliance oversight. Corporate Transparency Act monitoring, family office exemption analysis under the Investment Advisers Act, FATCA and FBAR coordination, OFAC screening, NYDFS and SEC compliance for any regulated subsidiaries, and state licensing renewals.
Cybercrime and incident response. First call when something happens — SIM-swap, wire fraud, exchange theft, ransomware, domain hijacking, or attempted account takeover. The GC relationship means counsel already knows the family’s counterparties, custodians, and exposure before the incident — and can move within minutes, not days.
Transactional support. Real estate acquisitions and dispositions, private investments, M&A involving family-owned businesses, joint ventures, vendor agreements, and counterparty contracts.
Banking coordination. Account-opening with U.S. and international institutions, Swiss banking relationships, custody arrangements with crypto and traditional custodians, and ongoing institutional onboarding as new entities are added.
Succession and generational events. Implementation of the family’s estate plan when triggering events occur — marriage, birth, divorce, incapacity, death — with coordination across trustees, executors, beneficiaries, and tax advisors.
Cross-border and immigration coordination. Pre-immigration tax planning, EB-5 and Gold Card visa structuring, source-of-funds documentation, and coordination with immigration counsel for family members relocating to or from the U.S.
Litigation and dispute coordination. Initial triage of disputes (whether brought by the family or against it), engagement and supervision of specialist litigators or arbitrators where required, and protection of privilege across the family’s communications.
Crisis management. Reputation issues, regulatory inquiries, government investigations, kidnap and ransom scenarios, and other high-pressure events requiring coordinated legal, communications, and security response.
Family governance. Family constitutions, governance protocols, council and committee structures, conflict resolution among family members, and the legal foundation for next-generation planning.
Coordination With Existing Advisors
The GC role is not adversarial to the family’s existing team — it strengthens it.
We coordinate with accountants and tax advisors on filings, planning, and audits; with investment advisors and trustees on portfolio and fiduciary matters; with family office staff on day-to-day operations; with outside specialists (immigration, litigation, regulatory) on matters requiring particular expertise; with insurance brokers on coverage and claims; and with banking and custody institutions on account-level matters.
The GC’s job is to make sure the team works as one, not as a series of disconnected disciplines.
Who This Is For
- Single-family offices managing $100M+ in family wealth
- Multi-family offices seeking a senior outside counsel relationship rather than building in-house
- HNW principals without a formal family office who want one trusted attorney coordinating their legal work
- International families with significant U.S. exposure requiring ongoing U.S. counsel
- Founders and high-risk professionals whose personal legal needs have outgrown ad hoc engagement
Contact Us
If your family office would benefit from a standing relationship with senior counsel, contact us at info@dilendorf.com or 212.457.9797 for a confidential consultation.
