Robert Agresta

Practice Summary

Robert Agresta is a Partner in the firm’s Private Client, Family Office, Trusts and Estates, Corporate, and Litigation practices. For more than fifteen years, Mr. Agresta has represented the owners of closely held enterprises and family offices and served as trustee of family trusts. His business-minded multi-disciplinary approach has lead to the development of trusted professional relationships spanning business operations, succession planning, family office governance and crisis management. He is often engaged to handle high stakes matters where swift action and a trusted, conscientious and business oriented voice is needed. Mr. Agresta also serves as trustee and private trust company director and delivers an integrated platform for family office and private trust company services. His work is directed toward organizing capital as a coordinated system rather than a collection of disconnected accounts, entities, and advisors. At scale, proper structure reduces cost, improves tax efficiency, and often allows access to institutional pricing, direct ownership, and negotiated terms. Risk is managed at the family level by aligning operating businesses, real estate, leverage, liquidity, and investment exposure within a single framework. The framework also provides for integrated family office-style functions including implementation of fintech and management of payables, domestic employees, real property and tangible assets. As counsel, Mr. Agresta integrates fiduciary governance with oversight of legal, tax, investment, and liquidity considerations, providing continuity across trust governance and broader family operations. This approach professionalizes cash flow management, internal lending, collateral decisions, covenant tracking, and borrowing and liquidation decisions. Succession planning is treated as an ongoing operating function within the agile framework, with governance, reporting, and successor engagement established early and proactively. Across all engagements, his focus is on alignment—ensuring that structures, decisions, and advisors support durable outcomes over time. Mr. Agresta is also admitted to practice in Wyoming and has substantial experience with Wyoming-based structures. His work includes forming and advising Wyoming private trust companies, serving as trustee for Wyoming-administered trusts, and structuring directed trust arrangements and long-term dynasty trusts under Wyoming law. He regularly works with Wyoming-based fiduciaries and service providers on trust administration, decanting, modification, and regulatory compliance. His courtroom background in contested and high exposure matters informs a practical approach to advising clients. Mr. Agresta has resolved matters in state and federal courts, arbitration proceedings, and state and federal enforcement matters. Throughout his professional career, he has been helping clients protect their reputations, privacy and security. His litigation experience includes prosecution of antitrust and civil RICO matters, complex commercial litigation and arbitration, and federal proceedings involving significant financial exposure. He has litigated numerous matters to award or settlement and has briefed and argued appeals in state and federal appellate courts. Mr. Agresta is licensed to practice in New York, Wyoming, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. and holds an MBA from the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in Switzerland. He is a dual citizen of Italy and the United States, is fluent in English, Italian, German, and Spanish, and is a licensed pilot and avid skier.