David C. Blickenstaff

Partner and Complex Litigation Practice Co-Leader

Dave co-leads the firm’s national Complex Litigation practice.

David Blickenstaff Portrait

Dave helps beneficiaries vindicate their rights, advises individual fiduciaries in discharging their duties, and represents trust companies in their most significant and sensitive cases, including “rescue” situations in which he is called upon to assist or replace prior counsel.

Dave is a vigorous advocate. Calm and no-nonsense, he defuses difficult situations while making the strongest case for his clients. He has applied this approach successfully in scores of trust disputes, contested estates, and related matters.

In the Chambers High Net Worth Guide, a respected independent rating service, Dave is one of only five lawyers who received the highest “Band 1” ranking for Private Wealth Disputes in Illinois. According to Chambers, clients describe Dave as “wonderful to work with, incredibly responsive,” “exquisite,” and “very thoughtful, very knowledgeable about trust law and … just has a really well thought-out way of dealing with difficult clients, lowering the temperature and getting to the right resolution.”

Recognized as a leader in his field, Dave is regularly invited to speak about topics relating to fiduciary litigation and managing fiduciary risk. He also serves as a mediator in complex trust and estate disputes.

Dave is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), whose members are elected by their peers based on their skill, integrity, and contributions to the profession. He is an active member of ACTEC’s Fiduciary Litigation Committee and its Fiduciary Administration Task Force.

Client Work

Dave has represented clients in fiduciary litigation in state and federal courts across the country. In addition to extensive trial court experience, he has orally argued four trust/estate cases on appeal and prevailed in all four. Highlights of his work include:

  • Dave led the successful defense for the trustees of a $150-plus million trust that supports a private school. The trustees faced a series of claims by a state attorney general, a contingent beneficiary, and the parents of some school students, all of whom asserted that the trustees breached their fiduciary duties.
  • Fellow counsel selected Dave to present oral argument on behalf of multiple parties (including another beneficiary and three corporate fiduciaries) in the successful appeal of a case of first impression concerning the Illinois Trusts and Trustees Act.
  • Faced with trust documents that purported to disinherit them and frustrated with their case’s lack of progress, two siblings retained Dave to replace their previous attorneys. Dave and his team filed a motion for summary judgment just three weeks after being engaged, then negotiated a complete settlement for our clients.
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Previous Work

  • Honorable James B. Moran, U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois (1994-1995)

Professional Activities

Dave has devoted thousands of hours to pro bono advocacy.

From 2007 to 2016, he led a team that represented an inmate on Georgia’s Death Row. His work included an oral argument before the Eleventh Circuit; two petitions for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court; leading the six-lawyer trial team at the evidentiary hearing on our client’s state habeas corpus petition; and presenting a clemency petition and arguing for our client’s life before the Board of Pardons and Paroles.

Previously, Dave represented an Illinois Death Row inmate whose conviction and sentence had been obtained under Illinois’ widely criticized capital punishment system. When Governor Ryan issued his clemency decisions affecting more than 160 Death Row inmates, our client was one of only four who received a pardon.

In January 2002, Dave successfully represented an athlete in a multi-day arbitration involving accusations that two other competitors threw an Olympic qualifying race so that our client could make the U.S. team.

Boards, Memberships & Certifications

  • American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), Fellow; Fiduciary Litigation Committee, Member

Publications, Presentations & Recognitions

Presentations

  • “Fighting Fiduciary Fires: Causes and Cures for Trust and Estate Disputes,” NYSSCPA 2024 Annual Private Wealth Conference, New York (Dec. 12, 2024) 
  • “Family Office Investments: What Information Should Beneficiaries Be Provided?” ArentFox Schiff Family Office University, Conference (Nov. 13, 2024)

  • “ITC You in Court: The Illinois Trust Code in Judicial Proceedings,” Illinois Bankers Association, Webinar (Sep. 11, 2024)
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Recognitions

  • “Lawyer of the Year” Litigation – Trusts and Estates, Chicago, Best Lawyers (2021, 2024)
  • Best Lawyers in America, Best Lawyers (2015-2024)
  • Chambers High Net Worth – Private Wealth Disputes, Illinois (2022-2024)
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Awards

Awards

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