Practice Profile: Elizabeth Summers ‘12L is an Estate Planning Consultant with Wealthspire Advisors As Senior Vice President and Director of Wealth Strategy, Family Wealth at Wealthspire Advisors, Elizabeth Summers helps families plan for their future and solve the problems that keep them up at night.

By Law Communications
October 11, 2024

After more than a decade of advising clients in trusts and estate matters both at law firms and as a wealth strategist at financial institutions, Elizabeth Summers ‘12L recently began a new chapter in her career, becoming Senior Vice President and Director of Wealth Strategy, Family Wealth at Wealthspire Advisors, an RIA that manages over $27 Billion in assets. She helps high net worth families plan for their future and solve the problems that keep them up at night.

Her career path came into focus early in her law school career when she spent her 1L summer working for a solo trusts and estates practitioner, Jeanne Longsworth, in her hometown in Indiana. Summers found the work engaging but was also struck by just how much Ms. Longsworth’s clients really seemed to love her.

“It was this great combination of technical, interesting work with the emotional component of really understanding where people were coming from, what was important to them, what goals they wanted to accomplish, how they wanted to help their kids, their grandkids, their church, the local museum, whatever the case may be.” said Summers. “I just I loved it, and I realized this is it. This is what I want to do.”

She dove into as much related course work as she could during her 2L and 3L years and gained more experience as a summer associate at an estate planning firm during her 2L summer. In addition to her income tax class with Professor Jeffrey Kahn and serving as a research assistant to Professor Robert Danforth, who tutored her in partnership tax, the Trusts and Estates practicum with Lee Osborne and Neil Birkhoff was an important capstone to her legal education during her final year of law school.

One thing that shines through in her journey is the importance of the W&L alumni network. It was a challenging time to find legal employment when Summers graduated, perhaps more so for someone interested in trusts and estates as changes in federal estate tax exemptions had caused many firms to eliminate entire practice groups. She was grateful to connect with John Allevato ‘79L, who hired her as a trusts and estate associate for Spilman, Thomas and Battle in Charleston, West Virginia. After two years there, Summers moved to Dentons Cohen & Grigsby in Pittsburgh to practice with another alumnus, Samuel Goncz ‘92L. She says both alumni were instrumental in her development as a lawyer.

“Not only were they personally invested in me from day one, but they were just tremendous teachers, curious thinkers and really great people to work with,” said Summers. “Everything they say about the alumni network at W&L is true. I’ve experienced it personally, and that’s why I am always happy to talk to current students when they call.”

A move to another firm was prompted by her husband’s decision to go to law school himself at the University of Minnesota. Following his graduation, she chose to apply her estate planning expertise in the wealth management space as a wealth strategist, first at the financial services firm UBS and then with Wells Fargo. These experiences allowed her to have deeper relationships with clients without worrying about the billable hour.

As a wealth strategist, Summers says she is able to get the best of both worlds. The technical complexities of estate planning intrigued her, but it was the personal aspect—the deep trust clients placed in her—that kept her passionate about the field. She found herself navigating delicate family dynamics and helping clients tackle some of the most challenging questions of their lives, such as how to pass on wealth in a way that aligned with their values.

Summers made the move to Wealthspire to join a smaller, more nimble business that is extremely client focused, and to help grow and define the direction of the Family Wealth group.

“I get to sit down with the client and help them define their goals and their interests and what they’re hoping to accomplish. But more than that, we are solving problems that keep people up at two in the morning like ‘how am I going to help pay for my grandchildren’s education’ or ‘what happens when I’m gone and my two sons don’t get along anymore?’ These are things that we can provide solutions for in a real, tangible way. And I think doing that pre-planning really is a gift you can give to your family.”

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