22 Jan 2026
ArentFox Schiff Adds Private Clients, Trusts & Estates Partner Ilana Bley in Chicago
"Ilana Bley has joined ArentFox Schiff in Chicago as a partner in the Private Clients, Trusts & Estates practice, focusing on wealth transfer, estate and tax planning, and trust administration."
Bley brings extensive experience in wealth transfer, estate and tax planning, and trust administration. She advises high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals, families, and business owners on complex tax planning and wealth transfer strategies. Her practice includes counseling on the use of revocable, irrevocable, and charitable trusts; installment sales to Intentionally Defective Grantor Trusts (IDGTs); and coordinating with accountants and investment advisors to meet client goals. She regularly helps clients implement tax-efficient estate plans, carry out trust modifications, and administer trusts and estates.
She has particular skill in effectuating trust modifications through decantings and nonjudicial settlement agreements and has managed postmortem tax planning matters, including disclaimers, analyses of marital trust funding alternatives, and elections for federal and state estate tax returns.
Bley joins ArentFox Schiff from Gould & Ratner and is a member of the Chicago Estate Planning Council. Her arrival follows the additions of partners Lauren Wolven, Molly James, and Todd Angkatavanich to the firm’s Private Clients, Trusts & Estates practice in 2025.