Wakeman Law Group Inc

What Wakeman Law Group Inc does

Wakeman Law Group, Inc. is a privately held California professional services corporation headquartered at 4500 E. Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Suite 101, in Westlake Village. Founded in 1987 by J. Peter Wakeman — formerly University Affairs Legal Counsel and Director of Planned Giving at Pepperdine University — the firm specializes in estate planning, trust administration, probate, and business planning legal services for high net worth individuals, families, and business owners across Southern California, particularly Ventura County and Los Angeles County. The firm operates as a traditional, relationship-driven professional services practice with no proprietary technology platforms; its value proposition is grounded in a team-based approach that integrates with clients' financial advisors, accountants, and other professional consultants.

The service catalog spans four core practice areas. Estate planning covers advanced estate tax planning, revocable living trusts, wills, healthcare directives, powers of attorney, special needs trusts, charitable remainder and lead trusts, grantor retained annuity trusts, spousal lifetime access trusts, qualified personal residence trusts, and life insurance trusts. Trust administration covers ongoing trustee support, estate tax returns, and gift tax returns. Probate covers representation in court-administered estate administration. Business planning covers family limited partnerships, family limited liability companies, charitable foundations, and corporations. Services are billed on either hourly rates or fixed fees, with a complimentary initial consultation; a simple estate plan package is disclosed at $3,000–$4,000.

The firm operates with a small team of approximately six people: President J. Peter Wakeman (the sole practicing attorney), a long-tenured legal assistant/office manager who has been with the firm since founding, two administrative assistants, a trust administration assistant, and a recently hired paralegal. The firm's competitive position rests almost entirely on Wakeman's individual credentials — California Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Probate and Trust Law, AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell, and Super Lawyer designation by Thomson Reuters — supported by published work in major financial publications and referral relationships with financial advisors and accountants. The firm has no subsidiaries, no external funding, no M&A activity, and operates from a single office.

Name

Wakeman Law Group Inc

Legal name

Wakeman Law Group, Inc.

Website

https://wakemanlaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1987

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Wakeman Law Group, Inc. is a privately held California law firm specializing in estate planning, trust administration, probate, and business planning for high net worth individuals, families, and business owners in Southern California, operating from a single Westlake Village office since 1987.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Estate Planning Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Family & Private Client (Trusts & Estates) Law (BPAHAAAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Estate Planning & Trust Structuring Advisory (FSAEAKAC), Trust & Estate Tax Planning & Compliance (FSAEAKAE), Estate Administration & Probate Services (FSAAANAE), Special Needs & Supplemental Needs Trust Services (FSAAANAJ), Estate Planning, Trust Structuring & Governance (FSAAADAF)

Keywords

• Estate planning
• Trust administration
• Probate services
• Business planning
• Wealth transfer law

Headquarters

HQ city

Westlake Village

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Legal Services Fees: Professional services revenue generated through legal consultations and document preparation. Services are offered on both hourly rate and fixed fee basis. Initial consultation is provided at no cost.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Wakeman Law Group, Inc. provides specialized legal services in estate planning, trust administration, probate, and business planning for high net worth individuals and families in Southern California. The firm drafts estate planning instruments including living trusts, wills, healthcare directives, and powers of attorney, and structures business entities such as family limited partnerships and charitable foundations. Services are offered on both hourly rate and fixed fee bases with a complimentary initial consultation.

Product overview

Wakeman Law Group, Inc. is a California-based law firm offering a unified suite of legal services centered on estate planning, trust administration, probate, and business planning. The practice specializes in estate and tax planning for high net worth individuals, with specific service modules including Revocable Living Trusts, Special Needs Trusts, Charitable Remainder/Lead Trusts, and Family Limited Partnerships. The firm operates as a single-service practice with complementary practice areas that work together to create comprehensive estate plans for clients.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Estate Planning Services
• Probate Services
• Trust Administration Services
• Business Planning Services

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Ventura County Community FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJ. Peter Wakeman served as Past Chairman of the Ventura County Community Foundation Technical Advisory Council, indicating advisory and strategic involvement with the organization.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Emerging players

• LegalZoom: Online legal services platform offering DIY wills, living trusts, and estate planning documents at low price points; competes with Wakeman's simple estate plan package by serving mass-market and self-serve customers rather than full-service HNW engagements.
• Trust & Will: Digital estate planning platform focused on wills, trusts, and estate documents with a modern online experience; serves as a self-service alternative to traditional estate planning attorneys for less complex estates.
• Rocket Lawyer: Subscription-based online legal service offering document templates and attorney consultations, including estate planning documents; targets small businesses and consumers seeking affordable alternatives to traditional law firms.
• FreeWill: Online will and estate planning tool widely adopted by nonprofits and individuals; provides free basic estate documents that overlap with the lower end of traditional estate planning services.
• Wealth.com: Digital estate planning platform built for financial advisors, enabling them to deliver estate plans to clients within their existing advisory relationships; competes for the HNW segment Wakeman serves by embedding estate planning in the wealth management workflow.

Regional players

• Ventura County Estate Planning Council: Professional association of estate planning attorneys, accountants, and financial professionals in Ventura County; while not a single competitor, its member firms constitute the most direct set of regional competitors serving Wakeman's home market with similar specialty estate planning expertise.

Broad incumbents

• Latham & Watkins: Global full-service law firm with a substantial private client and trusts & estates practice serving ultra-HNW families; competes with Wakeman for the upper end of the estate planning market while also offering a much broader corporate, litigation, and tax practice.
• Schiff Hardin: National law firm with a dedicated Private Clients Group handling estate planning, trust and estate administration, and wealth transfer for high-net-worth individuals; broader geographic reach than Wakeman with comparable specialty expertise.

Others

• Fidelity Wealth Services: Major wealth management firm with estate planning resources, planning tools, and referrals to outside attorneys; adjacent to Wakeman as both a potential referral source and a competitive ecosystem for HNW client attention.
• Merrill Lynch Wealth Management: Large wealth management platform whose advisors frequently coordinate with or refer clients to estate planning attorneys; functions as both a complementary distribution channel and an embedded competitor as Bank of America Private Bank expands in-house estate planning services.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wakeman-law-group-inc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wakeman Law Group Inc