Tansill & Associates, Pllc

What Tansill & Associates, Pllc does

Tansill & Associates, PLLC is a boutique law firm headquartered in McLean, Virginia, specializing in estate planning, probate and fiduciary counsel, and closely-held business and tax planning. Founded in 1997 by Frederick J. Tansill after his tenure as a partner at McGuire Woods and Verner Liipfert (now DLA Piper), the firm operates with three attorneys (Fred Tansill, Brooke Tansill, and Cynthia L. Brown) plus an office manager. Its practice serves high-net-worth individuals and families, closely-held business owners, and fiduciaries/beneficiaries, with particular emphasis on sophisticated tax-oriented strategies including generation-skipping transfer tax planning, charitable planning, asset protection (domestic and offshore), international estate planning, and business succession. The firm is licensed to advise across Virginia, District of Columbia, Maryland, Arizona, and Texas jurisdictions, and serves clients across the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and nationwide from its single McLean office.

The firm's revenue model is professional services fees, predominantly structured as fixed fees disclosed in engagement letters after an initial consultation, with hourly billing used selectively for certain closely-held business and tax controversy work. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; the firm positions itself as offering big-firm sophistication at small-firm cost, explicitly claiming large law firms charge four times or more for comparable services. Go-to-market is referral-driven, supplemented by sustained thought leadership — articles, conference presentations at venues such as the Financial Planning Association and ABA, and periodic newsletters — that generates inbound demand from existing clients, accountants, and financial planners.

The underlying technology stack is minimal and undisclosed; there is no proprietary platform, no app, no disclosed integrations, and no AI tooling referenced in the input data. Delivery is entirely human-led, high-touch, and relationship-based. The firm rebranded from Frederick J. Tansill & Associates to Tansill & Associates in 2025 as part of a generational continuity move, with founder's daughter Brooke Tansill (joined 2008) increasingly central to leadership and succession. Multiple attorneys hold the ACTEC Fellow designation, AV ratings from Martindale-Hubbell, and repeated Best Lawyers / Super Lawyers recognitions, which constitute the primary intangible assets sustaining client acquisition and pricing power.

Name

Tansill & Associates, Pllc

Legal name

Tansill & Associates, PLLC

Website

https://tansill-law.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1997

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tansill & Associates, PLLC is a boutique McLean, Virginia law firm specializing in estate planning, probate and fiduciary counsel, and closely-held business and tax planning for high-net-worth individuals, families, and business owners. Three ACTEC-credentialed attorneys deliver fixed-fee engagements across multiple U.S. jurisdictions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Mclean

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Legal Consultation and Representation: Professional legal services billed primarily through fixed fees for estate planning engagements. In rare cases, hourly billing is used. Engagement letters include detailed fixed fee estimates. The firm emphasizes transparent pricing without surprises.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Tansill & Associates, PLLC is a boutique law firm that provides estate planning, probate and fiduciary counsel, and closely-held business and tax planning services. The firm delivers sophisticated tax-oriented estate planning, generation-skipping transfer tax strategies, charitable planning, asset protection, business succession planning, and estate/trust administration to individuals, families, and business owners. Engagements are typically delivered through fixed-fee arrangements disclosed in formal engagement letters.

Product overview

Tansill & Associates, PLLC is a boutique law firm offering three integrated legal service practices: Estate Planning Services (including wills, various trust structures, and asset protection strategies), Probate and Fiduciary Counsel (estate administration and fiduciary representation), and Closely-Held Businesses and Tax Planning (business formation, succession planning, and tax controversies). The firm specializes in serving high-net-worth clients with sophisticated tax-oriented estate planning, generation-skipping transfer tax planning, charitable planning, and international estate planning.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Estate Planning Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Estate planning frequently saves hundreds of thousands of dollars in estate taxes and probate legal and accounting fees, potentially millions in larger estates

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Broad incumbents

• McGuireWoods: Large AmLaw firm headquartered in Richmond/McLean with a substantial Private Wealth Services practice covering estate planning, trust administration, and closely-held business succession. Comparable because its T&E group serves the same HNW/Mid-Atlantic client base; Frederick J. Tansill was previously a partner here.
• Williams Mullen: Mid-Atlantic/southeast regional law firm with a Wealth Management practice group providing estate planning, closely-held business succession, and fiduciary counsel. Comparable for serving the same Mid-Atlantic HNW demographic.
• Venable LLP: Mid-Atlantic-based law firm with a strong Trusts & Estates practice serving HNW individuals and closely-held businesses across DC, Maryland, and Virginia. Directly comparable client base and practice mix to Tansill, with broader scale.
• Holland & Knight: National law firm with a sizable Private Wealth Services group offering estate planning, tax, and closely-held business services to HNW clients. Comparable practice overlap and target client demographic, though far larger scale.
• Reed Smith: Global law firm with a substantial Wealth Planning practice (wills, trusts, estate administration) serving HNW families and business owners. Comparable in practice focus and client type, with a similar East Coast presence.
• Frost Brown Todd: Regional law firm with a substantial Private Client & Family Office practice group handling estate planning, wealth transfer, and business succession for HNW clients across the Mid-Atlantic and beyond.
• McDermott Will & Emery: Large international law firm with a premier Private Client / Trusts & Estates practice covering estate planning, GST planning, charitable planning, and closely-held business succession for HNW families.
• Kutak Rock LLP: Regional law firm with a Wealth Management practice serving HNW clients on estate planning, trust administration, and closely-held business succession — particularly across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast geographies Tansill serves.

Direct peers

• Withersworldwide: International law firm specializing in private client / wealth planning, trusts and estates, and closely-held business structures for HNW individuals and families. The closest comparable in business-model terms — a focused, sophisticated, partner-led T&E/wealth practice competing for similar clients.
• Miller & Chevalier Chartered: Washington, DC-based tax-focused law firm with deep practices in closely-held business planning, estate and gift taxation, and IRS controversies — closely comparable to Tansill's closely-held businesses and tax controversies practice line.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/tansill-associates-pllc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Tansill & Associates, Pllc