Sabino Biondi focuses his practice on estate planning, estate and trust litigation, and estate and trust administration. He is a member of the firm’s Italian practice group, representing Italian families and entities doing business in the U.S. and abroad in matters involving estate and business succession and related litigation.

Sabino represents individuals in a broad range of estate and trust matters, both domestic and international. He represents families with multigenerational wealth, assisting them in the structuring of their estate plans to minimize gift, estate, and generation-skipping taxes. With his knowledge of the estate tax treaties between the U.S. and various foreign countries, Sabino is also experienced in assisting clients with assets or residences in more than one country, including Italy and the United Kingdom.

Sabino has counseled clients and their families regarding both general and sophisticated estate planning techniques involving closely held businesses, commercial and residential real estate holdings, insurance policies, and intrafamily transactions, with an emphasis on shifting appreciation potential to younger generations. Sabino’s estate plans have involved the formation of charitable and non-charitable trusts and the use of structures formed in low-tax and favorable asset protection jurisdictions, which can provide overall tax benefits and extra protection for clients seeking to safeguard their wealth.

With extensive experience in all facets of Surrogate’s Court litigation, Sabino has represented and counseled fiduciaries and individuals in matters involving estate and trust administration, probate, complex accountings, and related litigation in surrogate’s courts throughout New York State and superior court in New Jersey. Sabino’s litigation experience also includes numerous matters involving complaints for breach of fiduciary duty, self-dealing, and conflicts of interest; complaints for instructions, reformation, and removal of fiduciaries; various will and trust contests; and duties with respect to trust investment and administration.  Sabino also handles potentially sensitive family matters, such as the preparation of prenuptial and postnuptial agreements, and counsels clients on elder law issues.

As a member of the firm’s Italian practice group, Sabino counsels Italian individuals and entities of various industries in matters involving commercial business disputes. He is one of the firm’s representatives to the Italy-American Chamber of Commerce. Sabino serves as counsel to the Federazione delle Associazioni della Campania (USA), which he helped form in 2003. As a member of the National Italian American Foundation, in conjunction with other charitable organizations, Sabino is active in fundraising events seeking to raise funds for afflicted and underprivileged children and their families. He travels frequently to Italy and is proficient in Italian.

Prior to joining the firm in 2008, Sabino was an associate with the New York office of Cozen O’Connor. He earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree, magna cum laude, from Bernard Baruch College in 1994, where he was made a member of Beta Gamma Sigma, New York’s Epsilon Chapter, in recognition of high academic achievement in finance and investments. While attending Baruch, Sabino was an analyst at the New York City Campaign Finance Board, where he continued his employ until 1995. He earned his law degree from Brooklyn Law School in 1998. While in law school, he served as an intern for the NYSE Division of Enforcement and was the senior law clerk for the Counsel to the Public Administrator for Kings County, New York.  Sabino is an active member of his community in Malverne/North Lynbrook, where he serves as a member of the school board of Our Lady of Lourdes.

• Has represented and counseled a diverse client base, including numerous individuals exposed to lawsuits arising from negligence, intentional torts, and contractual claims, including doctors and dentists, officers, directors and fiduciaries, real estate owners, and real estate developers.
• Planned an estate in excess of $100 million for a sophisticated New York-based philanthropist.
• Represented the patriarchs of a well-known importer and producer of Italian foods.
• Assisted in asset protection and gifting for an individual with corporate securities exceeding $100 million following his company’s IPO.
• Created a foundation for a family with both philanthropic and generational gifting goals.
• Represented individuals in matters involving the administration of estates of decedents owning property in both the U.S. and Italy, persons with dual citizenships with the U.S. and Italy, and persons with assets in both the U.S. and United Kingdom.
• Successfully represented the beneficiaries of a $60 million trust in obtaining a judgment against the trustee for the damages caused to the trust resulting from the trustee’s improper investments, self-dealing, and conflicts of interest.
• Obtained a judgment, without the need for a bench trial, in favor of his client in a proceeding seeking the return of assets wrongfully withheld from the estate by the decedent’s attorney-in-fact for acts he committed during the decedent’s lifetime.