Cynthia's Profile
Cynthia is a Shareholder and serves as Chair of the Estate Planning, Fiduciary Advisory Services and Fiduciary Litigation practice groups at Maynard Cooper, in which she has practiced since 1989.
In her Fiduciary Advisory Services practice, Cynthia serves as primary outside counsel to corporate fiduciaries (trust departments, trust companies, and wealth management entities), overseeing policies and procedures, marketing materials, corporate restructuring, and overall risk management.
In her Fiduciary Litigation practice, Cynthia regularly advises individual and corporate trustees and executors and represents them in pre-litigation, mediation, trial and appellate proceedings. Cynthia also frequently serves as a mediator in trust and estate disputes.
In her Estate Planning practice, Cynthia focuses primarily on assisting clients with the thoughtful management of their wealth and appropriate planning for family members with special needs and circumstances, and includes sophisticated will and trust drafting; estate and gift tax planning; charitable planning; insurance and employee benefit planning; and a variety of wealth transfer techniques. Her estate administration practice is designed to help clients fulfill their testamentary and tax objectives while strengthening family relationships.
Cynthia’s skills have earned her numerous accolades, the most recent of which is her Band 1 ranking by Chambers and Partners as a leading attorney in the area of “Private Wealth Law.” She has been awarded The Best Lawyers in America® “Lawyer of the Year” in 2015 for Litigation: Trusts and Estates and again in 2106 for Trusts & Estates. She is consistently recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and in Super Lawyers in the areas of Trusts and Estates and Trust and Estate Litigation. Alabama Super Lawyers has recognized her among its Top 50 Lawyers in Alabama and Top 25 Women Lawyers in Alabama. In 2016 and 2017, Cynthia earned the distinction as one of Mid-South Super Lawyers’ “Top 50 Female Lawyers.”
Cynthia received her J.D. from Yale Law School and holds a B.A. summa cum laude from Birmingham-Southern College.
Cynthia's Awards
- Chambers and Partners HNW Guide: The World’s Leading High Net-Worth Advisors, Band 1 Leading Individual in “Private Wealth Law” (2017-present)
- The Best Lawyers in America© for Litigation: Trusts and Estates and Trust and Estates (2005-present)
- Best Lawyers® 2015 and 2020 “Lawyer of the Year” in Litigation: Trusts and Estates; 2016 “Lawyer of the Year” in Trusts and Estates
- Mid-South Super Lawyers for Estate & Trust Litigation (2016-present); “Top 50 Super Lawyer in Alabama” and “Top 50 Mid-South Female Lawyer” (2016-present)
- Alabama Super Lawyers® for Estate Planning & Probate, 2009-2015; Top 50 Lawyers, 2011-2012; Top 25 Women Lawyers in Alabama (2009, 2011-2015)
- Birmingham Magazine’s 2017 “Top Attorneys” for Probate
- Southern Women’s Committee of 50 – Woman of Distinction (2007)
- Martindale-Hubbell AV® Preeminent Rating – Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers (2013)
Cynthia's Affiliations and Civic Involvement
Affiliations
- American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
- Fellow, elected 2002
- Foundation Director. elected 2012
- Fiduciary Litigation Committee
- Charitable Planning Committee
- American Bar Association
- Real Property, Probate and Trusts Section
- Tax Section
- National Association of Estate Planners
- Alabama State Bar Association
- Tax Section
- Women’s Section
- Volunteer Lawyers Program
- Alabama Bar Institute
- Probate Procedures Committee
- Uniform Trust Code Committee
- Unitrust Statute Committee
- Standing Committee on Trust and Probate Legislation
- Estate Planning Council of Birmingham
- Birmingham Bar Association
- Probate Section, Immediate Past President
- Executive Committee, 2011
- Birmingham Bar Foundation Board of Directors, 2012
Civic Involvement
- Women’s Fund of Greater Birmingham – Smart Party Honoree 2015
Yale Law School (1988, J.D., Phi Eta Sigma Scholarship; American Association of University Women Fellowship; The Yale Law Journal, Senior Editor; The Yale Journal of International Law, Editor; Student Representatives, Chair)
Birmingham-Southern College (1985, B.A., summa cum laude; Phi Beta Kappa; Phi Eta Sigma; Omicron Delta Kappa)
