Ernest T. Bartol received a Juris Doctorate Degree from Villanova University School of Law in 1970. Admitted to the New York Bar in 1971, Mr. Bartol was a Founding Charter Member of the Federal Bar Association Eastern District of New York Chapter where he served as President from 2011-2013. He was elected as an FBA Circuit Vice President from 2014-2020 during which he served as Secretary (2016-2017), Vice Chairman (2017-2018) and Chairman (2018-2019). A former member of the National Board of Directors of the Federal Bar Association (2019 – 2024) and now an elected director of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association since October 1, 2024. Mr. Bartol has also served as a member of the Nassau County Bar Association, Estates and Trusts Law Committee from 1977 to date, the Professional Ethics Committee from 1979 to 2018 and the New York State Bar Association Estates and Trusts Law Committee from 1973 to date.
Mr. Bartol, who has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Fordham University, has concentrated in all phases of Estates, Wills and Trusts and commercial litigation since leaving the employ of a major accounting firm in 1971.
On the Estate planning side, he has been engaged in all phases of Estate asset protection by drafting, inter alia, (1) Wills with Shelter trusts and provisions, (2) Irrevocable and Revocable Trusts, including Life Insurance Trusts and Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, (3) Qualified Personal Residence Trusts, (4) Family Limited Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies, (5) Private Annuities, (6) GRATS, GRITS and GRUTS and (7) other planning devices for use by individuals, shareholders of family and closely-held businesses and partners of family and closely-held businesses.
On the Estate litigation side, he has been engaged in all types of proceedings in the Surrogates Courts located in New York City, Nassau, Suffolk, and upstate Counties, including contested probate proceedings, contested accounting proceedings, discovery proceedings, etc.
Mr. Bartol has also handled many commercial trials in the New York State Supreme Courts and the United States District Courts in the Eastern and Southern Districts.
A member of the New York State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Law Committee wherein he frequently lectures on estate-related topics, Mr. Bartol also has been a member of the Federal Bar Council which operates within the Second Circuit and has become a member in the Fellows of the American Bar Foundation and the New York State Bar Association. He is a member of various Who’s Who registers, including Who’s Who in American Law, Super Lawyers since 2013 and he has been honored with the Marquis Who’s Who Humanitarian Award and the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.
In 2003 Mr. Bartol became a member of the Civil Rules Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York and in August of 2008 he became a member of the Magistrate Selection Committee of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. In March of 2008 he became a member of the State of New York Committee on Character and Fitness for the Second, Tenth and Eleventh Judicial Districts. In June of 2008 he became a member of the Independent Judicial Election Qualification Commission for the Tenth Judicial District of the New York State Supreme Court. In 2004 he became the Presiding Trustee of the Board of Directors of United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County, a charity for whom he has donated substantial time for 40+ years.
Mr. Bartol is admitted to practice before all the Courts of the State of New York, several United States District Courts, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, the United States Supreme Court, and the United States Tax Court.