Member Roster

Jillian Merns is the head of Davis Polk’s Private Wealth practice. She has deep experience in all aspects of estate planning and administration, with an emphasis on developing sophisticated plans for high-net-worth individuals and their families. Her practice includes preparing complex wills and trust agreements and counseling on estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax matters. She represents clients in estate and gift tax audits and counsels clients in all phases of the administration of decedents’ estates and trusts.

Jillian also advises on the creation of single family offices and works with many family offices on an ongoing basis to provide comprehensive solutions to the complex issues facing today’s wealthiest families.

Jillian is a member of the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners and New York City Bar Estate and Gift Taxation Committee.

Her work is recognized by Chambers USA, where a source says Jillian is “an outstanding professional with exceptional client service skills.”

Jillian received a B.A. from Yale University. She also earned a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar, and LL.M. from New York University School of Law. Prior to joining Davis Polk in 2025, she was a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, from 2020 to 2025.