Professional Experience
Christiana N. Gianopulos serves as senior counsel to the Individual Clients department and is resident in the firm's West Hartford, CT office. Tiana's practice encompasses the representation of individual and corporate fiduciaries as well as comprehensive estate planning advice and estate administration for her individual clients.
Prior to joining the firm, Tiana spent nearly 20 years at the nation's eighth largest bank. As senior vice president and regional fiduciary officer, she co-chaired its Regional Trust Committee, managed its fiduciary litigation portfolio, and developed policies and procedures relating to many aspects of its trust and estate administration business. Tiana also analyzed proposed legislation and coordinated the bank's response to new statutory and case law.
Tiana has lectured on numerous topics, including Connecticut's Prudent Investor Act and its Principal and Income Act, estate planning for same-sex couples, common drafting errors, and a corporate trustee's document review process. While a member of the faculty of the New England School of Banking at Williams College, she taught a course on uniform laws.
Tiana is a trustee of the Harriet Beecher Stowe Center and served as board chair from 2009-2011. She is also a member of the Art Advisory Board of Mount Holyoke College. Tiana is a past president of the Junior League of Hartford, co-chaired the Board of Advisors for the Connecticut Women's Hall of Fame, and was a trustee of Hartford College for Women. She was a founding director of Rebuilding Together with Christmas in April*Hartford and also served on the boards of the Love Makes a Family Foundation; Planned Parenthood of Connecticut; the Mental Health Association of Connecticut; the Connecticut Valley Girl Scout Council; Asylum Hill, Inc.; Gray Lodge; and WORKS/Laura Glenn Dance Company. She is an alumna of Leadership Greater Hartford and was a guide at the Hill-Stead Museum. Tiana has received awards for her volunteer efforts from The Hartford Courant, Shawmut National Corporation, and the Junior League of Hartford.
A graduate of Mount Holyoke College and the University of Connecticut School of Law, Tiana is a member of the American and Connecticut Bar Associations, and the Estate and Business Planning Council of Hartford.
News, Publications & Presentations
· Speaker, "After Kerrigan: The Expansion of Same-Sex Legal Rights," CT Bar Association CLE Panel (co-sponsored by Estates and Probate Section, Tax Section and LGBT Legal Rights and Family Law Committees of the Young Lawyers Section), June 23, 2009
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples: Beyond the Basics," Estate and Business Planning Council of Hartford Panel, September 24, 2008
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples," CT Society of CPAs CLE, September 16, 2008
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples," Fairfield County Bar Association CLE, May 14, 2008
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples," Estate and Business Planning Council of Hartford and Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, February 22, 2008
· Co-author, "Prudence: What are the Odds? 3 to 1?" ALI-ABA Course Materials, Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries, 2008
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Civil Union Spouses," Greater Hartford Probate Forum, January 26, 2007
· Co-author, "Prudence - From Fuzzy to Precise," ALI-ABA Course Materials, Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries, 2007
· Speaker, "Drafting and Taxation Considerations for Same-Sex Couples," CT Bar Association Estates and Probate Section CLE Panel, October 11, 2006
· Speaker, "Drafting and Taxation Considerations for Same-Sex Couples," CT Bar Association CLE Annual Meeting Panel, June 12, 2006
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Civil Union Partners: Initial Client Conference," CT Bar Association Compact Sophisticated Estate Planning CLE, January 26, 2006
· Speaker, "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples," Greater Hartford Probate Forum, April 19, 2005
· Speaker, "Tax Planning for Same-Sex Couples," ABC News Now, February 15, 2005
· Co-author, "With Love, Thought & Money: Gifting to Your Grandchildren," West Hartford Magazine, 2005
· Co-author, "Estate Planning for Same-Sex Couples," West Hartford Magazine, 2005
· Instructor, "Uniform State Laws: A Professional Fiduciary's Primer," New England School of Banking at Williams College, July 2003 and July 2004
· Speaker, "A Probate Litigation Primer," Central CT Business and Estate Planning Council, June 11, 2003
· Co-author, "Drafting to Excess (With Sample Clauses)," ALI-ABA Course Materials, Representing Estate and Trust Beneficiaries and Fiduciaries, 2003