James Ellis Prout

James E. Prout, a Partner in the firm’s Albany, New York office, joined Hinman, Howard & Kattell, LLP in October of 2021 as part of the merger with the Troy, NY law firm of Martin, Shudt, Wallace, DiLorenzo and Johnson.

Jim practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, estate administration, real estate law, and commercial mortgage transactions. Jim works with clients in need of estate planning documents including wills, revocable and irrevocable trusts, Health Care Proxies, Living Wills, and Powers of Attorney. He counsels clients in planning for estate tax minimization and in creating trusts for management and control of assets, including trusts for minor and disabled children. He also counsels clients in the area of charitable giving, including the use of planned giving instruments to meet his clients’ goals of philanthropy and tax planning. He represents both individual and corporate clients in the purchase and sale of real estate and in other related matters. He serves as counsel for both lenders and borrowers in commercial and residential real estate mortgage transactions.

In addition to his professional practice, Jim is active in the Capital Region community, serving or having served on many not-for-profit boards, including the boards of Russell Sage College, Northeast Health Foundation, Inc. (past Board Chair), Community Foundation of the Greater Capital Region, Inc. (past Board Chair), New York District of Kiwanis International (Past Lt. Governor), Kiwanis Club of Troy, New York (, and is a Past Senior Warden of the Vestry of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Troy. Jim also currently serves as the Assistant Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Albany, NY, and is the Vice Chair of the Cornell Botanic Gardens Advisory Council.