Ronald Allen Sutton

Ron Sutton, J.D., LL.M., CTFA

Fiduciary Leader / Regional Trust Manager / Family Wealth

Senior Vice President

Senior Trust Officer IV

Leveraging more than 30 years of experience as a Tax, Trust and Estate Planning Attorney, Ron works with his colleagues on the Key Private Bank Team to ensure that the tax, trust, estate planning, and philanthropic solutions he recommends fit with each client's goals and objectives.  He works to ensure that successful individuals and families receive the sophisticated tax, trust, estate planning and administration strategies that are capable of spanning several generations, and accomplishing multiple objectives.  A seasoned Trust Officer, Ron works with our clients in a fiduciary capacity to develop and implement solutions based upon the client's goals and aspirations.

Ron earned a B.A. cum laude in Legal Studies and Political Science from the State University of NY at Buffalo, a J.D. from the State University of NY at Buffalo Law School, and an LL.M. advanced law degree in Tax Law from Boston University School of Law.  He attended the Naval Justice School, where he received the designations as Government Certified Civil and Criminal Trial Attorney.  Ron is licensed to practice law in NY, DC, FL and MD, and is admitted before several federal trial and appellate courts, including the United States Supreme Court, the United States Tax Court and others.

Ron holds the "AV Preeminent" rating, the highest ranking possible in both Ethics and Abilities from Martindale Hubbell,  which places him in the top percentile of attorneys nationwide.  This peer review ranking from Martindale Hubbell, the premier Attorney rating service in the world, is based upon peer reviews from both the judiciary and the bar.  In addition to this distinction, Ron also received the Niagara County Bar Associations Highest Award for his service in the Surrogate's Court.

Prior to joining KeyBank, Ron served as a Chief Clerk and Court Referee in the Surrogate's Courts of NY, where he presided over, and issued decisions in a wide variety of fiduciary cases.  Prior to that, he was the Senior Associate in charge of the Tax, Trust and Estate Planning Department of a mid-size law firm in the Greater Metropolitan DC area.  He served on active duty in the Judge Advocate General's Corps of the United States Navy, receiving an Honorable Discharge after 20 years of active and reserve duty service.

Ron has engaged in very sophisticated business succession planning throughout his legal career, and has been instrumental in accomplishing the combined succession and estate planning goals of a variety of business owners.  Ron holds the distinction of establishing the very first Beneficiary Defective Inheritor's Trust ("BDIT") that was established at KeyBank, and the first one done in Western New York by any Bank.  His practical experience runs the full gambit from planning and drafting, to implementing and supervising complex business entities and trusts.

Ron is active in the Western New York Legal Community, is a member of several Estate Analyst Associations and Bar Associations, and is an Adjunct Professor at Niagara University, where he teaches business law and ethics courses at the undergraduate and MBA levels.

As a member of the Key Private Bank Family Wealth team, Ron delivers comprehensive, personalized advice to individuals and families with substantial wealth to address their sophisticated and diverse planning needs.  Exclusive access to a highly credentialed team, focused on a limited number of clients, provides an exceptional level of attention and service.  A focus on customized services and educating the younger generations of the family provides the clients with the services level of a local family office, without the costs.