2022 Annual Estate, Trust & Elder Law Institute

Lisa Adams Related Seminars and Products

Capes Sokol

Lisa is known for the time and effort she invests in her clients. Practical, compassionate and attentive, she seeks to understand her clients in a way that addresses both individual and collective objectives.  Lisa takes the time to get to know her clients in a way that manages and builds sustainable planning and relationships.

Lisa began her career working in corporate and real estate law. Most of the families she works with have real estate or corporate holdings, thus her experience adds great value to her clients.

Melinda J. Bentley Related Seminars and Products

Legal Ethics Counsel

Melinda J. Bentley serves as Legal Ethics Counsel in Missouri where she provides oral and written informal advisory opinions to attorneys on issues related to the Missouri Rules of Professional Conduct. In that position, she also serves as administrator and counsel to the Advisory Committee of the Supreme Court of Missouri. She began serving in that position in 2012. Prior to that she worked for the Illinois State Bar Association as Assistant Counsel from 2001-03, First Assistant Counsel from 2003-11, and Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs from 2009-11. She is a frequent speaker and author on professional responsibility matters. Ms. Bentley currently serves as a member of the Planning Committee for the American Bar Association (ABA) Center for Professional Responsibility’s National Conference on Professional Responsibility, the Planning Committee for The Missouri Bar Solo and Small Firm Conference, The Missouri Bar’s Special Committee on Remote Public Access to Case.net, and the National Organization of Bar Counsel’s Committees on Amicus, Website, Program, and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She was a board member and officer of the National Organization of Bar Counsel from 2015-2020, including a term as President from 2018-2019, and formerly served on the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility (2020-2023), Editorial Board of the ABA/BNA Lawyers’ Manual on Professional Conduct as a member (2015-2016) and Chair (2016-2018), as well as a member of the ABA Center for Professional Responsibility Coordinating Council (2016-2018). She is licensed in both Missouri and Illinois, and is a member of The Missouri Bar, Illinois State Bar Association, American Bar Association, National Organization of Bar Counsel, Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, Cole County Bar Association, and Mid-Missouri Women Lawyers’ Association.

John Challis Related Seminars and Products

Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP

John Challis is a partner with Kirkland Woods & Martinsen in Clayton. He is an ACTEC fellow that specializes in fiduciary litigation. John is a frequent speaker, the Chair of the Missouri Bar Fiduciary Litigation Committee, and was named 2020 Lawyer of the Year by Best Lawyers for Fiduciary Litigation.

Jennifer Davis Related Seminars and Products

UB Greensfelder

As a member of Greensfelder’s Trusts & Estates Practice Group, Jennifer Davis has helped individuals and families with estate planning, charitable planning, succession business planning and wealth preservation strategies. She has assisted with trust, estate and tax controversies, and prenuptial/postnuptial agreements. In addition to representing individuals, Jennifer represents financial institutions regarding issues that arise while serving as corporate fiduciaries. She also helps broker/dealers, trust companies, banks and investment advisors in resolving day-to-day issues stemming from the authority granted to fiduciaries or beneficiaries. She works with non-profit organizations on their planned giving programs, endowments and administrative issues.

Kelli Dunaway Related Seminars and Products

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Kelli Dunaway is a Certified Coach, lawyer, and Councilwoman who brings over 20 years of legal, political, and professional development experience to her practice. An industry thought leader, she has published a number of articles and regularly presents on leadership, equity, public policy, and the power in coaching.

Prof. David English Related Seminars and Products

University of Missouri - Columbia

Prof. English joined the MU law faculty in 1999, following a career as an estate planning partner with the Chicago law firm of D’Ancona & Pflaum and teaching at the Universities of South Dakota and Santa Clara.

Prof. English is best known for his work with the Uniform Law Commission, for which he was the reporter for the Uniform Trust Code, the Uniform Adult Guardianship and Protective Proceedings Jurisdiction Act, and the Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act. He was also the chair of the drafting committee on the Uniform Guardianship, Conservatorship and Other Protective Arrangements Act.

Prof. English has also been active in the ABA and The Missouri Bar. For the 2018-2019 bar year, he served as chair of the ABA Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, and he is a former chair of the ABA Commission on Law and Aging, a former member of the ABA House of Delegates, and a former chair of the Probate and Trust Committee of The Missouri Bar.

Professor English is co-author of the three-volume treatise, Tax, Estate and Financial Planning for the Elderly, successor author of volumes 4A, 4B, and volumes 5 through 5D of Missouri Practice, and co-author of the books Wills, Trusts and Estates, Principles of Wills, Trusts and Estate, and the Fiduciary Accounting and Trust Administration Guide. He teaches Estates and Trusts, Estate Planning, Elder Law, and Fiduciary Administration.

Christin Ebeling Related Seminars and Products

UB Greensfelder LLP

Mollie Farrell oversees the training, mentoring and career development of all Greensfelder attorneys. She works closely with leaders from each practice group on the achievement of professional development goals across the firm and oversees evaluation processes. Her duties include working with other firm administrators on policies related to training and retention, coordinating mentor programs and counseling attorneys on career development. 

Before joining the firm, Mollie was a career advisor at Washington University School of Law in St. Louis. She is a former assistant chief counsel for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, where she litigated cases on behalf of the government in immigration court. She also worked in private practice as an associate at a Washington, D.C. law firm and, before law school, was a recruiter for a large management consulting firm.

Steven Gorin Related Seminars and Products

Thompson Coburn LLP

Steve is a practitioner in the areas of estate planning and the structuring of privately held businesses. Lawyers, accountants and business owners regularly look to Steve for fresh, highly knowledgeable insights into the best possible tax and estate planning approaches to their transactions.

Over the course of his 30-year career, Steve has amassed a deep knowledge of nearly every aspect of tax strategy for privately held businesses and freely shares that knowledge with others in the field. His quarterly newsletter, "Business Succession Solutions," is considered essential reading for hundreds of CPAs and attorneys, who describe it as "a fantastic contribution to the field." Steve also maintains a blog, Business Succession Solutions, intended to help business owners — and those who advise or support them — consider smart tax strategies.

Steve is a highly visible member of the ABA's Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section and the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, which regularly directs its members to Steve's quarterly newsletter. He has represented both groups in comments to the IRS, the U.S. Treasury, and tax lawmakers.

To obtain technical resources Steve authors and distributes at no charge, go to https://www.thompsoncoburn.com/insights/blogs/business-succession-solutions/about

Comm. William Gust Related Seminars and Products

Probate Commissioner-St. Louis County Court

William Gust is the Probate Commissioner for St. Louis County. Comm. Gust regularly hears a variety of contested probate matters including: adult guardianships, minor guardianships, contested matters relating to decedent estates, trust matters, and mental health civil commitment matters. He also presides over the administration of probate matters.

Prior to his time on the bench, Comm. Gust was a shareholder at an Am Law 100 law firm. While in practice he maintained both a local and national practice. He tried and litigated cases in various parts of the United States, ranging from St. Louis County Probate Court to Delaware Chancery Court. His expertise included everything from contested probate matters to complex civil matters. 

Robert Kirkland Related Seminars and Products

Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP

Bob Kirkland is the founding partner of Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP, with offices in Liberty, Missouri, Springfield, Missouri, Clayton, Missouri and Overland Park, Kansas. He works with a variety of individual clients in the areas of gifting techniques, asset protection, charitable planning and business succession planning. He also advises fiduciaries in estate and trust administration matters. 

Mr. Kirkland is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (“ACTEC”), is a past Missouri State Chair of ACTEC, and a past member of the ACTEC Board of Regents and ACTEC Executive Committee. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.of Regents and ACTEC Executive Committee. He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America.

Michael Kisling Related Seminars and Products

Department of Revenue

Michael S. Kisling is the Managing Counsel for Collections for the General Counsel’s Office of the Department of Revenue charged with the collection of delinquent taxes.  Prior, Mr. Kisling was a senior assistant attorney general with the Office of Attorney General, Financial Services Division. He was also the managing attorney with the Division of Legal Services, Department of Social Services.  Mr. Kisling came to state government from private practice where he emphasized domestic relations, real estate and probate.  Mr. Kisling was also an adjunct professor for William Woods University teaching courses on Elder Law, Probate, Estate Planning and Contracts.  He is a 1989 graduate of the University of Missouri—Columbia Law School and served as a research attorney for the Honorable Albert L. Rendlen and the Honorable William Ray Price, Jr. of the Missouri Supreme Court.

Timothy Lemen Related Seminars and Products

LEMEN LEGAL SERVICES, LLC

Scott Malin Related Seminars and Products

Lathrop GPM LLP

Scott is a member of Lathrop GPM’s Trusts, Estates and Legacy Group. Scott’s practice focuses on business succession, estate planning and tax planning for families and privately held businesses. Scott is an Adjunct Professor at Washington University Law School, member of ACTEC and recognized in Chambers High Net Worth Guide.

Timothy McCurdy Related Seminars and Products

The McCurdy Law Firm, LLC

Tim McCurdy is Of Counsel at the firm. Tim grew up on a farm in Southwest Iowa. After obtaining his law degree from the University of Notre Dame, Tim moved to St. Louis to “watch a few Cardinals games” before returning to Iowa. Tim met his now wife and his plans quickly changed – Tim has called St. Louis home for more than twenty years.

Throughout Tim’s legal career, he has helped clients protect their rights in lawsuits throughout the country. After watching a loved one suffer from Alzheimer’s disease, Tim developed a passion for elder law. Tim’s practice now combines his more than twenty years of litigation experience with an in-depth knowledge of estate planning and probate.

Tim devotes his practice to helping families navigate disputes involving estate plans and probate administration. Tim’s trusts and estates litigation practice includes trust and will contests, the removal of fiduciaries, demands for accountings, and contested guardianships. Tim is also frequently appointed by probate judges to represent individuals facing guardianship petitions, and as a court-appointed fiduciary.

Tim also helps families protect their life savings while ensuring access to the health care they need through Medicaid and special needs planning. Tim’s elder law practice also includes helping families develop estate plans to avoid probate and to protect against future challenges to their estate plan.

Tim lives in Chesterfield with his wife, two sons, and two dogs. Outside of the office you can likely find Tim in the stands at a hockey rink or a theater cheering on his sons.

Tabitha Mitchell Related Seminars and Products

Mitchell, Brown & Associates, LLC

Rene Morency Related Seminars and Products

Sandberg Phoenix & Von Gontard P.C

Rene Morency, MBA/JD/LLM (Tax) focuses on estate planning and business.  Rene is a Dennis Belcher ACTEC Young Leader of the American College of Trust & Estates Counsel; past Fellow of the ABA Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section (RPTE); RPTE Vice-Chair of Operating Businesses; Board Member of the Estate Planning Council; Fellow of the Consortium for Graduate Study in Management; member of the ABA Taxation Section Publications Committee; and Taxation Section Chair of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis.  For more, see https://www.linkedin.com/in/renemorency-jd-taxllm-financemba/

Edward Reilly Related Seminars and Products

Sandberg Phoenix & Von Gontard

Ned is presently a Counsel at Sandberg Phoenix and von Gontard, P.C., but boasts a most impressive collection of business cards from prestigious law firms in St. Louis, collected over the past 44 years.  Ned’s professional  practice focus  involves estate, trust, business succession and tax  planning for individual clients, but sadly, with the maturation of a significant portion of his client base, he’s now focusing more and more on probate and post mortem trust administration.  Clients are dying to find out how good he is.  

Ned is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel,  and has served as an adjunct professor at both the St. Louis University School of Law and in the LLM (Tax) program at the Washington University School of Law. He has served on the board of the St. Louis Estate Planning Counsel, the Probate Steering Committee of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis, and on the estate planning advisory boards of several local charities, including the St. Louis Art Museum and Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital.  He has also served on various committees of the Missouri Bar Probate and Trust Law Committee, and is old enough to remember serving with Leo Eickhoff and John Sullivan.  Ned has been listed for a number of years in The Best Lawyers in America and Missouri Kansas Super Lawyers (but has yet to spend the money for the cool plaques you can buy--he’s  that cheap).    

Joshua Rose Related Seminars and Products

Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP

Joshua S. Rose joined the St. Louis Office of Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP in August 2020.  Josh focuses his practice in fiduciary litigation, trust and estate administration, and guardianship/conservatorship. He routinely serves as court-appointed counsel for respondents in guardianship and conservatorship proceedings in St. Louis County.

Josh was recently admitted to the BAMSL Probate and Trust Law Steering Committee, and he is a graduate of the Heart of America Fellows Institute of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.

Josh received his Juris Doctor from Saint Louis University School of Law.

Lacey Searfoss Related Seminars and Products

Thompson Coburn LLP

Lacey has extensive experience in all aspects of estate planning, estate and trust administration and charitable giving.

Lacey assists clients in developing estate plans designed to maximize family wealth and minimize income and estate taxes. Lacey also works with closely-held businesses, for tax planning, business succession planning and general business needs.

In addition to her estate and trust practice, Lacey has experience in advising and representing nonprofit organizations with respect to the process of organizing and obtaining tax exempt status as well as ongoing operational matters.

Hon. Jason Sengheiser Related Seminars and Products

Circuit Court of the City of St. Louis

Jason Sengheiser is a Circuit Judge in the Twenty-Second Judicial Circuit Court for the City of St. Louis

Sengheiser received a B.A. in Environmental Science and a B.A. in German Studies from Saint Louis University in 2000, a J.D. from Saint Louis University School of Law in 2003, and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School in 2006.
 

Samantha Shepherd Related Seminars and Products

Shepherd Elder Law Group, LLC

For over 15 years, Samantha has served the elder care, special needs, and disabled communities as they plan for their healthcare and financial wellbeing. Utilizing her legal expertise and compassionate heart, Samantha has successfully helped individuals and families as aging and crisis have left them vulnerable to ensuring self-care. She listens, advises, and walks these challenging roads with her clients while bringing together local, statewide and federal resources all to respond most effectively to her clients’ needs.

Samantha began her legal career upon graduation from Boston College School of Law. Her professional work experience includes positions with the Essex County District Attorney, Grant Schwartz & Brown, Banknorth Group, Broward County Legal Aid, National Association of Insurance Commissioners, & the Law Offices of Craig Reeves. During the latter portion of this time, Samantha also completed an LLM from the University of Missouri. In line with her entrepreneurial spirit, in 2011, Samantha started Shepherd Elder Law Group which since its opening has helped over 6,000 Kansas City and Hutchinson, KS families.

Samantha knows deeply of the challenges in navigating the care systems which exist for seniors, those with special needs, and the suddenly disabled. Seeing a need to further serve individuals with these vulnerabilities, Samantha started Assured Trust Company in June of 2020, which offers independent professional trust administration as well as care management services to those who need a helping hand.

Her experience in assisting families who are facing the challenges of IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) led her to start a new charity, Special Needs Assured, in December of 2020. The mission of SNA is support, education, funding, and advocacy for those with special needs and other developmental disabilities. SNA’s mission: to create a community where those in need can find others who know how to help.

Kathleen Sherby Related Seminars and Products

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP

Ms. Sherby's practice involves representation of private individuals in all aspects of wealth transfer planning with a particular focus on retirement benefits. She has also represented trustees and beneficiaries regarding various fiduciary issues; advising trustees and trust protectors as to their fiduciary duties in administering trusts, modifications, reformations and terminations.

Douglas Stanley Related Seminars and Products

Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner, LLP

Doug Stanley is a partner at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner LLP. Doug counsels on a wide range of advanced estate planning, tax and dispute matters.

Doug is co-leader of the firm’s Fiduciary Disputes Team, an adjunct professor in Tax at Washington University School of Law and a Fellow of ACTEC.

Comm. Misty Watson Related Seminars and Products

21st Judicial Circuit Court

Misty Watson was appointed Deputy Probate Commissioner for Saint Louis County in 2019. Prior to appointment, Watson was a member of the executive committee at Danna McKitrick. She has over fifteen years experience in trusts, estates, and guardianships.

Watson received the 2019 Publico Pro Bono Award from The Missouri Bar. She was the Washington University School of Law Women's Law Caucus International Women's Day 2013 Celebration Honoree and received the John R. Essner Award for pro bono work through Legal Services of Eastern Missouri. 

Watson received her LLM in Taxation and Juris Doctor from Washington University.

Michael Weeks Related Seminars and Products

The Weeks Group, LLC

Mike Weeks, CELA is the President of the Weeks Group, LLC. Mike is one of 13 Certified Elder Law Attorneys in the State of Missouri, and the only one in St. Charles County. He focuses his practice in the areas of estate planning and elder law and helps clients through the creation of wills, revocable living trusts, power of attorney documents, health care directives, as well as estate tax planning. Additionally, he is also very active in the areas of Medicaid planning and asset protection against the costs of long-term care, as well as non-Medicaid solutions to long-term care crisis situations and prevention of crisis situations. He has been a presenter at several education seminars for other lawyers on elder law issues.

Mr. Weeks is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA), the St. Charles County Bar Association, and the Missouri Bar. Mike is currently one of 19 members of the national Board of Directors of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, a 4,500-member group of attorneys, and serves as the Vice President of the organization.  He has received the Outstanding Chapter Member award for Missouri from NAELA. Mike is a former President of the Missouri Chapter of NAELA and is also a former President of the St. Charles County Habitat for Humanity affiliate. In addition to his work with Habitat, Mike is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Boone Center International (a non-profit dedicated to helping find employment for adults with disability issues), and the St. Charles Noonday Kiwanis Club.

Mr. Weeks is a graduate of the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he received his law degree, as well as an MBA from the Trulaske College of Business at the University of Missouri. Mike lives in St. Charles, with his wife and two children.

Daniel Wheeler Related Seminars and Products

Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP

Daniel P. Wheeler is a shareholder with the firm of Kirkland Woods & Martinsen LLP. Mr. Wheeler focuses his practice on fiduciary litigation, probate administration, adult and minor guardianships, and mediation in cases throughout Missouri and Kansas.
 
Mr. Wheeler served as a Probate Commissioner for the Circuit Court of Jackson County, Missouri for more than fourteen years. As Probate Commissioner, he presided over family and fiduciary disputes in trust and probate matters, including fiduciary litigation, complex trust litigation, discovery of assets actions, surety claims and general probate administration in decedent, guardianship and conservatorship estates. He has been chosen to be the probate presenter at the annual Missouri Judicial College for the past seventeen years, and also presents annually at the conference of the Missouri Association of Probate & Associate Circuit Judges. He speaks regularly at the Missouri Bar annual meeting as well as numerous continuing legal education seminars for the Missouri Bar, the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association and the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
 
Prior to joining the bench, Mr. Wheeler was in engaged in private practice in the area of probate litigation and administration matters. He has tried thirty-two jury trials to completion, of which twenty-six were in the probate division of the circuit courts. He is licensed in the states of Missouri and Kansas, and has completed the mediation training requirements of the Missouri Supreme Court.
 
Mr. Wheeler received a bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Missouri - Columbia in 1981. While an undergraduate student, he was a captain of the University's cross-country and track teams, and he was a recipient of the Tom Bott's Award, the senior track leadership award. He received a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Missouri in 1985, where he was a member of the Beta Gamma Sigma business honor society. He received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Missouri in 1985, and he was a member of the Missouri Law Review and the Order of the Coif honor society.

Catherine Zacharias Related Seminars and Products

National Center of State Courts

Catherine has been with the Missouri Office of State Courts Administrator since 1998 as legal counsel. Her duties have included several diverse areas such as staff for Missouri State Judicial Records Committee, Missouri Court Automation Committee, Family Court Committee, and other Supreme Court committees, working on electronic filing design and rules, reviewing contracts, advising on employment issues, reviewing and tracking legislation and legal research.
Prior to coming to OSCA, Catherine was an administrative hearing officer at DOR for DWI hearing and was a litigation attorney for the Dept. of Social Services. She worked for Legal Services of Eastern Missouri during and after law school.
Catherine received her bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Missouri, Columbia in 1989 and her J.D. from St. Louis University in 1993.