James W Hass, Jr., “J.W, ” is a principal attorney with the law firm of Lefkoff, Duncan, Grimes, McSwain, Hass & Hanley, P.C. J.W. practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, tax planning, probate, estate administration and closely held business matters.

J.W. was admitted to practice in Georgia in 1997 and is a member of the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association and the Atlanta Estate Planning Council, Inc. J.W also speaks on probate, estate and tax planning matters.

A native of Rock Island, Illinois, J.W graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1994. He received his law degree in 1997 from the University of Georgia School of Law.

Russ has practiced in the area of estate planning for over 25 years with clients throughout south Georgia and north Florida with many owning agricultural or timber assets.  He grew up on a dairy and tobbaco farm in Colquitt County, Georgia and continues a lifetime of interest in agriculture.  Russ is a graduate of Georgia State University School of Law (magna cum laude) and the University of Georgia.  He is member of the bars of Georgia and Florida, practicing in both the Valdosta, Georgia and Jacksonville, Florida offices of Coleman Talley LLP.   He has four sons, three of whom have graduated from UGA, with one in his junior year at UGA. 

Elizabeth Faist is a shareholder at Djuric Spratt, and she serves clients in the areas of trusts, estates, and charitable planning. She manages a variety of matters, including gift and generation-skipping transfer tax issues, preparation of estate-planning documents, administration of estates, and tax advice regarding private foundations and public charities. Elizabeth also counsels clients on tax and succession planning for their businesses. Prior to joining Djuric Spratt, Elizabeth practiced with Eversheds Sutherland in Atlanta and Williams Parker in Sarasota, Florida.

Kelli Wolk is Chief Probate Judge of Cobb County. She began her legal career with Cobb County Probate Court in 1999 as the Law Clerk for her predecessor, Judge David Dodd.  Judge Wolk later became a Probate Litigation and Estate Planning Attorney for a Cobb County firm.  In 2008, She was elected as the Chief Probate Judge and has presided over the court since January 2009.

Kelli has served as the President of the Probate Judges’ Council of Georgia, and has served on the Executive, Legislative, and Rules & Forms Committees.  As a member of the State Bar of Georgia, Judge Wolk is a former Chair of the Elder Law Section of the Young Lawyers’ Division.  She also served as Treasurer, Law Day Chair, CLE Chair, and Trustee at Large of the Cobb County Bar Association, and as President of the Elder Law Section.  

Judge Wolk is a Former Board Member of LiveSafe Resources and MUST ministries. Additionally, she is a 2008 graduate of Leadership Cobb and served on their board.  

Kelli graduated from Southwest Missouri State University with a BS in Communications, with an emphasis in Television Production.  She later attended Georgia State University College of Law and graduated in 1999. Most importantly, wife to Ron, mom to Anna, and food source/walker of Bo.

Ritesh “Tesh” Patel practices in the area of estate planning and trusts and foundations. Tesh helps families and individuals with trust formation, implementing sophisticated estate and gift tax saving techniques, lifetime gifting, charitable planning, incapacity planning, intra-family transactions, and post-mortem trust and probate administration.  He regularly provides counsel to multiple generations of families, working alongside their teams of trusted advisors to develop tax efficient and long-term planning strategies to facilitate the family’s ultimate wealth planning goals.

OSCAR LEE WISELEY, JR. is Director, Wealth Strategies for the Family Office at Synovus, a multi-family office of Synovus Trust Company, N.A. in Columbus, Georgia, where he assists clients of the Family Office with multi-generational wealth planning and advises the trust company on fiduciary matters.  Prior to joining the Family Office in 2006, Mr. Wiseley was in private law practice for 11 years with the Bowden Law Firm (later Bowden Spratt), a boutique estate planning firm in Atlanta, Georgia where his practice focused on estate and tax planning, charitable planning, estate and trust administration and wealth transfer tax controversies.  Prior to private law practice, Lee worked for the Internal Revenue Service as an estate tax attorney performing audits on estate and gift tax returns and providing litigation support in Tax Court.  He also has private business experience working for his family’s manufacturing business in Atlanta and Birmingham in the 1980’s.  An active speaker on estate planning issues to professional groups in Georgia, Mr. Wiseley is a Past Chair of the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and serves on the legislative committee for the Fiduciary Law Section and the Investment Committee for the Georgia Bar.  He received his B.B.A. and J.D. from the University of Georgia and LL.M. in Taxation from Emory University School of Law. 

Allen Venet has been handling estate and trust matters for more than 40 years, first as a practicing attorney in Chicago, then as a bank trust officer at The Northern Trust, followed by 26 years with SunTrust (now Truist) Bank in Atlanta.  After retiring from the bank, Venet joined Djuric Spratt PA where he assists and advises individual and corporate fiduciaries.  He and his wife live near Decatur.

Daniel D. Munster received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1990.  He went on to study law at the University of Detroit where he was published on Law Review and clerked for the Michigan Supreme Court.

Admitted to practice law in Georgia since 1994, Mr. Munster has invested more than twenty-five years assisting Georgians with various eldercare, special needs, and traditional estate planning matters.  Early in his career, Dan had the opportunity to learn a great deal while working with the Senior Citizens Law Project, a division of Atlanta Legal Aid.  In 1999, he founded The Eldercare & Special Needs Law Practice of Daniel D. Munster.  While the firm’s main office is located in Atlanta, Georgia, it represents clients across the state without regard to geographic location.

Mr. Munster often delivers presentations to attorneys, financial professionals and organizations on topics related to his practice.  His writings have appeared in various publications including the Georgia Bar Journal.  A passionate advocate for the elderly, Dan was named to serve on the Georgia Alzheimer’s and Related Dementias State Plan Task Force in 2013.  Dan is a member of the State Bar of Georgia, the Atlanta Bar Association, the Atlanta Estate Planning Council, and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys.

Mr. Munster's ethical, compassionate, and skilled approach to the practice of law has earned favorable recognition across the legal community.  For example, the Board of Regents of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) elected Mr. Munster to be a Fellow at its December 2022 Fall Meeting in San Francisco.  Additionally, Martindale-Hubbell has awarded Mr. Munster its highest peer review rating (AV Preeminent) every year since 2005.  Atlanta Magazine has recognized Mr. Munster as a Georgia “Super Lawyer” in the category of Elder Law every year since 2007.  Additionally, Dan has earned recognition in rankings compiled by Best Lawyers in America (2019 – 2023) and U.S. News & World Report (2020 – 2023) for his work in the categories of both Elder Law and Trusts & Estates.

Blake Melton is a Senior Wealth Strategist with The Family Office at Synovus and a fellow in The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. He is a past Chairperson of the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and currently serves on its Code Revision and Legislative Committees. He is also active in his local community and is the founder and chair of Standing Boy, Inc., a nonprofit that has constructed nearly 35 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails on the Standing Boy property in north Columbus.

Blake met his wife Jensen while both were attending the University of Georgia School of Law. They have two daughters, Finley and Asher.

Sarah DeKreek, ASA

Sarah is a Director within the Disputes, Valuation & Forensics department at Bennett Thrasher. She has over twenty years of experience providing valuation and related advisory services to clients seeking assistance with gift and estate tax planning and compliance, strategic planning and financial reporting.

Ms. DeKreek received a B.S. degree in Finance from Pennsylvania State University. She is an Accredited Senior Appraiser, has taught several valuation related courses to C-Suite executives through the American Management Association (AMA) and has served as an expert witness in litigation. Sarah lives in the Atlanta, Georgia area with her husband, Criss, and their three daughters.