Mr. James Walter Hass Jr. Related Seminars and Products

Lefkoff Duncan Grimes McSwain & Hass PC

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.

Ms. Kathryn Baldwin Hecker Related Seminars and Products

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

Kathryn Hecker is a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta, where she focuses her practice on wealth transfer planning for ultra-high net worth clients, business succession planning, international estate planning, charitable planning, and complex estate administration.  She is a fellow of ACTEC, member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and is included in the Chambers’ High Net Worth guide. Kathryn has experience representing large and complicated estates and has worked on a broad array of issues pertaining to estate administration. While being licensed in Georgia, Kathryn is also a member of the South Carolina Bar.

Kathryn graduated from Yale University and Emory Law School. Kathryn is a former Chair of the Nonprofit Section of the State Bar of Georgia.

Mr. Michael Lewis Van Cise Related Seminars and Products

Arnall Golden Gregory LLP

Michael Van Cise is a partner at Arnall Golden Gregory in Atlanta, where he focuses his practice on wealth transfer planning for ultra-high net worth clients, business succession planning, international estate planning, charitable planning, and complex estate administration.  He is a fellow of ACTEC, member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners, and is included in the Chambers’ High Net Worth guide. Michael has experience representing large and complicated estates and has worked on a broad array of issues pertaining to estate administration. While being licensed in Georgia, Michael is also a member of the Florida Bar.

Michael is a graduate of Mercer University and the University of Georgia School of Law. He is listed in Best Lawyers in America for trusts and estates law. Michael currently serves on the Code Revision Committee of the Fiduciary Section of the State Bar of Georgia.

David Bokman Related Seminars and Products

Morgan Stanley

David Bokman is a Managing Director and the Head of Family Office Resources for Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. Family Office Resources provides ultra-high net worth clients with world-class, comprehensive services, including family governance and wealth education, philanthropy, estate planning strategies, trust services, single family office advisory and lifestyle advisory.

David’s diverse background has convinced him that ultra-high net worth families benefit by approaching their wealth management needs from the broadest possible perspective. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, he spent 13 years at GenSpring Family Offices, where he served, first, as founder and president of the Atlanta office, then as head of the firm’s Wealth Advisory Center and, finally, as Chief Advisory Officer responsible for the overall delivery of the firm’s family office services. David also has previous experience with ultra-high net worth clients as a vice president with Goldman Sachs’ Private Client Group, as a partner with King & Spalding focused on trusts and estates law, and as a senior tax manager with Arthur Andersen.

David graduated summa cum laude from Yale College in 1984 and received his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1988.

Ms. Courtney Hall Fell Related Seminars and Products

Morgan Stanley

Courtney Fell is an Executive Director and Wealth and Estate Planning Strategist in Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management Division. She is part of Family Office Resources, which is dedicated to Morgan Stanley’s ultra-high net worth clients. She serves on the Family Office Resources Management Team as the Manager of her fellow east coast Wealth and Estate Planning Strategists, as the Co-Chair of the Partnerships Committee for the Women In Wealth Home Office Chapter, and on the Corporate Executives Segmentation Committee. Courtney works with ultra-high net worth clients and their outside advisors on complex gift, estate and income tax planning strategies.

Courtney was a practicing attorney for over 18 years, before joining Morgan Stanley in 2017. Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, she was as an attorney in the Trusts and Estates and Tax Controversy Sections at Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry in the Atlanta office. Courtney also held a judicial clerkship with the Probate Court of Cobb County. She has written and spoken on various tax and estate planning subjects, including sophisticated trust planning, asset protection, trusts as retirement account beneficiaries, conservation easements, captive insurance companies, pre-liquidity planning and family governance.\

Courtney received her B.S. Cum Laude in Psychology from James Madison University, her J.D. from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University and her LL.M. in Taxation with a Specialty Certificate in Estate Planning from the Charles Widger School of Law at Villanova University. She is admitted to the Georgia Bar and is a member of the Tax and Fiduciary Law Sections of the Georgia Bar Association. Courtney is Series 7, Series 24 and Series 66 licensed.

Carolyn Clevenger Related Seminars and Products

Emory University

Carolyn Clevenger, gerontological nurse practitioner, is Professor at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University.  She is a Fellow of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the Gerontological Society of America, and the American Academy of Nursing. Her research focuses the geriatric nurse practitioner workforce, psychoeducation programs for dementia family caregivers, and new models of care.

Clevenger is the Founder and Director of the Emory Integrated Memory Care practice. The IMC is a nurse-led primary care practice for people living with dementia with both a clinic location and in select senior living communities. The new model of care has been recognized as a Patient-Centered Medical Home, an Age Friendly Health System, a Best Practice exemplar for patient- and family-centered care, and a Best Program for Caregiving.

Dr. Clevenger has led or collaborated on a variety of psychoeducation programs for dementia family caregivers including Savvy and Tele-Savvy Caregiver, Caregiving during Crisis, Caregiving While Black, and most recently, Caregiver as Navigator.

She earned her BSN from West Virginia University, her MSN from Emory University, and her DNP from the Medical College of Georgia. She completed her postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Mrs. Rebecca Godbey Cummings Related Seminars and Products

Rebecca Godbey Cummings LLC

Rebecca Cummings is an expert in wills, trusts and estates.  For more than two decades, she has given clients the peace of mind that their estate planning is in perfect working order, and she has counseled families through the process of administering the estate of a loved one.  Rebecca spent a decade as an entrepreneur and founder of a small law firm before becoming a partner in one of the most respected estate planning groups in Atlanta.  In 2015 she established her current firm, Legacy Studio, which has now grown to four lawyers. In 2016 Rebecca began offering professional fiduciary services for Georgia estates and trusts and she now spends the majority of her time facilitating difficult conversations about family and money and delivering tough love.

Previously a full-time law professor at Atlanta’s John Marshall Law School and an adjunct professor at Georgia State College of Law, Rebecca is known for her exceptional ability to explain complex ideas and systems in simple terms; she has repeatedly been named one of the state’s “most effective” lawyers and one of the Top 100 lawyers in Georgia.  Rebecca also serves as an expert witness in estate and trust disputes and is the author of “The Case Against Access to Decedents’ Email: Password Protection as an Exercise of the Right to Destroy.”

Rebecca is also a dynamic speaker, facilitator, and business development coach.  She is past president of the Georgia Association for Women Lawyers (GAWL) and she has given hundreds of workshops, presentations and keynote speeches to companies and organizations such as Coca Cola, the CDC, Emory, Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW), the Georgia Society of CPAs (GSCPA) and the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia, on topics as diverse as Georgia’s trust code, running effective meetings, and successful negotiation strategies.   Rebecca returns year after year to facilitate strategic planning retreats for organizations that value her ability to create fun and productive multi-day planning sessions for their employees and volunteers. 

Rebecca earned her B.A. at Emory University and her J.D. at William & Mary Law School.   She lives in the Atlanta area with her husband, Chris, and dog, Nola, but not with her self-sufficient young adult step-daughter, Alex (of whom she is extremely proud).  An avid world traveler, Rebecca has been to surfing school in Bali, volunteered in a dental clinic in Tanzania, stepped into North Korea at the DMZ, and spent many nights on Frenchman Street in New Orleans.

Ms. Haley Ann Schwartz Related Seminars and Products

Fox Rothschild LLP

Haley A. Schwartz is a Tax & Wealth Planning partner in the Atlanta office of Fox Rothschild. She centers her practice on creating values-based estate plans for moderate to high-net-worth individuals. Haley advises clients in all aspects of estate and trust administration, probate, wealth transfer strategies, charitable giving and business succession.   Haley often speaks to audiences on topics relating to the fundamentals of estate planning. She has presented to professional advisors about ethical wills and planning for beneficiaries who have addiction and mental health disorders. She is a member of the Fiduciary Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and the Estate Planning and Probate Section of the Atlanta Bar Association. She is a past Co-Chair of the Balser Symposium for Professional Advisors. Haley serves on the Board of Directors of the Anti-Defamation League Southeast Region and is a member of the Emory Law School Public Interest Committee Advisory Board.  Haley is a graduate of Indiana University and Emory University School of Law.

Ms. Kelli L. Wolk Related Seminars and Products

Cobb County Probate Court

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.

Mr. Robert C. Port Related Seminars and Products

Gaslowitz Frankel LLC

Robert C. Port is a partner with Gaslowitz Frankel LLC, Atlanta, Georgia. The firm focuses on fiduciary litigation arising from disputes related to trusts, wills, estates, guardianships, conservatorships, partnerships, closely held corporations, and securities and investment fraud. 

Robert is a member of the Georgia and Tennessee Bars. He is admitted in the Northern, Middle, and Southern Federal Districts of Georgia, the U.S. Courts of Appeal for the Eleventh and Third Circuits, and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is a member of the Georgia Bar, the Atlanta Bar Association, and the American Bar Association (ABA).

Robert is the Editor of “Georgia Business Litigation,” a one-volume, comprehensive guide to many of the issues business litigators often encounter, including officer, director, shareholder, partnership and LLC disputes; securities litigation; non-compete and trade secret issues; RICO; intellectual property issues; business torts; insurance liability; fraudulent transfers; employment litigation; bankruptcy, and the ever-increasing use of arbitration.  https://www.lawcatalog.com/georgia-business-litigation.html

Robert has litigated cases in federal and state courts in Georgia and throughout the country, as well as arbitrated before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA), and the American Arbitration Association (AAA). He also serves as a FINRA chair-qualified arbitrator, an arbitrator for both the Consumer and Commercial Panels of the AAA, and serves as an arbitrator for the Georgia State Bar’s Fee Arbitration Program.

Robert is a frequent speaker on estate and trust litigation, securities litigation, and securities arbitration before a variety of audiences, including the Georgia Institute of Continuing Legal Education (ICLE), the Atlanta Bar Association, The National Association of Personal Financial Advisors (NAPFA), the Georgia Society of CPAs, the National Business Institute (NBI), and the Public Investors Arbitration Bar Association (PIABA). He has also published numerous articles on fiduciary litigation, securities law, and other legal topics in the Georgia Bar Journal and other publications.

Robert attended the University of North Carolina, where he obtained a B.A., with Honors, in 1979, and a J.D., with Honors, in 1983. Following law school, he was a Law Clerk for Hon. Eugene N. Gordon, Senior United States District Court Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina.

Mr. Joseph Andrew Sillitto Related Seminars and Products

Page Scrantom Sprouse Tucker & Ford PC

Joseph Sillitto practices in the area of trusts and estates in Columbus, GA, with the law firm of Page Scrantom Sprouse Tucker & Ford, P.C.  He is a cum laude graduate of Vanderbilt University and of Georgia State University College of Law.   Chair of the Fiduciary Section and the past President of the Columbus Bar Association, Joseph has been a regular speaker for the Basic Fiduciary program for ICLE in Macon and Atlanta, and he has previously presented in Athens at the Estate Planning Institute and in Amelia Island at the Fiduciary Law Institute.

Ned Montag Related Seminars and Products

Montag Wealth Management

Mr. Edward A. Montag, “Ned”

MONTAG Wealth Management

As Chief Executive Officer, Ned has overall managerial responsibility for MONTAG Wealth Management.  He joined the firm in 1996 and in 2009 became CEO. 

Ned’s managerial expertise, particularly in the family business context, was forged during his years as a consultant to family-owned businesses. Much of his work in this area was done through the Family Business Forum in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University. 

Ned grew up in Atlanta and attended The Westminster Schools. Outside the office, he spends much of his time with his wife, Andrea, and their three children.  He enjoys serving on several local philanthropic boards, reading, yoga, golf, fly-fishing, and he collects Burgundy wine. 

PERSONAL & CIVIC AFFILIATIONS

Member, Young Presidents Organization

Member, Downtown Atlanta Rotary

Member, Board of Directors, LaGrange College

Treasurer, National Center for Civil and Human Rights

Chair, Sidney Isenberg Lecture Series at Atlanta History Center

Former Endowment Chair, Trinity School

Former Endowment Chair, Jewish Educational Loan Fund

Advisory Board, Visiting Nurses of Atlanta

EDUCATION

M.B.A., Goizueta Business School, Emory University

B.A. in English Literature, Washington University

John L. Montag Related Seminars and Products

Montag Wealth Management

Mr. John L. Montag

MONTAG Wealth Management

John joined MONTAG in 1995 and became President and CIO in 2009. He plays key managerial and client advisory roles for the firm.    

As Chief Investment Officer, John oversees the firm’s investment operations on a firm-wide basis.  He also serves as portfolio manager for a number of clients, employing a comprehensive approach that focuses on investment issues, legal and accounting concerns, lifestyle considerations and philanthropic interests.

John grew up in Atlanta and attended The Westminster Schools. He and his wife, Erika, have three children. In addition to time with family, John is an avid student of history and politics and enjoys running, swimming, gardening, and baseball.

PERSONAL & CIVIC AFFILIATIONS

Chair, Board of Trustees, The Rich Foundation, Inc. 

Chair, Camp Twin Lakes Endowment Committee 

Member, Atlanta History Center Endowment Committee 

Past Chair, Board of Directors, Families First 

Past Trustee, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation

Past Trustee, Camp Nebagamon Scholarship Fund

Member, Leadership Atlanta Class of 2001

Member, Jewish HomeLife Board of Community Advocates

EDUCATION

M.B.A., Tuck School of Business, Dartmouth College

B.A. in History, University of Pennsylvania

Ms. Diane Beth Weinberg Related Seminars and Products

Weinberg Elder Law LLC

Diane Weinberg focuses her practice on the litigation side of elder law – guardianships and conservatorships, fiduciary litigation, and elder abuse. Diane earned a B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania and her J.D. from the Emory University School of Law. A member of the State Bar of Georgia, Diane is a member of the Trust and Estate and Elder Law Sections of the Atlanta Bar Association, the Academy of Special Needs Planners, and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys,. Diane received certification as an At-Risk Adult Crimes Tactics Specialist through the Georgia Department of Humans Services, Division of Aging Services, and she serves on a GBI informal workgroup addressing issues of financial exploitation of the elderly and disabled. She recently served as a director on the Board of Directors for the Georgia Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and co-chairperson of the Legislative Policy committee. Diane also is a frequent local and national speaker on a variety of aspects of guardianships, special needs trusts, and Medicaid planning. She is a Martindale-Hubbell AV rated attorney, has an AVVO rating of 10/10, and has been named a SuperLawyer since 2020. In her spare time, Diane pretends to be an avid knitter, and she is the chairperson of the Stitch N’ Kvetch program at Congregation Beth Shalom in Dunwoody, Georgia.  She andher husband Mike are parents to three boys and live with their dogs, Cindy Lou and Sherman, in Sandy Springs.

Stephen C. Crofford Related Seminars and Products

Cumberland Trust

Stephen Crofford, Jr. joined Cumberland Trust in 2016 and currently serves as Vice President and Senior Fiduciary Counsel. In this role, he reviews trust agreements and last will & testaments from states all across the country and drafts documents relating to the administration of trust and estate accounts.  

Stephen also serves on the Tennessee Bankers Association (TBA) Trust Legislative Committee, a group that meets annually to review the trust code and make recommendations for changes. Stephen received a B.S. degree in Political Science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and J.D. from Belmont University College of Law.  He is licensed to practice law in Tennessee.

Ms. Shelly Nixon Donaldson Related Seminars and Products

Cumberland Trust

Shelly Donaldson serves as the Vice President and Business Development Officer based in Cumberland Trust’s Atlanta office.  In her role, Shelly connects individuals, families and their financial, legal, and tax advisors with Cumberland Trust’s high caliber trust and estate administration services. 

Shelly has been a practicing attorney for most of her career and has 14+ years of experience in estate planning, tax and corporate law —specializing in estate planning for high-net-worth clients and families. She has particular expertise in tax and estate planning involving real estate, closely held business entities and planning for a family member with a disability (Special Needs Planning).

Prior to joining Cumberland Trust, Shelly founded The Donaldson Law Firm following experience at other firms including Lefkoff, Duncan, Grimes, McSwain & Hass, P.C. and Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP.

Shelly served on the Executive Committee of the Georgia Bar Association Fiduciary Law Section and was a past chair of the Atlanta Bar Estate Planning and Probate Section and past board member for the Atlanta Estate Planning Council.

She is a current board member and secretary of the Atlanta Lab Rescue and on the Advisory Board for the Special Olympics of Georgia.  She is also a past board member of AADD (now The Bobby Dodd Institute), a nonprofit that helps individuals living with a disability succeed at work, in the community and in life.

Shelly graduated cum laude from the Fredric G. Levin College of Law at the University of Florida, where she also served as an editor of the Law Review. She holds a B.B.A. in finance from Auburn University.

Mr. Nikola R. Djuric Related Seminars and Products

Bessemer Trust

Mr. Djuric is Principal and Fiduciary Counsel at Bessemer Trust. In this role, he is responsible for working with clients and their advisors to develop practical and efficient wealth transfer plans, and for guiding the firm on fiduciary issues.

Prior to joining Bessemer in 2025, Nick was a shareholder and Chairman of Djuric Spratt P.A. Before that, he was an associate and partner at Eversheds Sutherland (US) LLP. Previously, he was a law clerk for Chief Judge Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), where he is Georgia State Chair and serves as a member of the State Laws Committee. He has served as Chair of the State Bar of Georgia Fiduciary Law Section and is currently chair of its Code Revision Committee. He previously served as Chair of the Estate Planning & Probate Section of the Atlanta Bar Association and as President of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council.

Nick earned a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard University and an A.B., magna cum laude, in public policy studies and history from Duke University.

Mr. Timothy Kyle King Related Seminars and Products

Hodges McEachern & King

         T. Kyle King is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC).  He is the senior partner at the firm of Hodges, McEachern & King in Peachtree City, and his practice has focused on trust and estate matters since 1997.  Kyle received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Georgia, he co-chairs the Fiduciary Law Section’s Legislation Committee, and he was the recipient of the Georgia Council of Probate Court Judges’ 2022 Friend of the Council Award.  

Ms. Elizabeth Anne Faist Related Seminars and Products

Duncan Spratt P.A.

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.

Mr. Brent Michael Eden Related Seminars and Products

Winged Keel Group

Brent M. Eden is a Principal of Winged Keel Group, co-leading the firm’s Atlanta office. Brent specializes in providing life insurance advice through the structuring, implementation, and servicing of customized, integrated planning solutions to ultra-affluent families, business owners, and corporate executives. He also advises privately and publicly held businesses in the areas of business continuation insurance, buy-sell agreement funding, and executive benefits. Brent recommends collaborative solutions that help meet the unique needs of his clients and match their overall planning strategies and objectives. Prior to joining Winged Keel Group in 2023, Brent served as Principal of Nease, Lagana, Eden & Culley, a position he held after practicing law in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brent is a member of the Atlanta Estate Planning Council as well as the American, Georgia and Atlanta Bar Associations, and he holds the Trust & Estate Practitioner (TEP) designation as a member of the Society of Trust & Estate Practitioners (STEP). He is also a member and participates in the Ambassador program of Finseca, the advocacy and development organization for life insurance and financial security professionals. Brent previously served on the Board of Directors of M Financial Group as well as its Audit, Compensation, and Member Firm Compensation Plan Committees. Brent has held leadership roles and advisory and executive board memberships with the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta and he is a Past President of the Estate Planning Council of North Georgia. Brent holds FINRA series 6 and 63 securities registrations.

Brent graduated from the University of Michigan and obtained his law degree from Georgia State University College of Law, focusing on estate planning and litigation. In law school, Brent was a member of the Moot Court Board, was an Honor Court Justice, and clerked for the Honorable Jerry Baxter, Superior Court of Fulton County. Prior to law school Brent clerked at the law firm of Alston & Bird, LLP, where he worked exclusively on the Enron bankruptcy. Brent also lived for a year in New Zealand, where he worked for the New Zealand law firm Buddle Findlay and the Kinloch Lodge.

Mr. Randall Mark Kessler Related Seminars and Products

Kessler & Solomiany LLC

Randall M. Kessler is the founder of Kessler & Solomiany, LLC., a domestic relations law firm headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. Mr. Kessler is the author of many family law books including Divorce: Protect Yourself, Your Kids and Your Future, The GA Library of Family Law Forms, and How to Mediate a Divorce. He is also an adjunct professor of Family Law Litigation at Emory Law School and has served as the Chair of the Family Law Sections of the American Bar Association, the State Bar of Georgia and the Atlanta Bar Association. Mr. Kessler has represented some of the highest profile clients in the country including judges, national and local
politicians, professional athletes, TV Stars and other celebrities, entertainers and artists.

Mr. Steven Kennedy Kirson Related Seminars and Products

Kessler & Solomiany LLC

Steve Kirson is a partner at Kessler & Solomiany Family Law Attorneys, a 30 person family law firm in Atlanta.  Mr. Kirson was admitted to the State Bar of Georgia in 1992, when he graduated cum laude from Tulane Law School. Mr. Kirson has practiced exclusively in the area of family law since 2003, and joined Kessler & Solomiany in 2014.  Mr. Kirson’s received his Bachelor of Science from Cornell University in 1986.

Mr. Kirson brings a unique background to his practice of family law, bringing to his family law practice his experience as a corporate human resources and benefits professional with a Fortune 500 Corporation between college and law school, as well as his experience as a Series 7, 63 and 65 licensed financial advisor with UBS Financial Services during a 1997-2003 detour from the practice of law.

Mr. Kirson’s more than 20 years of family law experience in family law matters include divorce, custody, legitimation, child support, modifications and contempt actions, and prenuptial agreements. His past speaking engagements on family law have included the Fiduciary Law Institute, Family Law Institute, Atlanta Bar Association Estate Planning and Probate Section, Georgia Society of CPAs, and the ICLE Growth Companies CLE program. He is a Master in the Charles Longstreet Weltner Family Law Inn of Court.

Samuel Donaldson Related Seminars and Products

Georgia State University College of Law

SAMUEL A. DONALDSON [J.D. University of Arizona; LL.M. (Taxation) University of Florida] is the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law at Georgia State University in Atlanta, where he teaches a number of tax and estate planning courses, as well as courses in the areas of property, commercial law, and professional responsibility. Prior to joining the Georgia State faculty in 2012, he was on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle for 13 years, where he served as the Director of the law school’s Graduate Program in Taxation as well as Associate Dean for Academic Administration. In addition to Georgia State and the University of Washington, Professor Donaldson has taught law school classes at Northwestern University, the University of Florida, and Emory University. He has won nine “professor of the year” awards at three different law schools.

He is an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a member of the Bar in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. He currently serves as the Tax Editor for the Probate Practice Reporter, a monthly publication from the University of South Carolina School of Law. Among his scholarly works, Professor Donaldson is a co-author of the popular law school textbook, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach, and a co-author of the Price on Contemporary Estate Planning reference volume published by Wolters Kluwer.

An amateur crossword constructor, his puzzles have been published in The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets. A perennial contender for People Magazine’s “Sexiest Man Alive” honor, Professor Donaldson was recently notified by email of his selection to receive substantial sums of money from high-level Nigerian business officials in exchange for his bank account information.

Mr. Blake Neisler Melton Related Seminars and Products

The Family Office at Synovus

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.