MICHAEL M. GORDON works with clients throughout the country in connection with their trust and estate planning.

Michael’s practice focuses on how clients can achieve estate planning and tax benefits through the use of Delaware trusts. Michael routinely works with clients across the country to transfer the situs of trusts to Delaware and to modify those trusts to take advantage of Delaware’s favorable trust law.

Michael’s practice is unique in that although he does work with clients locally to assist them in the construction of their estate plans he spends the majority of his time working with high net worth clients throughout the country, their advisors, and attorneys to assist them with Delaware-centric trust and estate planning. Michael advises his clients on complex federal wealth transfer techniques that can be accomplished through the use of Delaware trusts. Michael also assists clients throughout the country in connection with income tax planning through the use of Delaware trusts including Qualified Small Business Stock planning and state income tax planning.

Michael is recognized as one of the preeminent estate planning attorneys in the country. He is ranked by Chambers and Partners among the top attorneys in Delaware for Private Wealth Law. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a national organization of peer-selected lawyers and law professors who are at the top of their profession and committed to maintaining excellence in the field of trust and estate law. Michael routinely speaks at the top estate planning conferences and events throughout the country on trust and estate planning topics.

Elizabeth M. Luk is Head of Delaware Trust at BNY Mellon, bringing extensive expertise in trust management and wealth services.

With a strong foundation in legal frameworks, Elizabeth oversees trust operations and manages fiduciary responsibilities. Their background includes leadership roles within financial services, demonstrating capabilities in strategic planning and team leadership.

Prior to joining BNY Mellon, Elizabeth held several positions at JP Morgan India Private, including Executive Director and Trust Team Leader. During their tenure, they focused on driving strategic initiatives and providing financial solutions to clients. Earlier roles at JP Morgan included Vice President and Associate and Vice President, demonstrating a career progression within the organization.

Elizabeth's commitment to education is reflected in their experience as an Adjunct Professor at Pace University, where they shared their applied knowledge of legal principles. Their background includes serving as a Legal Intern with the IRS and Law Clerk at Bashian, further solidifying their legal expertise. They also served as a Law Clerk at Eugenia M Vecchio & Associates, and as an Intern with the US Department of Justice Community Relations Service. Earlier in their career, Elizabeth contributed as a Grants Writer and Health Program Coordinator at Charles B. Wang Community Health Center.

Elizabeth holds a Doctor of Law from Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, a Master of Public Health from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and a Bachelor of Arts from Emory University. They are admitted to the New York and Connecticut State Bars.

Mrs. Rafferty’s practice focuses on all aspects of estate, income, gift and generation-skipping tax planning, trust and estate administration, estate and gift tax audit, private family trust company formation, and fiduciary litigation for individuals, families, business owners, trust companies, and tax-exempt entities.  Mrs. Rafferty has significant experience in complex trust and estate planning and administration.  She serves as an expert witness in matters of Nevada trust and estate law, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) where she serves as a Regent and Nevada State Chair. She is a past-Chairman of the Nevada State Bar’s Probate and Trust Section, and co-chair of the Section’s legislative committee.

Ms. Moody is a senior wealth strategist in the Washington, DC office of BNY Wealth, working directly with clients and their families to address all aspects of family wealth transfer, business succession, philanthropy, and income tax, estate tax, gift tax and generation-skipping tax planning. Prior to joining BNY Wealth, Ms. Moody was a partner in the private wealth practice group of a large national law firm. Ms. Moody is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a prior chair of the ABA Tax Section Fiduciary Income Tax Committee.

Emily Plocki assists high-net-worth individuals, multigenerational families, and owners of family corporations, both domestically and internationally, with tax planning and wealth preservation. Emily handles a variety of matters, including estate, gift, and generation-skipping transfer tax planning; trust and estate administration; planned charitable giving; and business succession strategies. She prepares sophisticated lifetime and estate planning documents, designed to help families and individuals preserve and grow the businesses and legacies they have built over a lifetime. 

Prior to joining Venable, Emily was an associate at an international law firm, where she assisted clients with implementing efficient multigenerational wealth transfer strategies, counseled on tax and succession planning for owners of closely held businesses, and worked with clients to incorporate philanthropic and other non-tax objectives into their estate plans. Emily’s experience also includes working as a law clerk with an estate planning boutique in Washington, DC, where she assisted with tax and estate planning for individuals, businesses, and nonprofit organizations. She also participated in the IRS Employee Plans Volunteer Law Student Program, where she researched 401(k) requirements. 

Chad has achieved significant victories in all of Delaware’s courts, including the Delaware Supreme Court and Third Circuit Court of Appeals.  He is an experienced litigator with expertise in a variety of areas, including complex financial and commercial litigation, trusts and estates litigation, intellectual property litigation, and insurance litigation.  Chad has litigated several high-profile trust disputes in the Delaware Court of Chancery, and he has counseled numerous trust companies on fiduciary and regulatory matters.

Chad also has an active ADR practice, with substantial experience arbitrating and mediating commercial disputes.

Scott Swenson focuses his practice on estate planning and settlement, estate and trust litigation, and advising trustees and other fiduciaries on matters including trust administration, trust modification, and risk management. In doing so, he helps clients achieve their strategic planning objectives and finds cost-effective solutions to the problems and controversies faced by fiduciaries and beneficiaries.

Scott has represented a variety of institutional and individual clients, as fiduciaries and as beneficiaries, in trust and estate matters before the Court of Chancery and the Supreme Court of Delaware. His practice also includes taxation, alternative entities, non-profit organizations, tax controversies, and guardianship. Chambers High Net Worth has ranked Scott among Delaware's top practitioners in the area of Private Wealth Law and Private Wealth Disputes, calling him "highly communicative - an exceptional attorney."  A Chambers market observer praised Scott’s "calm, sensible approach" and continues: "He's an excellent addition to any team. He's responsive, approachable, and highly creative in his approach." Another market insider described Scott as "a consummate professional" and "truly the epitome of the Delaware way," noting that "no matter how the other side is behaving, or how emotional the matter becomes, Scott remains laser-focused on gracefully, cordially arriving at an agreeably solution for all the parties."  Scott was also recognized by The Best Lawyers in America as the 2021 "Lawyer of the Year" for Trusts and Estates in Delaware, and as the 2019 "Lawyer of the Year" for Trust and Estate Litigation in Delaware. Scott is rated AV Preeminent®, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest rating for lawyers.

Scott is also dedicated to pro bono service, serving on the board of directors of Delaware Careplan, Inc., a non-profit organization dedicated to managing special needs trusts, and acting as an attorney guardian ad litem for the Office of the Child Advocate. In addition, Scott is former Chair of the Delaware State Bar Association’s Estates & Trusts Section, and presently chairs the Section’s Continuing Legal Education Committee.

Amanda Koplin, LPC is a mental health entrepreneur and thought leader who creates innovative solutions to fill gaps in the mental healthcare system. In 2014, she created and developed an idea for a mental health urgent care clinic and sold it in 2016 to create Koplin Consulting, a nationwide concierge mental health treatment team service. Amanda is passionate about helping people achieve mental wellness and creating sustainable support systems and solutions which integrate seamlessly into real life.

 She is a speaker and a nationally sought after consultant who specializes in creating unique treatment plans and recommendations for individuals struggling with psychological concerns such as addictions, eating disorders, lack of motivation, and other issues impacting mental wellness. She is particularly adept at involving trusted advisors and family members in order to create the greatest impact.

 Amanda attended the University of Oregon for undergrad where she received two bachelor’s degrees: one in psychology and one in women and gender studies, and a certificate in the substance abuse prevention program. She attended Yeshiva University’s Albert Einstein’s College of Medicine where she received her Master’s in Mental Health Counseling. Following graduate school, she did in-home counseling for kids in family court and kids charged with felonies in Supreme Court in New York City. This is where she learned the impact of working with people in real life and the impact of working with all of the systems involved with the person of concern. This job not only influenced Amanda’s philosophy regarding mental health treatment, it inspired her to develop her own practical, real life solution in the form of Koplin Consulting. Her mission is to help others recover their quality of life.

Gregg joined JTC in 2021 and brings with him over 20 years of trust experience. As Head of Strategic Partnership for JTC USA, Private Capital Services, he focuses on implementing strategies, complex trust structures, tax and estate planning.

Naro is the Deputy Head of Private Capital Services for JTC’s Caribbean offices. Prior to this, he was the Head of JTC’s Dubai and Abu Dhabi offices, and he originally joined JTC as an Associate Director based in Guernsey.

Michele Leichtman Weiss is a Principal at Holtz, Slavett & Drabkin. She has over 20 years of experience in tax controversy and litigation matters. Michele helps her clients resolve their civil and criminal tax matters. She represents her clients in all aspects of tax controversy, in examinations, appeals and collection matters, at the administrative level and in litigation with federal, state and local tax authorities including the IRS, FTB, California Department of Tax and Fee Administration (CDTFA), EDD, Board of Equalization, Office of Tax Appeals (OTA), the County Assessor and LA City Finance Office. Michele has expertise in many substantive and procedural tax issues including Employee Retention Credit, tax penalty abatement, conservation easement deductions, offshore disclosure matters, employment tax matters, sales tax audits, research and development credits, collection due process and non-profit matters. Michele handles property tax matters in all California counties including special assessments, escape assessments, change in ownership issues and property tax appeal representation.

Michele was previously a Director in KPMG’s Tax Controversy Services group where she represented foreign and domestic clients in resolving their tax disputes. Michele was also a senior attorney in the IRS’ Large and Mid-Sized Business Division where she handled complex tax litigation matters. Michele worked closely with IRS exam teams, giving guidance and litigating complex areas of tax law including partnership and international taxation, tax shelters, leasing and depreciation issues and civil tax penalties. During her tenure at the IRS, Michele received two performance award and one excellence award.

For over 8 years Michele was on the adjunct faculty of Golden Gate University School of Taxation where she taught federal tax procedure, research, and writing. Michele received her B.A. in economics cum laude, from Barnard College of Columbia University. She received her J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from New York University where she was Article and Note Editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics. Michele is a member of the California and New York state bars. She is also admitted to practice before the U.S. Tax Court.

Michele is Chair of the Tax Section and Member of the Board of Governors of the Beverly Hills Bar Association; Fellow, American College of Tax Counsel; Fellow, American Bar Foundation; Tax Policy Chair, Women in Tax Committee, California Lawyers Association Tax Section; Group Leader, Provisors Los Angeles Lawyers and Legal Professionals Affinity Group; and Board Chair, Friendship Circle of Los Angeles (FCLA).

SHANNON L. POST is a Director at the firm with a focus on business planning and tax controversy.

Shannon’s business planning practice involves counseling and advising individuals on entity formation, management, tax planning, asset protection, ownership transfer, and succession and gift planning, including the drafting of corporate governance documents, limited liability company agreements, stockholder agreements, and compensation agreements. She is often engaged by corporations and other entities, both for-profit and non-profit, to provide corporate counsel and advice on corporate governance. In this role, she also represents companies in resolving corporate officer, shareholder, and partner disputes, involving breaches of fiduciary duties, restrictive covenant issues, violations of transfer restrictions, and separation agreements.  Shannon also has significant experience representing clients on all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, including preparation of ancillary agreements, such as confidentiality, escrow, noncompetition, consulting, employment, and lease agreements.

Shannon’s practice extends to tax controversy representing individuals and businesses in tax audits, appeals, and litigation with the Internal Revenue Service and state and local revenue divisions. With extensive experience handling cases at the federal, state, and local level, she has a significant knowledge and network to use towards the efficient resolution of tax disputes to minimize business interruption, inconvenience, and cost to the client.

Patrick Smith is the Senior Vice President of Fraud Operations Management Optimization for the American Bankers Association.  In his role Patrick represents financial institutions’ interests in fraud prevention and detection controls.

Patrick’s career has spanned a broad spectrum of financial institutions, including PNC, Barclays, City National Bank, SECU, Bellco CU and Bethpage CU.  In these roles Patrick had the responsibility to manage, develop and test the institution’s fraud prevention and response strategy.  In addition to this experience and prior to his career with financial institutions, Patrick served as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, specializing in financial and cyber-crimes.

Patrick has his Juris Doctorate from the University of Louisville, Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.   

Professor Donaldson is the Director of Curriculum and professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law. Prior to joining the College of Law in 2012, Professor Donaldson was on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle for 13 years. During his tenure at the University of Washington, he was a five-time recipient of the Philip A. Trautman Professor of the Year award from the School of Law's Student Bar Association. Professor Donaldson served for two years as Associate Dean for Academic Administration and for six years as the Director of the law school's Graduate Program in Taxation.

Professor Donaldson teaches a number of tax and estate planning courses, as well as courses in the areas of property, commercial law and professional responsibility. He is a nationally recognized speaker on federal taxation and estate planning at professional conferences and continuing education seminars.

Professor Donaldson 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. Among his scholarly works, he is a co-author of the popular West casebook, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach, and a co-author of the Price on Contemporary Estate Planning treatise published by Wolters Kluwer.

Professor Donaldson has served as the Harry R. Horrow Visiting Professor of International Law at Northwestern University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

An amateur crossword constructor, Professor Donaldson's puzzles have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.

sdonaldson@gsu.edu

Jocelyn Margolin Borowsky, a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel ("ACTEC"), practices in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration and fiduciary litigation in Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Sophisticated Estate Planning. A large part of her practice involves the review of clients' overall estate plans, preparation of wills and revocable trusts, and implementation of sophisticated trusts, such as lifetime spousal lifetime access trusts, asset protection trusts, life insurance trusts, dynasty trusts, BOLI trusts, DINGs, BDITs, GRATs and IDGTs. Ms. Borowsky also works with closely-held family businesses and professionals on issues involving strategic tax and business planning, and the creation of private family foundations and represents executives of publicly traded companies and shareholders of privately held companies going public.  

Modification and Other Advice on Delaware Trusts. Ms. Borowsky routinely advises clients with respect to resolving trust administration matters, modifying trusts, structuring new Delaware trusts and transferring existing trusts to Delaware through decanting or other means.  As the Chair of the state bar statutory drafting committees, she is well versed in the preparation of Delaware directed trusts and in the creation of confidential silent trusts. Ms. Borowsky also has served as an expert witness in matters involving a Delaware directed trusts, spendthrift protection, and an executor’s breach of fiduciary duty.

Litigation and Audits.  Ms. Borowsky represents fiduciaries and beneficiaries in trust and estate litigation and in pre-litigation planning. She also handles tax controversy matters, including estate and gift tax audits by the Internal Revenue Service and state taxing authorities. She is AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell and listed in The Chambers Guide to the Leading High Net Worth Lawyers.

Gregory J. Weinig is a partner practicing in the areas of trusts and estates, including trust and estate planning, trust and estate administration, fiduciary risk management, and trust and estate litigation. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), serving actively on its Fiduciary Administration and Fiduciary Litigation Committees. Greg works with an array of clients with diverse needs in trust and estate planning and administration, bringing his significant experience in trust and estate litigation matters to bear on his planning and administration activities. His trust and estate drafting and administration activities include work for clients across a wide spectrum of needs and complexity, residing both locally and across the country, the latter particularly including dynasty trusts, directed trusts, asset protection trusts, and other trust planning typically associated with a Delaware practice.

Greg has litigated in a number of high-stakes and smaller-scale fiduciary litigation matters, ranging from trust and will construction actions to multi-layered trust and will contests to asset protection trust matters. Greg also has an extensive practice in many other areas involving trusts and estates, such as working with institutional fiduciaries in risk management, trust review and intake, and resolution of administrative matters; representing fiduciaries and beneficiaries in contentious trust and estate situations that have stopped short of filed litigation; drafting and presenting consent petitions and other routine proceedings in the Delaware Court of Chancery; testifying as an expert witness in Court of Chancery estate matters; and serving as a Court-appointed guardian ad litem in both contested and uncontested matters before the Court of Chancery.

Chambers USA: High Net Worth^® has ranked Greg in Band 1 among Delaware's Private Wealth practitioners. Chambers market sources commented that Greg is “very thoughtful, very methodical, and looks at the whole picture,” and that he is “very thorough and exact. He’s just incredible; he knows estate planning inside and out, and makes recommendations which are right for each individual situation.” Greg has also been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America^® for Trusts and Estates, Trust and Estate Litigation, and Tax Law – earning the Delaware “Lawyer of the Year” designation (awarded to the individual attorney with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific location and practice area) in 2021 for Trust and Estate Litigation and in 2020 and 2024 for Tax Law. Greg has an AV* rating under Martindale-Hubbell's Preeminent™ Peer Review certification, and has also been honored in Delaware Today's Top Lawyers and Super Lawyers for Trusts & Estates law.

Greg is a past chair of the Estates and Trusts Section of the Delaware State Bar Association, and currently serves as a primary drafter on its Trust Act Committee's annual updates to Delaware’s trust and estate statutes. His pro bono activities include work with the “Mega Wills” event run by several Delaware pro bono organizations, and with other indigent clients having estate planning needs.

Greg’s focus on wills and estates stems from his lifelong interest in genealogy. Tracing his ancestors has led him to travel and research extensively in the United States and Europe. He is also a member of several family associations and historical organizations, and has published articles in genealogical journals. A Delaware native, Greg resides in the Wilmington, Delaware area with his wife and two children.

Beth’s practice encompasses estate planning, estate administration, tax planning, and wealth preservation. She represents high net worth individuals in implementing sophisticated estate plans, as well as fiduciaries and beneficiaries in the administration of estates and trusts. Chambers High Net Worth reports, “Clients are comfortable talking to her, which is what everyone needs.”

Beth also represents banks, trust companies, and individuals regarding fiduciary duties and the administration, construction, and interpretation of trust instruments. She advises institutions and individuals on creating Delaware trusts and reforming and relocating existing trusts to Delaware, ensuring that her clients benefit from the unique advantages of Delaware trust law.

In addition, Beth advises clients on formation and operational issues relating to family planning vehicles and closely held businesses in the form of Delaware partnerships and limited liability companies in all types of transactions, including financing, restructuring, and dissolution.

When closely-held companies, high net worth individuals, and family offices seek help in structuring transactions around tax, liability, business succession, and other corporate issues, they call on Vince Thomas to combine sophisticated counsel with sound and practical business judgment. His transactional skills, often in collaboration with the firm's other sections, are a unique and valuable complement to his long established practice representing institutional trustees and individuals in issues of Delaware trust and alternative entity law.

Adept at explaining intricate legal concepts in laymen's terms, Vince involves clients fully in the transaction process. In matters where a single word can have enormous future consequences, he meticulously presents his clients with every viable option, arming them with the substantive knowledge they need to make solid business decisions.

From the precise drafting of transaction documents to the complex tax planning and re-domestication of out-of-state trusts into Delaware, Vince immerses himself in the details and nuances, protecting his clients from unwarranted exposures as he guides their matters to successful resolution.

Julian Zebot focuses his legal practice on probate, fiduciary, and trust litigation as well as business and commercial litigation, and he chairs Maslon's Trust & Estate Litigation Group. He has counseled and represented individual and business clients in both federal and state courts as well as arbitration proceedings, and he has handled matters for clients at all stages of the litigation process, including mediation, trials, and appeals.

Julian's probate, fiduciary, and trust litigation practice has involved many different types of contested estate, trust, probate, and elder law matters, including will/trust contests (including claims of undue influence and diminished capacity), construction/interpretation disputes, accounting actions, breach of fiduciary duty claims, fiduciary removal actions, trust instruction proceedings, financial elder abuse claims, and creditor claims against estates. He has also developed a niche practice representing and counseling parties involved in complicated multijurisdictional trust litigation, often involving parallel lawsuits in different states, and has familiarity with associated trust situs, venue, and jurisdictional issues. Within his practice, Julian has represented both institutions and individuals in a variety of contexts, including corporate and individual trustees, personal representatives, attorneys-in-fact, beneficiaries, heirs, and creditors.

With respect to his business and commercial litigation practice, Julian has broad experience litigating and resolving claims of unfair business practices and competition, including breach of contract claims, business torts, breach of restrictive covenant claims, shareholder/ownership disputes ("business divorces"), litigation under the Minnesota Termination of Sales Representatives Act (MTSRA), Lanham Act claims, class actions, and other complex commercial litigation, including litigation involving financial service businesses, manufacturers, companies with sales forces, and family and other closely held companies.

As a Wealth Trust Advisor at The Bryn Mawr Trust Company of Delaware I manage a book of trust accounts. I serve as Trustee on a wide variety of trusts ranging from fully directed Delaware trusts to fully discretionary trusts, and everything in between. I also work on Delaware Statutory Trusts serving as a vehicle for M&As, investments, reinsurance, crowdfunding, and real estate. As part of the team of client facing advisors my role also includes traveling to trade shows to interact with potential referral sources for new business, leading and participating in family meetings, coordinating between all the professionals servicing the trust (i.e. accountants and planners), and serve as the primary contact for the clients to contact with any questions on the trust. Internally I serve as chair of the account onboarding committee, where I review each account as it is being onboarded to make sure it complies with our policies. I also serve as chair of our account review committee, where I analysis all the advisors account reviews to make sure they have been completed thoroughly. 

Daniel is a nationally respected trust and estate lawyer who provides sophisticated and valuable advice on complex trust issues and fiduciary litigation. 

Daniel brings a wealth of experience in Delaware trust law to the individual and corporate clients that he serves. He is well versed in the unique and complex aspects of Delaware trusts and is frequently sought after as an authority in the field. Daniel drafts Delaware trusts, including directed trusts, dynasty trusts, and self-settled asset protection trusts, for local, national and international clients. He also works with clients and their advisors to transfer the situs of existing trusts created in other jurisdictions to the State of Delaware, and advises on utilizing the various methods available under Delaware law to modify trusts, including decanting, merger, nonjudicial settlement agreements, and modification agreements, as well as the potential income, gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer tax consequences of such methods. 

Daniel provides robust representation and sound counsel to individual and corporate trustees and other fiduciaries. He advises trustees regarding ongoing trust administration as well as best practices concerning fiduciary operations. He also advises trustees and fiduciaries on their legal and fiduciary obligations to improve compliance, manage costs of administration, and how to minimize their risk exposure. 

Daniel is a familiar figure in the Delaware Court of Chancery, whether petitioning the court for instructions relating to difficult trust administration matters or resolving fiduciary litigation. He is a skilled advocate for his clients and respected by his peers and colleagues in the Delaware bar and judiciary. He has been recognized by legal industry organizations for his skills in trust and estate planning and honored as a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), an organization reserved for lawyers who demonstrate the highest level of professionalism in wills and trusts, estate planning, and tax law. 

Daniel lives in Hockessin, Delaware with his wife, Stephanie, and their three children.

Beth Tractenberg, chair of Steptoe's Transactions and Tax Group, guides high-net-worth individuals, families, and fiduciaries in international and domestic estate planning, contested matters, estate administration, the creation and advising of exempt organizations, and drafting and negotiating prenuptial agreements.

Beth, who also heads Steptoe’s Private Clients practice, provides comprehensive tax, personal, and business advice to families, working closely with their family offices and other advisers. Drawing on her tax and trusts and estates experience, Beth serves clients as a personal and family adviser on numerous business, management, and related personal issues, including issues involving real estate and business holdings in the United States and abroad. Beth has extensive experience advising international clients on cross-border and pre-immigration planning, gifting, estate planning, and other tax issues. She frequently assists in resolving business disputes and sensitively guides succession planning across generations of family members. Clients value her ability to successfully balance intra-family dynamics with efficient tax planning, and The National Law Journal named her to its "Trailblazers in Divorce, Trusts & Estates" list.

Beth also counsels private equity and hedge fund managers on estate planning issues and has significant experience advising clients on estate planning opportunities that arise in connection with both the formation and sale of closely held businesses. Beth served for eight years as a board member of a client's multibillion-dollar closely held business before its partial sale in 2017. She led the Steptoe team that advised the client on a subsequent IPO on the Hong Kong exchange.

Beth has created scores of nonprofit entities, obtaining tax-exempt status for each. As a board member of numerous nonprofits, Beth applies her wealth of insight to advise charitable entities on matters such as compliance and fundraising.

Beth is recognized as a thought leader in the realm of estate planning, and is frequently called on to present to groups such as STEP Israel, STEP Canada, the New York Estate Planning Counsel, American Law Institute, Practising Law Institute, National Financial Partners, and the New York Society of Securities Analysts. Additionally, she co-chairs the annual PLI International Estate Planning program.

Cynthia D. M. Brown is the Director of Special Situs Trusts at Mechanics Bank. Cindy has more than twenty-five years of experience in the areas of trust administration, estate planning and tax. Cindy is an active member of the Delaware State Bar Association Trust Act Committee, which drafts annual revisions to the Delaware Code. Cindy is an ACTEC Fellow, STEP Member, and former Chair of the Asset Protection Committee of the American Bar Association. Cindy is an active member of the Delaware State Bar Association Trust Act Committee, which drafts annual revisions to the Delaware Code.

Prior to joining Mechanics Bank Wealth Management, Cindy worked for a privately owned trust company in Delaware for more than 20 years leading its legal team and serving as President. Cindy’s experience also includes over eight years as an estate and trust paralegal with both large Philadelphia law firms and a local private practice in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. In law school, Cindy served as the Blue Book Editor of the Widener Law Review and received several achievement awards in the area of Federal Estate and Gift Taxation and Planning. Cindy is active in many professional organizations and community leadership and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Delaware CarePlan, Inc. and the Delaware Bankers Association.

Matt practices in the areas of estate planning and wealth transfer, estate and trust litigation, estate and trust administration, business transactions, and tax law. He routinely counsels both individual and corporate trustees in all matters related to estates and trusts, including providing representation in the Delaware Court of Chancery and the Pennsylvania Orphans’ Court. In addition, Matt is regularly involved in a variety of other trust matters including trust modifications, terminations, mergers, decantings, nonjudicial settlements, and trust situs changes.

Matt also represents many individual clients across the country in estate planning and asset protection planning matters, and frequently advises on highly sophisticated wealth transfer strategies. Matt also provides general business and tax planning advice to companies and non-profit entities, and serves as Assistant General Counsel to the Supreme Council of the Royal Arcanum, a fraternal benefit society in the United States and Canada. Matt is a frequent lecturer in the area of trusts and estates. Following law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Henry duPont Ridgely, Justice of the Delaware Supreme Court.

Matt is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Since 2016, Matt has been recognized by Chambers and Partners as a leading Private Wealth Attorney (Band 2), and since 2012, he has been recognized by Super Lawyers in the areas of estate planning and trust and estate litigation. In 2016, Matt was named one of Delaware Business Times “40 under 40.” Since 2015, Matt has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® in the area of Trusts and Estates.

Mark R. Parthemer, JD, AEP®, ACTEC Fellow, is Glenmede’s Chief Wealth Strategist and Florida Regional Director. He is responsible for developing and communicating Glenmede’s position and strategy concerning tax, estate planning and fiduciary matters pertinent to clients and their advisors, as well as cultivating the growth and operations of Glenmede throughout Florida.

Prior to joining Glenmede, Mr. Parthemer served as Managing Director for TIAA and Managing Director and Senior Fiduciary Counsel for Bessemer Trust, working with ultra-high-net-worth clients to deliver sophisticated tax and estate planning advice and provide tailored guidance. His previous roles include partner at Duane Morris, LLP, and Senior Tax professional at PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Mr. Parthemer is a Fellow of the American College of Trusts Estates Counsel, and President of Florida Bankers Association Trust and Wealth Management Division. He is also Group Vice Chair for the American Bar Association, RPTE Trusts and Estate Practice Group and often faculty for the University of Miami’s prestigious Heckerling Institute. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Science from Franklin & Marshall College and Juris Doctor from The Dickinson School of Law, Penn State University.

Mr. Parthemer is a nationally recognized speaker and a frequently published author. He is an editor and columnist for the Journal of Financial Services Professionals and for the ABA’s Probate & Property magazine. He is often quoted on tax and estate planning matters in publications such as the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s, Bloomberg Tax and Kiplinger’s.

Matthew Blattmachr has been with Peak Trust Company full-time since 2008, and currently serves as President & CEO. Prior to assuming this leadership role, Matthew served in various roles with the company across every department, including investments, operations and trust administration. Matthew is responsible for overseeing three office locations and a staff of over 40 team members in Alaska and Nevada. Matthew’s expertise includes administration of private foundations, trusts holding private placement life insurance, Grantor Trusts, Incomplete

Non-Grantor Trusts, and Charitable Trusts.

Since 2008, Matthew has taken an active role in the passage of trust and estate-related legislation. In early 2019, he organized a formal working group, Alaska Trust & Estate Professionals, to continue this progress to further advance Alaska’s trust and estate planning law for the benefit of the state, Alaskans, and Alaskan professionals.

In the Alaska estate planning community, Matthew is active in several professional associations, public policy groups, and nonprofits. Matthew has served in leadership positions as Chair of the Anchorage Senior Activity Center Endowment Fund Board of Trustees, President of the Anchorage Estate Planning Council, and currently serves as President of Alaska Trust & Estate Professionals and as a Board member of Commonwealth North, Alaska’s premier non-partisan public policy forum.

Matthew has written and co-authored numerous articles related to trusts and estate planning in Alaska for various publications including Family Office Magazine and Trusts & Estates Magazine.

Matthew holds a Master of Business Administration from Alaska Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alaska Anchorage. Matthew has earned his CFP® designation from the College of Financial Planning and Certified Fiduciary & Investment Risk Management Specialist (CFIRS) designation from the Cannon

Financial Institute.

Wendy’s responsibilities include providing a trust perspective to all wealth management discussions, and coordinating planning strategies with other professional advisors, such as tax advisors or estate planning attorneys. She leads the personal trust team and is also responsible for day-to-day account oversight, fiduciary compliance and directing our team of trust relationship officers to ensure our clients receive remarkable service. Wendy practiced law for 16 years in the areas of probate and trust litigation, complex probate and trust administration, preparation of estate, fiduciary and gift tax returns, and drafting estate planning and business succession documents. She earned her B.A. and J.D. from the University of Michigan. Wendy is a designated Certified Trust and Fiduciary Advisor.

Daniel P. Felix is a licensed Illinois attorney using his legal and other essential skills to help families navigate the waters of disability and death.

Dan has developed his services and team from his 30+ years of working and teaching.  Certified as a “Master Trustee” by the Independent Trustee Alliance, Dan has lectured to attorneys as well as trustees, including a year-engagement to teach a law firm the art and science of the trustee job. He has written extensively on trusts, including two books.

Dan can help in several ways. First, he can step in immediately to actively administer a family’s trust or estate. Typical scenarios include substituting for another who isn’t a fit or staffing a newly-created trust.

Alternatively, Dan can serve as successor trustee, executor, or power of attorney, that is, he can serve as the next-in-line administrator — but with a difference! Instead of sitting around waiting for the inevitable to happen, Dan gets prepared so he can hit the ground running at the time of need.

Finally, Dan offers that same preparedness service no matter who your trustee is, even when it’s not Dan. Dan achieves success by building a solid foundation so your preferred trustee can better deliver what you want when you need them.

Regardless of the exact project, Dan works closely with each family’s estate & financial planners as well as their other advisors. Dan is insured and uses his eight employees and a roster of sub-contractors as needed to provide professional continuity as well as efficient management.

Dave is the President of The Northern Trust Company of Delaware, a Delaware limited purpose trust company in Wilmington, Delaware. In this role, he is responsible for the oversight of Northern's Delaware office which was opened in 2004 and now has over $23 billion of assets under custody.

Prior to joining Northern, Dave was an attorney with Gordon, Fournaris Mammarella, P.A. (GFM), where he primarily focused on the unique aspects of Delaware trust law. Prior to practicing law with GFM, Dave enjoyed 25 years with J.P. Morgan. There he began his career as a trust officer and ultimately served as Managing Director President of J.P. Morgan Trust Company of Delaware.

Prior to managing Northern's Delaware office, Dave served as the National Trust Specialist for Northern Trust. In that role he was responsible for working with clients and prospects, professional advisors, and Northern partners in developing solutions involving Northern's Nevada and Delaware trust capabilities.

With over 30 years of experience in the trust, wealth, and estate management industries, Dave is dedicated to serving the complex needs of those seeking expert advice on ways to leverage the most tax-advantaged jurisdictions in the United States, with the goal of preserving multi-generational wealth for high-net worth individuals and families.

Dave holds a Juris Doctor degree from The University of North Carolina School of Law and an M.B.A. from The University of Miami. Dave also earned a Certified Financial Planning® designation and is a member of the Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners (STEP), the Estate Planning Council of Delaware, and the Wilmington Tax Group. He is a member of the New York and Pennsylvania bars, and an Associate Member of the Delaware Bar. Dave is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). Dave is an adjunct professor of estate planning at The University of Delaware.

Natalie Reitman-White is the principal at Purpose Owned. Natalie is a leader and change maker, nationally recognized for her work on transformative ownership and investment models.  Natalie has over two decades of experience as an executive in the food sector, developing and leading strategic initiatives in sustainable business, trade advocacy, organizational development, governance and human resources. In 2018, she pioneered one of the first-in-the-nation Perpetual Purpose Trust ownership transitions with Organically Grown Company. Following that she co-founded and spent 5 years at Alternative Ownership Advisors, specializing in ownership and governance design. She is a sought-after educator and consultant, helping dozens of companies to explore and implement tailored ownership and finance solutions to help them stay independent and mission-driven into the future.

SUSAN N. GARY, Professor Emerita and formerly Orlando J. and Marian H. Hollis Professor at the University of Oregon School of Law, received her B.A. from Yale University and her J.D. from Columbia University. Before entering academia, she practiced with Mayer, Brown & Platt in Chicago, and with DeBandt, van Hecke & Lagae in Brussels. Professor Gary has taught trusts and estates, estate planning, estate and gift tax, nonprofit organizations, and an undergraduate course on law and families. In 2025, she taught Law and Wealth Management as a visiting professor at the University of Hong Kong. She has written and spoken about the regulation of charities, fiduciary duties including the prudent investor standard, stewardship trusts and purpose trusts as a new form of business ownership, the definition of family for inheritance purposes, donor intent in connection with restricted charitable gifts, and the use of mediation to manage conflict in the estate planning context. She served as a trustee on the University’s Board of Trustees.

Professor Gary is an Academic Fellow and former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and served on the Council of the Real Property, Trust and Estate Section of the American Bar Association. She served as the Reporter for three projects of the Uniform Law Commission: the Uniform Electronic Wills Act, the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, and the Model Protection of Charitable Assets Act. She was a member of the steering committee of the Intentional Endowments Network and continues to serve on its Fiduciary Investment Committee. She has served on the Advisory Board of the NYU National Center on Philanthropy and the Law and has held leadership positions in three sections (trusts and estates, elder law, and nonprofits) of the Association of American Law Schools. She is currently leading a Lawyers Workgroup as part of the Purpose Trust Ownership Network.

In Oregon, Professor helped draft Oregon’s stewardship trust statute. She
was a member of the Oregon Law Commission, served as Reporter for its
Probate Modernization Work Group, and currently serves as Reporter for its Partition of Heirs Property Workgroup. As a member of the Executive
Committee of the Nonprofit Organizations Law Section of the Oregon State Bar she led a review of Oregon’s nonprofit corporation statutes that resulted in legislation revising the statutes. She served on the Executive Committee of the Estate Planning Section of the Oregon bar for nine years, including serving as its chair, and served as Editor of the Estate Planning Section’s newsletter for 15 years.

As Senior Director of Trusts & Estates for Winston Artory Group, Courtney brings more than 25 years of experience to her work with fiduciaries, executors, families and advisors on strategic estate planning, appraisal, and disposition of tangible personal property. Prior to joining Winston, she spent 18 years at Sotheby’s where she was Head of Department, Trusts & Estates and Senior Specialist in American Art and Prints, working in the firm’s New York, London, San Francisco, and Philadelphia offices. Courtney has been a licensed auctioneer since 2008 and continues to offer her auctioneering expertise to a host of museums and charitable organizations. She has been a lecturer and panelist on a full range of art and art market topics at museums and continuing education organizations across the country, including the Heckerling Institute Annual Trusts and Estates Conference, the Appraiser’s Association of America Art Law Day, STEP (Society of Trusts and Estates Practitioners) events, and Sotheby’s Institute of Art, to name a few. Courtney also sits on the Aldrich Council at the Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum, the Advisory Council to the Winter Show art fair held annually at The Armory in New York, and the Planned Giving Committees for the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Historical Society. Courtney holds a Bachelor of Arts in History from Princeton University and is compliant with Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice (USPAP). She lives with her husband and two daughters in Weston, Connecticut.

Elizabeth is Director of the Mid-Atlantic Region handling appraisals as well as sales and acquisitions of art, antiques and jewelry across Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Delaware. Elizabeth is also an experienced American Art Appraiser.

Prior to joining Winston Artory Group, Elizabeth was a Vice President and Senior Specialist with the American Art department at Sotheby’s. Her nine-year tenure with the company included record-setting sales of works by Norman Rockwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, Childe Hassam and Jacob Lawrence. She previously held positions at the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities.

Elizabeth earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and American History from Georgetown University and a Master of Arts in the History of Art from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, where she graduated with distinction.