Experience

• Counseling and advising high-net-worth clients regarding estate and tax planning matters, including succession issues for closely held business clients and preparation of estate planning documents
• Advising clients on matters pertaining to the federal income tax laws, to minimize the impact of taxes on business transactions
• Advising and counseling fiduciaries on trust, probate and estate matters, and assisting in litigation matters involving fiduciaries
• Advocating matters before the Internal Revenue Service on client issues, including audits and appeals from audit determinations, compliance, collections and United States Tax Court matters
• Regularly counseling clients on federal tax-exempt issues, including matters involving not-for-profit health care entities and higher educational institutions
• Representing businesses and individuals in business dealings, such as acquisitions, divestitures, business combinations and entity selection matters
• Counseling on tax issues incident to tax-exempt bond financings
• Adjunct Lecturer, West Virginia University College of Law, Morgantown, West Virginia, teaching Estate Planning, 2002 – 2006; Estate and Gift Tax, 2016, 2020
• Adjunct Professor, Capital University Law School and Capital University Graduate Tax Program, Columbus, Ohio, teaching classes in Estate Planning, Federal Estate and Gift Taxation, Advanced Income Taxation, 1982 – 1997

Education

• West Virginia Wesleyan College, B.S., magna cum laude, 1976
• Washington and Lee University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1979

Distinctions

• Fellow, The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel
• Named the Best Lawyers^® 2018 and 2023 "Lawyer of the Year" for Trusts & Estates in Charleston, W.Va.
• Named the Best Lawyers^® 2015 "Lawyer of the Year" for Litigation and Controversy - Tax in Charleston, W.Va.
• Recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business for Corporate/Commercial: Tax
• Recognized by Chambers USA: High Net Worth Guide as a leading lawyer in West Virginia for Private Wealth Law
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America in the areas of Litigation & Controversy - Tax Law, Tax Law, and Trusts & Estates
• Selected by his peers for inclusion in West Virginia Super Lawyers in Taxation, Estate Planning and Business/Corporate, 2007 - 2011, 2018 - 2021
• AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell for over 25 years

Admissions

• West Virginia State Bar
• Ohio State Bar Association
• District of Columbia Bar (inactive)
• United States District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia
• United States Tax Court

Memberships

• West Virginia Wesleyan College, Member, Board of Trustees, Chair, Governance/Trusteeship Committee, Member, Executive Committee, 2017– Present; President, Alumni Association, 1986 – 1990;  Member, President’s Advisory Council, 1999 – 2006
• Chair, Probate Law Committee, West Virginia State Bar, 2014 - 2019
• State Chair, West Virginia, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, 2015 - 2022; Business Planning Committee 2015 - Present; State Laws Committee 2017 - Present
• Charleston Estate Planning Council Board of Directors, 2011 – 2015
• Herscher Foundation, Inc., Secretary and Member, Board of Directors
• Dean Search Committee, West Virginia University College of Law, 2007 - 2008
• Visiting Committee, West Virginia University College of Law, 2006 - 2016
• National Association of Bond Lawyers

Publications & Presentations

• Author, Chapter on “West Virginia Asset Protection Statutes,” included in Domestic Asset Protection Trusts, edited by Alexander A. Bove, Jr., published by American Bar Association, October 2021
• Presenter and Moderator, Panel on “Ethical Issues for Estate Planners,” Second Annual West Virginia Estate Planning Institute, February, 2022, West Virginia State Bar Association
• Presenter, "The New West Virginia Trust Decanting Act--Same Wine, Different Container," First Annual West Virginia Estate Planning Institute, 2020 WVU CLE
• Presenter, "Panel: Hot Topics and Role of Attorneys in Probate, Trust and Estate Administration," Estate Planning 2018, 2018 WVU CLE
• “Choice of Entity Tax Considerations,” 2018 WV Tax Institute
• “How Estate Planning Professionals Can Minimize the Possibility of Family Disputes in Estate Matters, 2018 Charleston Estate and Financial Planning Seminar
• “What’s All This Fuss about The West Virginia DAPT,” 2016 WVU CLE
• “The Use of Qualified Affidavits as Required by New WV DAPT Legislation,” 2016 Charleston Estate and Financial Planning Seminar
• “LLC tax Issues,” 2016 NBI Seminar
• “Joint Trusts—Not as Scary as They Used to Be,” 2015 WVU CLE
• “The Impact of the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code,” 2014 WVU CLE
• “Choice of Entity—LLC or Corporation,” 2014 National Business Institute
• “The Folly of Trust Irrevocability,” 2013 Charleston Estate and Financial Planning Seminar
• “Ethical Issues—Circular 230 Proposed Revisions,” 2012 West Virginia Tax Institute
• “Basics of Section 754 Election,” 2012 West Virginia Society of CPAs
• “Trust Administration after the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code,” 2012 WVU CLE
• “Duty to Inform under the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code,” 2012 Charleston Estate and Financial Planning Seminar
• “Top Things You Need to Know about the West Virginia Uniform Trust Code,” 2011 Tri-State Tax Institute
• "West Virginia Uniform Trust Code," 2011 WVU CLE
• "Revocable Living Trusts," 2010 WVU CLE on Planning for the Modest Estate
• “Form 990 – What You Need to Know,” 2008 West Virginia Tax Institute
• “Uniform Premarital Agreement Act and Cohabitation Agreements,” 2006 WVU CLE on West Virginia Estate Planning
• “Advance Directives and Durable Powers of Attorney,” 2004 Mountaineer CLE Seminar on Planning the Modest Estate
• “The Gift Tax – What You Need to Know,” 2003 Mountaineer CLE Seminar on Wills and Estates
• “Tax Issues for Business Lawyers,” 11th Annual Commercial Law Institute, November 2002, West Virginia University Continuing Legal Education
• “Tax Issues for Public Charities,” Lorman Business Institute, December 2001; March 2003
• “Tax Considerations in Buying or Selling a Business in West Virginia,” Lorman Business Institute, 2000
• “Tax and the General Practitioner,” National Business Institute, 1998
• “Taxing Bankruptcy Alternatives,” 1995 Columbus Bar Association Bankruptcy Institute
• “Approaches for Lawyers and Accountants in Evaluating Tax Shelters for Clients,” Columbus Tax Conference, 1984
• “The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981: Implication of the Estate and Gift Tax Changes Upon Estate Planning,” 11 Capital University Law Review 1, Winter, 1981