Jan Copley, Esq.
Thomas D. Begley, Jr., J.D., CELA
Bruce Givner, Esq.
L. Paul Hood, Jr., Esq.
Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law
Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished)
Edwin P. Morrow III, J.D., LL.M., MBA, CFP®, RFC®
Marshal A. Oldman, Esq.
Steven J. Oshins, Esq.
Martin M. Shenkman, J.D., CPA, MBA
Kevin Urbatsch, J.D., California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law
Jan Copley, Esq.
 Jan Copley is a Certified Atticus Practice Advisor as well as an estate planning attorney who has worked in both large and small law firms for 29 years. In 1993 she established her own firm, built it into a profitable law practice and successfully sold the practice in 2010.
Today, Ms. Copley has dedicated herself to supporting attorneys in taking control of their practices and their lives. She specializes in coaching attorneys from Estate Planning and Bankruptcy firms along with partners who are committed to transitioning or selling their practices. She has facilitated programs on law office administration and marketing issues to the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys, the Southern California Institute, the Lorman Group, and other associations.
Ms. Copley received her A.B. from Occidental College, graduating cum laude with a degree in American Studies. She received her J.D. from Loyola Law School of Los Angeles. She completed the Esperti-Peterson Institute's year-long course, "Advanced Studies for Wealth and Estate Planning," which concentrates on sophisticated estate planning techniques for wealthy clients.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH JAN COPLEY
Thomas D. Begley, Jr., J.D., CELA
 Thomas Begley, Jr. is a lifelong resident of Southern New Jersey and earned both his undergraduate and law degrees at Georgetown University. In a career that spans over 40 years he has extensive experience in Elder Law, Medicaid Planning, Special Needs Trusts, Disability Law and Personal Injury Consulting. In addition, Tom is an accredited attorney for the preparation, presentation, and prosecution of claims for veteran’s benefits before the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Tom is a member of the New Jersey Bar Association, all relevant state, local affiliates and the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. He is past Chair of the Elder and Disability Law Section and the Real Property Probate and Trust Law Sections of the New Jersey State Bar Association.
Tom is a Certified Elder Law Attorney, a Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and recipient of the NAELA President’s Award. He is past president and a founding member of the Special Needs Alliance, a national network of lawyers dedicated to serving families of persons with disabilities, recipient of the Alfred E. Clapp award, and the Marilyn Askin Lifetime Achievement Award.
Tom co-authored the Special Needs Trust Handbook; Representing the Elderly Client, and of Representing the Elderly or Disabled Client; Forms and Checklists with Commentary. He also authored How to Develop and Manage a Successful Trust and Estate/Elder Law Practice and is a member of the editorial board of Estate Planning Magazine.
Tom is AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell® (which is only awarded to lawyers operating at the highest level of professional excellence and upholding the highest ethical standards) and is recognized as a New Jersey Super Lawyer®.
Outside the office Tom’s passion is his family, his 14 grandchildren and his Philadelphia Eagles.
*Noteworthy: Super Lawyers 2010 Elder Law, AV rated by Martindale-Hubbell®, Certified Elder Law Attorney, Recipient of the NAELA President’s Award, Recipient of the Alfred E. Clapp Award, Marilyn Askin Lifetime Achievement Award.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH TOM BEGLEY, JR.
Bruce Givner, Esq.
Bruce Givner, Esq. is an estate and tax planning attorney of the Law Firm of Givner and Kaye, located in Los Angeles, California. Mr. Givner graduated from U.C.L.A., Columbia University Law School, and N.Y.U.’s Graduate Tax Law Program and specializes in the area of asset protection and advanced estate planning. He has personally worked with Mr. Philip Kavesh for over 30 years and continues to serve “of counsel” to Mr. Kavesh’s law firm, Kavesh, Minor and Otis, Inc.
Mr. Givner has been cited as a “tax expert” by the U.S. Tax Court, the California Court of Appeals, and the Wall Street Journal. He’s also written books on estate tax planning for the California CPA Society and the AICPA, and has co-authored three for the California Bar Association. He represented the winning taxpayers in the 1994 Tax Court case L&B Pipe and Supply, in which the IRS sought almost $2,000,000 in back taxes and interest due to alleged unreasonable compensation. The U.S. Tax Court awarded the IRS nothing.
His most recent Tax Court case, involving an FLP established on August 3, 2002, where the parent died on August 8, 2002, settled one month before trial when the IRS conceded that IRC §2036 did not apply.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH BRUCE GIVNER
L. Paul Hood, Jr., Esq.
 Paul Hood is presently a speaker, consultant and commentator on estate planning issues. He also serves from time to time as a trust protector and trustee. A former estate planning and tax attorney in Louisiana, Paul received his undergraduate and law degrees from LSU (he’s a proud Tiger!) and his LL.M. in taxation from Georgetown University Law Center. He is a frequent speaker, is widely quoted and his articles have appeared in a number of publications, including BNA Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Memorandum, CCH Journal of Practical Estate Planning, Estate Planning, Valuation Strategies, Digest of Federal Tax Articles, Loyola Law Review, Louisiana Bar Journal, Tax Ideas, Family Foundation Advisor and Charitable Gift Planning News. He is the author of BNA Portfolio 830 on general valuation.
Paul has spoken at programs sponsored by a number of law schools, including Duke, Georgetown, NYU, Tulane, Loyola (N.O.) and LSU, as well as many other professional organizations. He taught estate and gift tax at the University of New Orleans for five years, and is now teaching a course on estate planning for the online masters in taxation program for Northeastern University. From 1996-2004, Paul served on the Louisiana Board of Tax Appeals, a three member board that has jurisdiction over all Louisiana state tax matters.
Paul and Tim Lee wrote a book on business valuation that John Wiley & Sons published in the spring of 2011, and he is presently writing a book on estate planning for blended families that should be out in the spring of 2012. A proud father of two teen-aged boys, Paul also was a longtime pitching coach, and he is a huge baseball fan. Paul and his estate planning attorney wife, Carol Sobczak, reside in Napa, California.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH L. PAUL HOOD, JR.
Philip J. Kavesh, J.D., LL.M. (Taxation), CFP®, ChFC, California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law
 Philip J. Kavesh is a nationally recognized attorney, authority, speaker, educator and technical innovator in estate planning.
Phil has earned significant recognition and accolades over his approximately 30 years of practice as an estate planning attorney. Phil holds a Master's Degree (LL.M.) in Tax Law and is a California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Law. He also has been awarded the Certified Financial Planner and Chartered Financial Consultant designations. Phil has served his fellow estate planning and financial professionals by teaching in the Golden Gate University Graduate Tax Degree and Certified Financial Planner programs. Phil was also selected by his peers and served on their behalf as the California Legislative Liaison for the International Association of Financial Planners and has represented the estate planning attorney community in testifying before State legislative committees seeking to regulate the estate and financial planning professions and to eliminate “trust mills”. In fact, several of the practice forms and client disclosure pieces created by Phil have been incorporated into new legislation and regulations. Furthermore, Phil was one of three attorney co-founders of the American Academy of Estate Planning Attorneys. He has also been an honorary member of the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys and is an active member of WealthCounsel.
Phil has been recognized and quoted as an estate and tax planning authority in numerous national, prestigious publications, including Money Magazine, Investors Daily, Personal Finance Magazine, Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Business Journal, Consumer Reports Magazine, Journal of Retirement Planning, Ed Slott’s IRA Newsletter, Investment Advisor Magazine, Life Insurance Selling, and PacQuarterly. He has appeared on several television and radio programs and his weekly TV show, “Preserve Your Estate”, was broadcasted on local Los Angeles TV for over six years.
Additionally, Phil has created or co-created numerous technical advances in estate planning, including the Personal Asset TrustSM and the IRA Inheritance Trust®. His unique legal documents have been licensed to hundreds of attorneys all across the country, through his company, The Ultimate Estate Planner, Inc. He has also authored or co-authored several outstanding consumer publications including “The Ten Biggest Mistakes People Make When Setting Up a Living Trust”, “The Top Ten Estate Planning Mistakes Wealthy People Make”, and “21st Century Wealth”.
Even more impressive are Phil’s accomplishments as a speaker and educator of the public and his professional peers. Phil has personally presented over 2,000 seminars on estate, tax and financial planning to the general public, to various major corporations and their employees, and to CPAs, financial planners and attorneys. His renowned seminars have been duplicated and sold to thousands of estate planning professionals and financial advisors in the U.S. and Canada. Phil has devoted substantial efforts to improving the standards in the estate planning and financial planning industries by personally training over 4,000 attorneys and financial planners.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH PHIL KAVESH
Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished)
 Robert S. Keebler, CPA, MST, AEP (Distinguished) is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP and is a 2007 recipient of the prestigious Accredited Estate Planners (Distinguished) award from the National Association of Estate Planning Counsels. He has been named by CPA Magazine as one of the Top 100 Most Influential Practitioners in the United States and one of the Top 40 Tax Advisors to Know During a Recession. Mr. Keebler is the past Editor-in-Chief of CCH’s magazine, Journal of Retirement Planning, and a member of CCH’s Financial and Estate Planning Advisory Board. His practice includes family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration. Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the private letter ruling process and in estate, gift and income tax examinations and appeals.
In the past 20 years, he has received over 150 favorable private letter rulings including several key rulings of “first impression.” Mr. Keebler is nationally recognized as an expert in estate and retirement planning and works collaboratively with other experts on academic reviews and papers, and client matters. Mr. Keebler is the author of over 75 articles and columns and editor, author, or co-author of many books and treatises on wealth transfer and taxation, including the Warren, Gorham & Lamont of RIA treatise Esperti, Peterson and Keebler/Irrevocable Trusts: Analysis with Forms.
Mr. Keebler is a member of the editorial board of the Society of Financial Service Professionals “Keeping Current” series. He is a featured columnist for CCH’s Taxes Magazine – “Family Tax Planning Forum,” Steve Leimberg’s “News of the Week Newsletter” and the Bureau of National Affairs Tax Division. Bob also had his article "Is That Your 'Final' Answer?" published in Tax Management Compensation Planning Journal. Bob frequently is quoted in national publications such as New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun, Barrons, Bloomberg Wealth Manager, Financial Advisor, Forbes, Kiplinger, Lawyer’s Weekly, On Wall Street, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Wealth Manager and Worth in addition to many local and regional newspapers.
He is a frequent speaker for legal, accounting, insurance and financial planning groups throughout the United States at seminars and conferences on advanced IRA distribution strategies, estate planning and trust administration topics including the AICPA's Advanced Estate Planning, Personal Financial Planning Conference and Tax Strategies for the High Income Individual Conference.
Mr. Keebler graduated (cum laude) from Lakeland College with a degree in Accountancy and the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee with a Masters in Taxation. Before practicing in Northeastern Wisconsin, he practiced with Price Waterhouse where he concentrated in taxation.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH BOB KEEBLER
Marshal A. Oldman, Esq.
 Marshal A. Oldman, Esq. is a member of the Law Office of Oldman, Cooley, Sallus, Gold Birnberg & Coleman, LLP in Encino, California and practices in the areas of Probate and Trust administration, litigation, conservatorships and estate planning.
Marshal graduated from University of Southern California in 1973 and went on to earn his Juris Doctorate from University of California Los Angeles in 1976. He passed the California State Bar in 1976 and, soon after, became the Chairman of the San Fernando Valley Bar Probate Section. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Los Angeles Bar Associate Probate Section and was later Chairman of the Probate Section in the County Bar Association.
Marshal was also Chairman of the Legislative Monitoring Committee of the County Bar Probate Section where he consulted with staff of Assembly Judiciary Committee, testified before Assembly Judiciary on probate legislation for the Los Angeles County Bar Probate Section and is still a current member.
Marshal was President of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association and a member of Board of Trustees of San Fernando Valley Bar Association. He was also a member of the Executive Committee of the Estate Planning, Trust and Probate Section of the State Bar of California, Chairman of Incapacity, Chairman of Litigation and Chairman of the Trust and Estate section.
Marshal has authored numerous articles for the San Fernando Valley Bar Bulletin, the Probate Column for the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Journal of Western Legal History and for the Daily Journal Report. He has also given numerous speeches before the Los Angeles County Bar Probate Section, San Fernando Bar, Santa Monica Bar, Pasadena Bar, CEB and other organizations.
Marshal has served as an expert witness in probate, attorney fee, legal malpractice and federal estate tax matters.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH MARSHAL OLDMAN
Steven J. Oshins, Esq.
 Steven J. Oshins is a member of the Law Offices of Oshins & Associates, LLC in Las Vegas, Nevada. He is rated AV by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and was named the Las Vegas Trusts and Estates Lawyer of the Year by The Best Lawyers in America®, an honor given to only one lawyer. He was voted into the NAEPC Estate Planning Hall of Fame® and was inducted in 2011. He has been named one of the Top 100 Attorneys in Worth, one of Southern Nevada’s Best Lawyers in In Business Las Vegas, one of the Best Lawyers in America in the Trusts & Estates category in The American Lawyer, one of the Best Lawyers in America in the Tax Law category in Corporate Counsel, named Nevada Super Lawyer in the Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning category in Nevada Business Journal, named Nevada Super Lawyer in the Estate Planning & Probate category in Las Vegas Life and named Mountain States Super Lawyer in the Estate Planning & Probate category.
Steve has been featured and/or quoted in many media publications including, among others, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Bloomberg, Financial Times, Kiplinger’s, Registered Rep, Private Wealth, The Trust Advisor, Investment News and Lawyers Weekly USA. He was interviewed by former Good Morning America Co-Host Joan Lunden for a dynasty trust DVD that has been distributed nationally by financial planners and life insurance agents since early 2009.
He has authored numerous estate planning and asset protection articles in magazines such as Estate Planning, Trusts & Estates, LISI, Probate & Property, Journal of Financial Service Professionals, The Monthly Digest of Tax Articles, CCH Estate Planning Review, Asset Protection Journal, Tax Management Estates, Gifts and Trusts Journal, as well as others. Steve received an EPIC Award as Best Young Author from Trusts & Estates magazine in 1998. He is also a frequent lecturer nationally on advanced estate planning and asset protection techniques, including lecturing at the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.
Steve has been very active in helping get some of the most valuable trust and creditor protection laws passed in Nevada. In the 2001 legislative session, he co-authored Nevada’s charging order law for limited liability companies and limited partnerships, making the charging order the exclusive remedy for a judgment creditor under Nevada law. He co-authored a change to that law in the 2003 legislative session that enhanced the 2001 version of the Nevada law and then again co-authored another charging order bill in the 2011 legislative session which included statutorily protecting single member LLCs with charging order protection and statutorily disallowing any equitable remedies to apply to Nevada limited liability companies, limited partnerships and corporations (except for the alter ego theory which still applies to corporations). In the 2005 legislative session, Steve authored Nevada’s 365-year rule against perpetuities law that now allows people to set up 365-year dynasty trusts in Nevada. He authored a law creating a new form of business entity called the Restricted LLC and Restricted LP in the 2009 legislative session making Nevada the first state to offer these favorable laws that allow for significantly higher valuation discounts than are allowed under any other state law.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH STEVE OSHINS
Martin M. Shenkman, J.D., CPA, MBA
 Martin “Marty” Shenkman, Esq., CPA, MBA is an estate planning attorney and Certified Public Accountant from Paramus, New Jersey. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania 1977 with a concentration in accounting and economics. He received a Masters degree in Business Administration from the University of Michigan 1981, with a concentration in tax and finance.
Mr. Shenkman is a widely quoted expert on tax matters and is a regular source for numerous financial and business publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Money, The New York Times, and others. He has appeared as a tax expert on numerous television and cable television shows including The Today Show, CNN, NBC Evening News, CNBC, MSNBC, CNN-FN and others. He is a frequent guest on radio talk shows throughout the country and has a regular weekly radio show on Money Matters Financial Network.
Mr. Shenkman is a prolific author, having published thirty-four books and more than seven hundred articles. Mr. Shenkman has served as contributing editor to a host of publications, including: New Jersey Lawyer, The Journal of Real Estate Finance, Real Estate Insight, Commercial Leasing Law & Strategy, The Journal of Accountancy, Real Estate Accounting and Taxation, Shopping Centers Today, and others.
Mr Shenkman is active in numerous charitable organizations, sitting on many boards and planned giving committees and lectures regularly for these and other organizations.
LIST OF TELECONFERENCES WITH MARTY SHENKMAN
Kevin Urbatsch, J.D., California State Bar Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust & Probate Law
 Kevin Urbatsch is a Certified Specialist in Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law by the California State Bar Board of Legal Specialization.
In May 2011, Kevin was presented the NAELA’s Presidential Recognition Award for his work in special needs planning. In 2010, 2011 and 2012, Kevin was named a Northern California Superlawyer. In 2009, Kevin was named KRON-TV’s Best of the Bay estate planning attorney for San Francisco and for Northern California. In 2012, Kevin Urbatsch was named a member of the Advisory Board to the Academy of Special Needs Planners, a national organization of special needs planning professionals.
Kevin has served as an expert witness in two matters:
- In a United Kingdom personal injury lawsuit regarding California’s treatment of settlement proceeds for individuals with disabilities on public benefits.
- In an Alameda County elder abuse lawsuit regarding options available to protect eligibility for needs-based public benefits when an elder assets were distributed to relatives contrary to terms of trust. Case was Ida McQueen v. Earline Drumgoole et al. County of Alameda (later appealed at 191 Cal.App.4th 1162 (2011)).
Kevin is the author (or co-author) of the following books and treatises:
- Administering the California Special Needs Trust published in 2011 by IUniverse;
- Special Needs Trusts: Protecting Your Child’s Financial Future 4th Ed. published in 2011 by Nolo Press.
- Contributing-Editor and partial author of CEB’s award winning publication titled Special Needs Trusts – Planning, Drafting, and Administration.
Kevin is the Co-Executive Editor of the NAELA Journal. The Journal is a compilation of scholarly articles concerning elder law and special needs law read by the over 4,000 member NAELA organization.
From 2006 to 2009, Kevin was an Attorney-Editor for CEB (the Continuing Education of the Bar) in its estate planning group. He was responsible for the quality of California’s legal reference guides to other California estate planning attorneys. He was the Attorney-Editor for several CEB titles including: California Powers of Attorney and Health Care Directives; California Guardianship Practice; Handling a Probate; Capacity and Undue Influence: Assessing, Challenging, and Defending; andTransferring Property through Probate.
Kevin also belongs to the following organizations:
- Advisory Board Member and Charter Member of the Academy of Special Needs Planners (ASNP);
- National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA);
- California Advocates for Nursing Home Reform (CANHR);
- WealthCounsel;
- ElderCounsel;
- International Network of Boutique Law Firms (INBLF);
- Bar Association of San Francisco, Probate & Trust Section; and the
- State Bar of California, Trust and Estate Section.
Kevin is also a member of the following trial lawyers associations:
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- San Francisco Trial Lawyers Association
- Alameda/Contra Costa Trial Lawyers Association
Kevin is the attorney for the California Charities Pooled Special Needs Trust. The California Pooled Special Needs Trust serves as a legally authorized 42 USC §1396p(d)(4)(C) trust and is able to hold a person with a disabilities assets and preserve eligibility for needs based public benefits like SSI and Medi-Cal.
Kevin is a former board member for the Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRCSF). The ILRCSF is a disability rights advocacy and support organization. Its mission is to ensure that people with disabilities are full social and economic partners, within their families and within a fully accessible community.
Kevin has been a member of the California Bar since 1993. He received his law degree from St. Louis University in 1993 and his undergraduate degree from Truman State University in 1988. He began his California law practice as a litigator where he specialized in a variety of matters, including but not limited to elder financial abuse, American with Disabilities Act public access cases, and trust and estate litigation. He has participated in several trials as lead counsel, numerous arbitrations, mediations and other formal dispute resolution forums. He also represented a plaintiff in overturning a Northern District of California opinion in the Ninth Circuit case Graham v. USA 96 F.3d 446 (1996).
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