section update
Ask and You Shall Receive - The Estate Planning &
Probate Section’s Year In Review
By Loraine M. DiSalvo
Morgan & DiSalvo, P.C.
[email protected]
O
ver the past year, the Estate Planning and Probate
Section asked speakers from the metro Atlanta area
and around the United States to speak to the group
on a number of interesting topics. As a result, members
received the benefit of the collective wisdom of more than
a dozen speakers. These speakers addressed many topics
that had not previously been covered at Section events.
Speakers from the metro-Atlanta area included Section
member A. Kel Long, III, who explained the “Law and Lore”
of trust reformation and modification, as well as, Roger A.
Kirschenbaum, Roger A. Kirschenbaum, P.C., another
Section member, along with Laurie W. Speed-Dalton,
The Speed Firm, P.C., who spoke about the interaction
between personal injury claims and probate issues. In
addition, a panel featuring Section members Richard M.
Morgan, Morgan & DiSalvo, P.C., and Brian M. Deutsch,
Gaslowitz Frankel, LLC, along with D. Lynn Russell, Russell
& Herrera, P.C. and Marsha Schectman, LCSW, Atlanta
North Psychotherapy Center gave our members a look at the
growth of collaborative dispute resolution practice and how it
can be used to resolve estate and trust related disputes. We
were also lucky to have Natalie R. Kelly of the State Bar of
Georgia speak to us about practice transitions, along with
Dr. Jagdith N. Sheth, Goizueta Business School, Emory
University, who told us how to become trusted advisors,
and Govind Hariharan, Ph.D., Kennesaw State University
Department of Economics, Finance, and Quantitative
Analysis, who gave us an update on the domestic and global
economies.
Speakers from outside the metro-Atlanta area included S.
Stacy Eastland, Goldman Sachs & Co., who told us how our
clients could donate their cake and eat it, too, and Professor
Gerry W. Beyer, Texas Tech School of Law, who got us all
thinking about digital assets such as online bank accounts,
Facebook accounts and e-mail, and considering how to
help clients plan for disposition of their digital assets at their
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
deaths. In addition, Robert M. Morgan, Robert M. Morgan
& Associates, P.A., explained the new and nightmarish
Florida Power of Attorney rules. Another speaker, Professor
Samuel A. Donaldson, University of Washington, got us all
thinking about body parts and how to deal with them after
death, including topics such as organ donation, how to deal
with previously-frozen gametes, and whether and how to
provide in estate planning documents for the possibility that
a person may have biological children who are not born until
years after the person’s death.
The Section also continued its tradition of holding events in
addition to the regular breakfast meetings. These included
a luncheon featuring a federal law update by Professor
Jeffrey N. Pennell, Emory University School of Law, and
an another luncheon featuring a Georgia law update by
Professor Mary F. Radford, Georgia State University
College of Law, as well as the annual Estate Planning
Forum, which featured Ronald D. Aucutt, McGuire Woods.
Proving that Section members are not consumed solely
by a thirst for education, the Section held several social
events in 2011, including the annual Fiduciary Law Institute
reception. More social events are planned for 2012, including
another Fiduciary Law Institute reception, which will be held
on Wednesday, July 11, 2012, beginning at 5:00 pm, and a
joint social with the Tax Section and the Estate Planning &
Financial Planning and Taxation Sections of the GSCPAs
to be held on May 17, 2012. The Section will continue its
quest to have sufficient shrimp available at all social events.
Last, but certainly not least, Section members continued to
support the Fulton County Probate Information Center and
began working with the DeKalb County Probate Court to
support a similar program there. It has been an exciting year,
and I hope more members will join us for another exciting
year starting this June. ■
May 2012
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
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