Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. congratulates Lindsey Paige Markus, shareholder and practice group leader of the 24-attorney Trusts & Estates group, on the one year anniversary of the publishing of her successful book, A Gift for the Future. Released on Amazon, the book quickly became a #1 Best Seller in legal self-help and #1 new release in many categories.
A natural educator and mentor, Markus recognized the impact a lack of preparation has on families needing to navigate the most basic to more complex estate planning — dealing with probate issues, guardianship, even the shock of discovering the amount of estate taxes owed to federal and state government. The book is informative, understandable and provides a road map for family security and helps readers find a sense of peace, while providing them with complex, innovative options.
Russ Sullivan, who served on the Senate Finance Committee for 14 years as chief tax counsel and staff director, wrote a noteworthy foreward for the book, “A Gift for the Future is an excellent, in-depth guide for estate planning with the current tax code…Markus shows the reader how to get started and explains how to compassionately engage in some of these difficult conversations, all in a readable style. Death and taxes are inevitable for all of us, making this book a wonderful tool for everyone.”
While the most challenging project Markus has undertaken, the process of writing the book was a true labor of love. A Gift for the Future is her way to give back — to those who have mentored her, to clients she has worked with and to those who want to educate themselves prior to making the all-important commitment to work with an estate planning professional. A second edition is planned for the near future.
Licensed in Illinois, Florida and New York, Markus has a national practice.
To purchase a copy of the book, click here.
Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. is proud to announce that Janet Wagner, principal in the firm’s Banking practice, has been accepted as a fellow of the respected American College of Mortgage Attorneys (ACMA) for 2023.
Formed in 1974, ACMA is comprised of lawyers in North America who are authorities in mortgage law. The members of ACMA or fellows share a commitment to giving back to their profession, improving and reforming laws and procedures affecting real estate secured transactions and raising the level of performance of lawyers practicing in this area. Fellows have distinguished themselves as practitioners in the field of real estate mortgage law through their skills and practice experience, knowledge, professionalism and related accomplishments that are significant to mortgage transactions. Candidates are recommended each year and are selected after thorough review of their qualifications and achievements. This year’s nominees are the most diverse of any prior year. Wagner is the only nominee from the Midwest.
Wagner focuses her practice on banking and commercial financing transactions. She provides trusted counsel to commercial banks, credit unions, institutional lenders, insurance companies and other lenders in a wide range of commercial and real estate financing matters with respect to commercial real estate transactions. She has represented lenders involving a variety of classes of real estate in states across the country on acquisitions, refinancing and construction loans. She handles matters involving multifamily apartment buildings, single family rental developments, storage facilities, hotel properties, distribution centers, retail centers, RV parks, student housing and commercial condominiums. Wagner has worked with properties involving brownfield and other environmental issues, historic tax credits, tidewater boundary matters and ground leases. She has also worked with ACMA fellows, acting as a local counsel for properties outside of Illinois.
Wagner will be formally inducted into membership at ACMA’s Annual Meeting on Sept. 28 – 30 in La Jolla, CA.
Chuhak & Tecson congratulates Janet Wagner on this impressive recognition and distinction.
Missy Turk Firmage, attorney in Chuhak & Tecson, P.C.’s Estate Planning & Asset Protection and Estate & Trust Administration & Litigation practices groups, presented a webinar via Zoom titled “Guardianship 101: The Basics of Guardianship” on Thursday, April 12, 2023, at 7:00 p.m. to The National Alliance on Mental Illinois Cook County North Suburban affiliate. This important presentation examined when to pursue guardianship, the various types of guardianship, who may act as a guardian, the duties of personal and estate guardians, and the limitations of guardianship. This presentation also discussed what happens when a guardianship proceeding becomes contested.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is the largest mental health organization in the nation. NAMI Cook County North Suburban is an affiliate of NAMI National located in Skokie, Illinois. Their mission is to provide advocacy, education, support and public awareness so that all individuals and families affected by mental illness can build better lives. NAMI Cook County North Suburban offers classes, support groups and outreach work free of charge to their 17 core community members in the Cook County North Suburban area. Through hope, inclusion, empowerment, compassion and fairness, NAMI envisions a world where all people affected by mental illness live healthy, fulfilling lives supported by a community that cares.
For more information and upcoming events, please visit https://namiccns.org.
Agnes Ptasznik, attorney with Chuhak & Tecson, P.C.’s Estate Planning practice, will present a program titled “Recent Updates on Assisted Reproductive Technology, Posthumously Born Children and other related issues” to the Trust Law Committee in collaboration with the Adoption Law Committee of the Chicago Bar Association on Monday, April 10, 2023 from 12:15 to 1:30 p.m. via Zoom.
Ms. Ptasznik will also speak on “Estate Planning for Genetic Material.” Joining her, is attorney Tiffany Horstein of Family Forward Law, LLC and co-chair of the Adoption Law Committee, who will speak on “The Nuts and Bolts of Assisted Reproductive Technology.” This program is open to CBA members only. For additional information or to register, please go to https://learn.chicagobar.org/products/trust-law-committee-41023.
Julie Gardner, Chuhak & Tecson, P.C. principal in the Estate Planning & Asset Protection group and chair of the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) Probate practice, was a panel member on a Continuing Legal Education (CLE) program co-sponsored by the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law and The Chicago Bar Association entitled “Central Will Filing: Should a testator deposit their original will in a central registry during their lifetime?” The CLE program was held on January 25.
In Illinois, if a testator has possession of their original will and the original will cannot be found post-death, under Illinois law, the will is presumed to have been revoked.
This concept was addressed in the panel discussion featuring Gardner, Chief Judge Timothy Evans, Circuit Court of Cook County, Presiding Probate Judge Daniel Malone, Circuit Court of Cook County, Chief Judge Michael Chmiel, Circuit Court of McHenry County, Jerome Larkin, Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission Administrator, Kerry Peck, Chair Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law, Peck Ritchey, LLC, and Patrick Owens, Chair Illinois State Bar Association Trusts and Estates Section Council, Robbins DiMonte, Ltd.
For additional information regarding the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Elder Law or additional information on Elder Law or Probate matters, please contact Julie Gardner at jgardner@chuhak.com.
Chuhak & Tecson is pleased to announce the names of its attorneys who have been selected as Super Lawyers and Rising Stars for Illinois for 2023. The following attorneys have gained this distinction and are awarded Illinois Super Lawyers in their respective practice areas.
Mitchell S. Feinberg Estate & Trust Litigation
Ryan A. Haas Employment & Labor
Lindsey Paige Markus Estate & Probate
David B. Shiner Tax
Illinois Rising Stars for 2023 are:
Kimberley T. Boike Health Care
Julie F. Gardner Estate & Probate
Christina M. Mermigas Estate & Probate
Mallory A. Moreno Elder Law
Melissa Turk Firmage Estate & Trust Litigation
Super Lawyers is a rating service of premier lawyers including more than 70 practice areas. Selected lawyers have attained a notable degree of peer acknowledgement and professional accomplishments. Super Lawyers provides a patented selection process that includes research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. Lawyers are selected from all 50 states and Washington, D.C.
According to Super Lawyers, each candidate is evaluated on 12 indicators of peer recognition and professional achievement. Super Lawyers recognizes no more than 5% of attorneys in each state. Rising Stars recognizes attorneys practicing 10 years or fewer and comprises no more than 2.5 % of attorneys in each state. Selections are made on an annual, state-by-state basis.
Chuhak & Tecson congratulates its Super Lawyers and Rising Stars for 2023.
Chuhak & Tecson is pleased to announce that Ryan A. Biller joins the firm as an associate in the Corporate Transactions & Business Law practice group, focusing on assisting businesses and their owners with the many issues that arise during a business’ lifecycle. Forming entities and drafting their organizational documents; helping ownership resolve day-to-day legal issues that arise; drafting a wide range of documents; and assisting with merger and acquisition activities are just some of the functions Ryan regularly undertakes. Ryan’s goal is to be a trusted advisor and first point of contact for the clients he serves.
Ryan earned his J.D. degree from Northern Illinois University College of Law, DeKalb, Illinois, magna cum laude, and his B.S. degree from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, with a major in electrical engineering and a minor in mathematics.
Will Trevena is a principal in the Litigation practice group and has extensive experience representing clients in complex commercial litigation, including multidistrict litigation in federal court and government investigations. His experience includes developing trial strategy; managing complex discovery; taking and defending depositions; developing expert witness testimony and reports; preparing witnesses to testify at deposition and at trial; and responding to government subpoenas and other investigatory requests. He is proficient with civil litigation in which substantial reputational and financial exposure are at risk.
Prior to law school, Will worked as a software engineer and consultant in the telecommunications industry. To date, Will has worked in 18 countries across six continents. He has a head start understanding technology issues that regularly seem to come up in legal matters and is able to leverage that knowledge to gain insights in all areas of his practice, from identifying issues with an opponent’s production of documents in discovery to eviscerating the analysis of an opponent’s expert. He is also adept at reconstructing events from documents and digging deep into the bowels of the internet to find helpful material.
Will earned his J.D. degree from Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, and received his B.A. degree from University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, U.K., with honors, in Medieval and Modern History.
Stephen A. Wood, principal and co-leader of Chuhak & Tecson’s Litigation Practice Group, will be a panelist on a webinar presentation sponsored by the Washington Legal Foundation titled, U.S. ex rel. Polansky v. Exec. Health Resources: A Supreme Court Oral Argument Briefing. The webinar will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2022, at 1 to 2 p.m. EST. Panelists will also include Jay B. Stephens, of counsel with Kirkland & Ellis LLP and former senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Raytheon Company, and Joshua J. Fougere, partner with Sidley Austin LLP. The panelists will discuss the Dec. 6 oral arguments that the justices will hear on whether and under what circumstances the U.S. government can, after declining to take direct control of the case, dismiss a False Claims Act lawsuit filed on its behalf by a private plaintiff.