In June 1979, after graduating the preceding August from Wayne State University Law School, I earned my license to practice law in Michigan.  I had previously, in 1974, obtained my Bachelor of Science Degree from the Wayne State University School of Business Administration, graduating first in my class.

Although I first began practicing law in 1979 in Downtown Detroit, I had worked as a law clerk under the supervision of other attorneys for two years before that.  My first job as a law clerk introduced me to probate court; I worked for a plaintiff personal injury firm handling all of their routine probate court paperwork and court filings for wrongful death cases and cases involving injuries to minors.  I didn't know it then, but I had found my calling, not personal injury, probate.  From my first days as an attorney, I chose to devote my practice to probate and estate planning, sharing office space for my first six years with, among others, an experienced estate planner who helped show me the ropes.

From the beginning, first in Detroit and later in Plymouth after moving my office in 1985, I chose to limit my practice to estate planning and probate.  Although I occasionally handle real estate or corporate work for existing clients, I spend nearly all of my time helping to plan and settle estates, working primarily in Southeast Michigan, but not infrequently in probate courts throughout the state.  Given that I both live and work in Plymouth, I often work with the same family on different projects over a long period of time.  During the last few years, it has become more and more common to work with the second, and even the third generation of a family I first met many years ago.

To maintain my skills, since 1990 I normally attend the annual two-day Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute in South Bend, and I am a member of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan.

Besides my professional life, I have two children in college, and I am a Past President of the Rotary Club of Plymouth and the Plymouth/Canton Community Task Force on Substance Abuse.

Year Joined Organization

• 1979

Areas of Practice

• 100% Estate Planning
• Probate & Estate Administration
• Trusts
• Wills

Bar Admissions

• Michigan, 1979
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1979

Education

• Wayne State University Law School, Detroit, Michigan, 1978
  J.D.
  
  
• Wayne State University, 1974
  B.S.
  Honors: With High Distinction
  
  

Representative Cases

• Muma v. Financial Guardian, Inc., 551 F.Supp 119 (U.S. District Court, Eastern Div., Mich. 1982)

Honors and Awards

• Recipient, David Safran Award, Student Leadership

Professional Associations and Memberships

• State Bar of Michigan, Probate and Estate Planning Section
  Member
  
  
• American Bar Association, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section
  Member
  
  
• Plymouth/Canton Community Task Force on Substance Abuse, 1989
  President
  
  

Languages

• French

Birth Information

• March 19, 1951, Detroit, Michigan, United States of America