Presenters

Areas Of Practice: Trusts & Estates, Taxation, Nonprofits & Tax-Exempt Organizations, Business Entities & Transactions.

Mrs. Rafferty’s practice focuses on all aspects of estate, income, gift and generation-skipping tax planning, trust and estate administration, estate and gift tax audit, private family trust company formation, and fiduciary litigation for individuals, families, business owners, trust companies, and tax-exempt entities. Mrs. Rafferty has significant experience in complex trust and estate planning and administration. She serves as an expert witness in matters of Nevada trust and estate law, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) where she serves as a Regent and Nevada State Chair. She is a past-Chairman of the Nevada State Bar’s Probate and Trust Section, and co-chair of the Section’s legislative committee.

Professor Donaldson is an interim associate dean of Academic Affairs and professor of law at Georgia State University College of Law. Prior to joining the College of Law in 2012, Professor Donaldson was on the faculty at the University of Washington School of Law in Seattle for 13 years. During his tenure at the University of Washington, he was a five-time recipient of the Philip A. Trautman Professor of the Year award from the School of Law’s Student Bar Association. Professor Donaldson served for two years as Associate Dean for Academic Administration and for six years as the Director of the law school’s Graduate Program in Taxation.

Professor Donaldson teaches a number of tax and estate planning courses, as well as courses in the areas of property, commercial law and professional responsibility. He is a nationally recognized speaker on federal taxation and estate planning at professional conferences and continuing education seminars.

Professor Donaldson is an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and a member of the Bar in Washington, Oregon, and Arizona. Among his scholarly works, he is a co-author of the popular West casebook, Federal Income Tax: A Contemporary Approach, and a co-author of the Price on Contemporary Estate Planning treatise published by Wolters Kluwer.

Professor Donaldson has served as the Harry R. Horrow Visiting Professor of International Law at Northwestern University and a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law.

An amateur crossword constructor, Professor Donaldson’s puzzles have been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and other outlets.

A founding partner of Harrison LLP, Louis Harrison’s practice encompasses all aspects of trust and estate planning, including estate and business planning for closely held companies. In addition to individuals in need of sophisticated planning, Lou represents numerous family offices, public figures, CEOs of public companies, closely held businesses, and other entities and prominent individuals.

Lou has long been recognized as one of the premier estate planning attorneys in the country. During his nearly four-decade career, he has developed unique and creative estate planning techniques which are utilized by high-end estate planners across the country. Recognizing his extraordinary talent, attorneys across the nation view Lou’s estate planning documents as “best practices” for complex planning. 

Lou is a frequent keynote speaker, and he has written more than 200 articles on a broad range of estate planning topics which have been published in legal, accounting, tax, and estate planning journals and periodicals. Lou has also co-authored two books, and he collaborates with other practitioners around the country regarding advanced planning matters and defending plans before the Internal Revenue Service.

In acknowledgment of his exceptional work, Lou has received numerous peer-rated awards, including being selected as The Best Lawyers in America®’s “Lawyer of the Year” in trusts and estates on multiple occasions, as well as many other prestigious honors.

Lou is a Fellow with the American College of Trusts and Estate Counsel, previously serving as its Illinois state chair. Lou has also been an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law, DePaul University College of Law, and Chicago-Kent College of Law.

In addition to swimming in Lake Michigan long after the summer’s end, Lou’s hobbies include football, hockey, hiking, reading, behavioral finance, and bad puns (are there any other kind).

Elise J. McGee advises high-net-worth individuals and business owners on all aspects of wealth-transfer planning, including estate and trust administration, leveraged wealth-transfer techniques, tax matters, cryptocurrency and QSBS planning, real estate transactions and closely held business matters. Elise has extensive experience working with owners of closely held businesses to develop governance and succession plans, and on corporate, tax and compliance matters relating to those businesses.

Elise specializes in the formation and operation of private trust companies, and has advised clients on these structures in multiple jurisdictions. Elise has worked with state regulators to develop customized private trust company structures for clients, including for international families. Most recently, she co-drafted Wyoming’s 2019 trust company legislation including 2021 legislative updates.

Joseph advises clients on all matters pertaining to the intergenerational transfer of wealth, including estate planning, succession planning, tax planning, trust and estate administration, audits, examinations, controversy avoidance and litigation. He also guides clients on the formation, governance and operation of private trust companies and family offices. His clients are located throughout the United States and include high-net-worth individuals and families, private trust companies, family offices, family office executives and large banks.

Joseph has successfully argued before trial and appellate courts in multiple jurisdictions. Due to his unique background in tax, planning and litigation, clients turn to Joseph to advise them in complex disputes involving family members, spouses, employees and business partners. A significant part of his practice involves counseling family offices and private trust company executives on strategies and best practices for avoiding personal liability. Joseph is frequently able to favorably resolve disputes without litigation. If necessary, however, he vigorously defends his clients’ interests in the courtroom.

Joseph is a frequent contributor to the bar. In addition to publishing numerous articles and book chapters, he is the principal draftsman of the forthcoming Michigan Trust Company Act. He also assisted with drafting the Michigan Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act and the Model Civil Jury Instructions Regarding Undue Influence, among other legislative matters.

Robert Armstrong is nationally recognized for his representation of high-net-worth clients and family trust companies. His practice is focused on estate, gift, generation-skipping, and income tax planning, as well as the administration of trusts and estates, business and real estate transactions, and the formation, operation, and governance of family trust and retail trust companies.

Mr. Armstrong also has extensive experience in the areas of charitable giving, tax-exempt organizations, and state and local taxation, including the Nevada Commerce Tax. He has more than forty years of legal experience serving clients as an attorney, and as a non-practicing certified public accountant.

2024 is the eighth consecutive year that Mr. Armstrong is ranked in the highest category of Band 1 in Private Wealth Law in Chambers High Net Worth Guide. Clients interviewed by Chambers describe Mr. Armstrong as “especially notable for his work on the establishment and administration of Nevada-based private trust companies. He totally understands all aspects of finance and deal structures, and is a well-recognized expert in the area of high net worth trust construction, wills and estate planning.” “Mr. Armstrong has seen everything that can happen in a trust corporation. He is extremely experienced and very commercially sound.” “Robert Armstrong is technically proficient and on top of developments in Nevada trust law. He understands what we want for our clients, which makes him user-friendly.” “He is the best trusts and estates planner in the state. He has a huge breadth of knowledge and has been around for a long, long time. He remembers everything.” “He is highly knowledgeable and skilled, and is known and respected by estate regulators.” “He is very smart, organized and creative, a good communicator and very good at articulating complex concepts.” “Bob is an excellent tax strategist with a cutting-edge awareness of pending changes and direction in the space.”

Mr. Armstrong is frequently called upon to lecture on topics such as Nevada trust law, family trust companies, and tax matters at national and local seminars and forums.

Alan Freer is a member of the firm’s management committee, where he focuses his practice primarily on trust and estate litigation. Alan also handles all aspects of trust and estate administration, and routinely represents beneficiaries and fiduciaries in contested matters. He has substantial experience in challenging and defending the validity of estate planning documents, including wills, codicils, trusts and amendments. Alan routinely prosecutes and defends claims for breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, undue influence, breach of trust, accounting, fiduciary removal, competency, lack of capacity, unjust enrichment, closely held business disputes and elder abuse.

Alan represents beneficiaries, fiduciaries, and grantors in contested matters from prelitigation case assessment and dispute negation, to all stages of litigation, including trial and appellate practice. Additionally, he has represented fiduciaries in complex administrations, including multi-jurisdictional and international issues, sophisticated business succession plan implementation, bringing a litigation perspective to assess and implement intended plans.

More recently, Alan has been actively engaged in the expanding area of domestic asset protection (spendthrift) trust litigation. He has represented creditors, beneficiaries, trustees and grantors in both attacking and defending asset protection trusts.

Alan is a Fellow with The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and has received the highest AV Preeminent Rating by Martindale-Hubbell. He has been recognized in Best Lawyers in America since 2016, and received awards for the Lawyer of the Year for Southern Nevada in the area of Trust and Estates (2020) and Trust and Estate Litigation (2017, 2021 and 2023). He has also been recognized as one of the top 100 lawyers in the Mountain States region by Super Lawyers from 2018 to present.

Alan is a member of the State Bar of Nevada and recently completed serving a twelve-year period on the Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility, including a two-year term as committee chair. Currently, he serves on the Southern Nevada Disciplinary Board and as a co-chair of the Legislative Committee for the Probate and Trust Section (a position he has held since 2014) for the State Bar of Nevada. Alan also volunteers as a mentor for the State Bar of Nevada’s Transitioning into Practice Program (TIP) since 2015, where he has assisted and trained newly licensed lawyers on Nevada-specific rules, procedures, ethics and best practices.

A distinguished bankruptcy lawyer with over four decades of experience which began with her clerkship for the Honorable Bertram Goldwater at the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada, Reno Division, Sallie Armstrong represents clients throughout Nevada in all areas of bankruptcy, financial restructuring, corporate reorganization, creditor rights, debtor rights, insolvency counseling, receiverships, and related litigation.

Sallie practices regularly in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Reno, and during her career in Las Vegas, as well as in state court. Her insolvency practice includes the representation of a wide range of stakeholders, including debtors in complex Chapter 11 cases, equity security holders, secured and unsecured creditors, including financial institutions, lenders, committees, purchasers, and adversary litigation defendants, parties to executory contracts, receivers, and commercial litigants. Sallie often serves as local counsel to national firms with clients in Nevada, and, as a result, has been able to participate in some of the largest and most significant Chapter 11 cases filed in Nevada, several of which are detailed below.

Working with various stakeholders, Sallie helps navigate the complexities of business insolvencies whether in formal bankruptcy proceedings, litigation, receiverships, or informal out-of-court workouts. Whatever the nature of her representation, Sallie works closely with her clients to help them find and develop the most appropriate business solution.

Representative Local Counsel Experience

Served as local counsel to Covington & Burling, LLP, and, in that capacity, represented the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors in the Ahern Rentals, Inc., Chapter 11 case filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada (Reno Division) in December 2011. The Committee’s goal and counsel’s task was to obtain the best treatment for all unsecured creditors, and a fair and cost-effective procedure for the liquidation of personal injury claims. The case was a success – all unsecured creditors in the case were to receive 100% of their allowed claims, plus interest, within one year of the effective date of the plan, and all personal injury claims were to be cost-effectively liquidated with all allowed personal injury claims receiving 100% of the allowed claim, plus interest, within one year of the effective date of the plan.

Served as local counsel to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy, LLP, and, in that capacity, represented the Debtors in the jointly administered cases of Circus and Eldorado Joint Venture, dba Silver Legacy Resort Casino and Silver Legacy Capital Corp., filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada (Reno Division) in May 2012. The case was a tremendous success with the Debtors’ reorganization plan becoming effective within approximately six months after their Chapter 11 filings.

Served as local counsel to Milbank, Tweed, Hadley, & McCloy, LLP, in the Chapter 11 cases filed by Rodeo Creek Gold, Inc., and its affiliated debtors in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada (Las Vegas Division) in February 2013, and, in that capacity, represented Credit Suisse AG as the Debtor In Possession agent and Debtor In Possession lender. Credit Suisse supported a structured dismissal of the cases, which represented an efficient resolution of the cases.

Served as local counsel to Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, P.C., in the Chapter 11 cases filed by America West Resources, Inc., and its affiliated debtors in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada (Las Vegas Division) in February 2013, and, in that capacity, represented the largest creditor who also served as the Debtor In Possession lender.

Stevie Casteel is a trusted advisor to a wide range of high net worth and exempt organization clients and is a partner in the firm’s private client services practice group. She provides comprehensive estate planning advice, including wills, trusts, powers of attorney, charitable planning, nuptial agreements, asset protection, estate and trust administration, planning for estate and gift taxes, and business wealth transitions for clients throughout the United States. She also assists exempt organizations with formation, tax exemption, lobbying affiliates, tax compliance, and board policies and best practices. A frequent speaker, Stevie has presented at national conferences on the topics of estate planning, non-profit law, and charitable giving and has authored or been quoted in numerous articles in trade journals and national media outlets, including CNN, on topics such as premarital agreements, charitable bequests, and wealth management for women.

Kirsten Wolff represents individual clients in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration, estate and gift taxation, charitable gift planning, and probate. She previously practiced in the area of state and local taxation and frequently draws from that experience in her current work with clients, particularly with respect to property and income tax issues, in planning for the tax-efficient transfer of wealth. She has administered trusts with complex assets in multiple international jurisdictions.

Ms. Wolff also assists clients with their philanthropic planning, including by establishing and obtaining tax exemption for new foundations and other non-profit organizations, and providing advice regarding ongoing tax and administration issues.

Ms. Wolff served as a law clerk to the Honorable James V. Selna in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.