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their original will and the original will cannot be found post-death, under Illinois law, the will is presumed to have been revoked.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.
Chuhak & Tecson is pleased to announce that Bryan M. Montana has joined the firm as a principal in the Estate Planning & Asset Protection group.
Bryan focuses his practice exclusively on estate planning, designing customized wealth preservation, asset protection and tax minimization strategies for families and business owners. He handles wills, powers of attorney, trusts, trust and estate administration and special needs and disability planning.
Bryan has experience forming and structuring business entities as a part of the estate planning process with the ultimate goal of ensuring a smooth transition from one generation to the next. Bryan also has extensive experience helping families protect assets from the costs of long-term care, as well as qualifying for Medicaid and Veterans Affairs benefits.
Life changes typically require a change in your estate plan — starting a family, running a successful business, dealing with divorce and reaching retirement, just to name a few. Whether his clients are creating their very first plan or facing a major life event, Bryan’s rare combination of care and subject matter knowledge help them navigate even the most sensitive situations.
Originally from Dayton, Ohio, Bryan earned his Bachelor of Science degree in business with a major in marketing from Miami University and graduated from the University of Toledo College of Law, cum laude.
Chuhak & Tecson’s Stephen Wood, principal and co-leader of the firm’s Litigation practice group and a member of the Sterigenics and Sotera Health defense team, helped achieve a defense verdict when a jury recently rejected a woman’s claims that exposure to ethylene oxide from Sterigenics’ Willowbrook, Illinois, facility contributed to her leukemia. The verdict, delivered on November 18, 2022, came after a six-week jury trial in the Circuit Court of Cook County.
The case, Teresa Fornek v. Sterigenics US LLC, et al., No. 2018-L-10744, was the second case to go to trial this year arising out of alleged exposure to ethylene oxide from Sterigenics’ Willowbrook facility. Earlier this year, a Cook County jury awarded significant damages to another resident of Willowbrook. That verdict is currently undergoing post-trial review.
For additional information on this case or for assistance with a litigation matter, please contact Stephen Wood at swood@chuhak.com
Chuhak & Tecson is pleased to announce that Aali S. Fidai joins the firm as an associate in the Real Estate practice group, focusing on commercial real estate acquisitions, dispositions, development and financing. He provides experienced counsel for clients in real estate leasing transactions of all types and complexity, including leasing across a variety of asset classes, including mixed use, industrial, retail and hospitality and has solid experience negotiating office, retail and industrial leases on the national and local levels for both landlords and tenants.
Fidai’s prior experience in construction and real estate development, combined with his legal experience on real estate matters, gives him a broad perspective and insight into a client’s needs and enables him to offer not only an effective legal solution but also a practical one to achieve their business objectives.
Fidai received his B.A. degree from Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, Texas, majoring in economics and finance. He earned his J.D. degree from The John Marshall Law School, Chicago, Illinois.
Chuhak & Tecson’s David B. Shiner, principal and leader of the firm’s Tax & Employee Benefits practice group, will present a program titled “Issues in Prosecuting a Case in Tax Court” to the Illinois CPA Society – O’Hare Chapter on Wednesday, November 16, 2022.
Shiner is a certified public accountant with a master of law in taxation. He represents clients under IRS audit, in IRS Appeals hearings and in the U.S. Tax Court in gift, estate and income tax matters where hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars of taxes are at issue.
Founded in 1903, the Illinois CPA Society is one of the largest state CPA societies in the nation with more than 22,600 members. The CPA Society provides customized education, timely and relevant information, influential advocacy and countless opportunities to make powerful professional connections. Located throughout the state, Illinois CPA Society chapters provide local, affordable and relevant programs offering Continuing Professional Education (CPE) and networking opportunities. Members are assigned to a chapter based on their home address