I am pleased to have this opportunity to participate in The National Handbook of Estate Planning project with Robert Esperti and Renno Peterson, the co-founders of the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys.  Since joining the Network late in 1993, when I was about to open my own law office to concentrate on estate planning, I have become impressed with the quality of ideas and practice aids from the Network and its members which have benefited me and my clients.

I hope that readers of this book will come to understand how intertwined estate planning is with  life, and how planning, whether personal, financial, or estate, can produce rewards to those who do it.  These rewards can be measured in terms of personal satisfaction and financial growth which creates the wherewithal to pursue broader goals.  This book will improve your understanding of the key ideas and steps in lifetime and estate planning and of the administrative steps and issues in transferring wealth to others.  I hope the book will challenge you to consider ways to improve your planning for the future. 

I have practiced in the estate planning field for over 30 years, including 20 years as a partner with a Dechert Price and Rhoads, a major Philadelphia firm with one of the largest trust and estate practices in the United States.  In that time I have been able to make use of most of the advanced techniques in estate planning to meet the needs of my clients.  Of course, as a member of the National Network, I am now a member of the nation's largest estate planning network configured to practice estate planning by using the latest in advanced technology and networking to benefit clients.

 I first became involved in this field as a law clerk in the offices of Stroud, Stebbins and Stroud, in Madison, Wisconsin in 1960.  I had  graduated from Dartmouth College in 1959, married the former Donna Maloney, and returned to my native Wisconsin to enter the University of Wisconsin Law School in the fall of 1959.  When I first got involved in settling estates at the Stroud office, I was impressed with the opportunities to help people work through difficult times in their lives.  My experiences there were the foundation for what I do now.  One individual stands out, my mentor Seward R. Stroud, Esq., a man described as an expert at whatever he happens to be doing at the time, and one whom I think of almost daily in terms of using the practice skills that he taught me. 

After graduation from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a chance to serve as an editor of its Law Review, I accepted a clerkship with Justice (later Chief Justice) George R. Currie of the Wisconsin Supreme Court.  It was a post-graduate education for me to work with Justice Currie who had practiced law in Sheboygan, Wisconsin before being appointed to the court.  There he developed a reputation as a legal scholar whose opinions for the court proved influential in other jurisdictions.

During that year, my wife, Donna, and I decided to accept an opportunity with Dechert Price and Rhoads in Philadelphia and so in 1963, we moved to the Philadelphia area with our one-year-old, Jessica.  We have lived in the Philadelphia area happily ever since and in the same home for  30 years while two sons, Theodor Arthur and Christopher Currie, were born.

 I was attracted to the Dechert office by its program for training young lawyers in the different areas of the firm's practice including business, tax, litigation and fiduciary (the latter including estate planning, and trust and estates work). In one part of the program, that firm lent its young lawyers to the Defender Association of Philadelphia to gain trial experience.  My time there proved a harbinger of things to come when Arlen Specter, at that time the District Attorney of Philadelphia, asked the big law firms to "loan" him a lawyer each to augment his staff.  I got the opportunity from the Dechert office and, during a leave of absence from 1968 to 1970, came to know my adopted city and many of its lawyers and judges.

After returning to the Dechert office, I resumed my concentration on estate planning and became a partner in 1973.  I have practiced in that area ever since.  In 1994, I opened my own law office in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, six minutes from my home.

My professional philosophy of advising clients is based on the idea of constantly practicing my profession.  The pianist Paderewski once said that if he didn't practice one day, he could tell; two days and his wife could tell; one week and his public could tell.  I have come to understand that if you are to be good at something, you must practice it all the time.  If you love what you do, practicing will be no problem, and those around you will benefit.  For example, I share a stand in the first violin section of the North Penn Symphony Orchestra with a violin teacher who does everything right.  When I share the stand with her, I play better than I do when I’m alone.  Likewise, I hope that by devoting most days to practicing and thinking about law and planning, I will be a good influence on my clients and they will benefit from their association with me. 

With the increasing complexity of today's world, I find it helpful to work with the client's other advisors.  Over the years, these have been primarily life insurance professionals, accountants and bank officers.  Now the circle seems to be widening to include long-term care insurance specialists and geriatric care managers.  Their input is always welcome.