Faculty
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The faculty of the Graduate Program in Estate Planning is unparalleled in graduate level legal education. The estate planning Bar in South Florida is home to many of the nation’s leading estate planning practitioners. The Graduate Program is able to include a number of these local experts on its adjunct faculty to teach the fall semester core courses. The concentrated weeklong modules in the spring semester provide the opportunity to include not only local specialists, but also preeminent estate planning experts from around the nation on the program’s faculty. Over the years, the faculty has included law school professors, deans and former deans, partners and managing partners of elite law firms, former IRS commissioners and chief counsel, Tax Court judges, and other eminent teachers and scholars.

 

The following is a list of the program’s faculty for the 2007-2008 academic year:

 

Martin E. Basson is the Supervisory Attorney, Estate & Gift Taxes, for the South Florida District of the Internal Revenue Service. He received his B.A. from Colgate University and his J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law. With the exception of serving as assistant tax commissioner for the City of New York during the Koch administration, he has worked for the IRS since 1974. He has lectured at numerous American Law Institute-American Bar Association sponsored seminars, and has served as a faculty member of the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. He is a charter member of the IRS Estate and Gift Tax National Advisory Panel, a select group of IRS attorneys who assist in the formation of nationwide policy decisions in the estate and gift tax area.

 

Norman J. Benford is a shareholder of the firm of Greenberg Traurig, practicing principally in its Miami office, and the national Chair of its Trusts and Estates practice. He is board certified in Estate Planning and Probate Law by the Florida Bar’s Board of Certification. Mr. Benford is a member of the Advisory Committee of the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning and served at the University of Miami School of Law teaching courses in its J.D. and LL.M. programs in fiduciary administration, drafting, and domestic and international estate planning. He has lectured frequently at and written for continuing education programs and other professional and community organizations. Mr. Benford is a Fellow and Past-Regent and member of the Executive Committee of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and served as President of the ACTEC Foundation. Mr. Benford received his LL.B. degree from Yale Law School and his B.A. from Yale College. He served on active duty from 1959 to 1961 as a lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps and as a law clerk to the Hon. William H. Timbers, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, District of Connecticut.

 

Lawrence A. Frolik is a professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. A frequent lecturer on legal issues of aging and a prolific author, his books include Advising the Elderly or Disabled Client, (2nd Ed. with Brown) (Warren, Gorham & Lamont), Aging and the Law: An Interdisciplinary Reader, (Temple University Press), Elder Law in a Nutshell, (3rd Ed. with Kaplan) (West), and the casebooks, Elder Law: Cases and Materials, (3rd Ed. with Barnes) (LexisNexis), and The Law of Employee Pension and Welfare Benefits (with Moore) (LexisNexis). He is Past-Chair of the PBA Elder Law Section and Past-Chair of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section Seniors Issues Committee. He was appointed by Governor Rendell to the Pennsylvania Council on Aging and serves as Policy Advisor to the Executive Council of the Pennsylvania AARP. He is an Associate Editor of the NAELA Journal and the Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Law Journal. He is Treasurer of the Board of Directors of Kendal Corporation, a non-profit entity that oversees several Continuing Care Retirement Communities located throughout the eastern United States. He served as the President of the Board of Directors of Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Advocacy Network. In 1995, he was a Congressional appointed delegate to the White House Conference on Aging. Mr. Frolik is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, an Academic Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He received his B.A. from the University of Nebraska and his J.D. and his LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

 

Marvin C. Gutter is a shareholder in the law firm of Tescher, Gutter, Chaves, Josepher, Rubin, Ruffin & Forman, P.A. in Boca Raton, Florida. He received his B.B.A. from Hofstra University in 1972, and his J.D. from Hofstra Law School in 1976. Mr. Gutter is also a certified public accountant. He practices in the areas of taxation, business agreements and acquisitions, estate planning and probate matters. He is an authority on IRS procedural matters involving income, payroll and estate tax controversies. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Gutter was an attorney with the Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Service. He is a Past-Chair of the Tax Section of The Florida Bar.

 

Jerome M. Hesch is with the Law Firm of Greenberg Traurig in Miami and is a member of ACTEC. He has published numerous articles, many co-authored with Professor Elliot Manning, several Tax Management Portfolios, and co-authored a law school casebook on Federal Income Taxation, now in its third edition. He has appeared on continuing education programs for groups such as the AICPA, the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning and the New York University Institute on Federal Taxation. Mr. Hesch was Co-Chair of the Drafting Subcommittee of the Florida Revised Uniform Partnership Act. He graduated from University of Buffalo Law School. Mr. Hesch was with Office of Chief Counsel, Internal Revenue Services, Washington, D.C. from 1970-1975, and was a full-time law professor from 1975-1994. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Buffalo Law School.

 

Edward F. Koren, Jr. is the head of the Holland & Knight Private Wealth Services group, practicing principally in its Tampa and Lakeland offices. Mr. Koren earned his B.S.B.A. degree in accounting in 1971 and his J.D. degree, with highest honors, in 1974 from the University of Florida, where he was Executive Editor of the University of Florida Law Review. Mr. Koren is the lead author and editor of a four-volume treatise Estate and Personal Financial Planning (West 1988-06). He has written numerous other articles and chapters in publications pertaining to trusts, estates, individual taxation and estate planning and administration, and speaks regularly at seminars sponsored by various national and regional professional organizations, including the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Southern Federal Tax Institute, American and Florida Bar Associations, the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, ALI/ABA, PLI, the American Association of Attorney/CPAs, and numerous estate planning councils throughout the Southeast. Mr. Koren is a Past-Chair of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association, Past-Chair of the Estate and Gift Tax Committee of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and is also a Past- Regent. He is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and the American Bar Foundation, and is also very active in The Florida Bar, where he has chaired the Tax Section and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section.

 

Teig Lawrence practices law as a sole practitioner in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, focusing in the areas of tax controversy representation before the Internal Revenue Service and the Florida Department of Revenue. He earned his B.S.B.A. in finance, with honors, from the University of Florida, his J.D. from Nova Southeastern University and his LL.M. in taxation from the University of Miami. He is an authority on electronic research. Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Lawrence was a corporate tax consultant with Deloitte & Touche in Los Angeles, California. He currently serves as the Chair of the Broward County Bar Association Tax Section and is a member of the South Florida Tax Litigation Association.

 

Carlyn McCaffrey is a partner and co-head of the Trusts and Estates Department in the New York law firm of Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP and an adjunct professor at New York University School of Law. She received her LL.B. and her LL.M. from the New York University School of Law. Mrs. McCaffrey is a Fellow and former President of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, a Fellow and Regent of the American College of Tax Counsel and a member and former Vice President of the International Academy of Trust & Estate Counsel. In addition, Mrs. McCaffrey is a member of the Advisory Board of Tax Analysts, a member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, a member of the Tax Section of the New York Bar Association, and the former Co-Chair of the Estates and Trusts Committee of the Tax Section of the New York State Bar Association. Mrs. McCaffrey frequently lectures on subjects relating to tax law, trusts and estates, foreign trusts and matrimonial law. She also writes extensively on these topics, and is the co-author of Structuring the Tax Consequences of Marriage and Divorce.

 

Jerry J. McCoy is an independent attorney in Washington, D.C., specializing in charitable tax planning, tax-exempt organizations and estate planning. He holds law degrees from Duke University and New York University. A member of the American Law Institute and a Fellow of both the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the American College of Tax Counsel, Mr. McCoy is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and The Best Lawyers in America. A frequent presenter at planned giving, tax and estate planning seminars, he also serves on the adjunct faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center. He is the Past-Chair of the Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations Committee of ACTEC. Mr. McCoy is co-founder and co-editor of two newsletters - Charitable Gift Planning News, and Family Foundation Advisor. He is co-author (with Kathryn Miree) of the Family Foundation Handbook, published by Aspen Law & Business (CCH).

 

Louis A. Mezzullo of San Diego, California, received his J.D. from the University of Richmond Law School, and a B.A. and M.A. from the University of Maryland. He is a Past- Chair of the American College of Tax Counsel; a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation; a Fellow of the Virginia Law Foundation; a Fellow and former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, as well as Past-Chair of its Business Planning Committee and former Chair of its Employee Benefits in Estate Planning and Elder Law Committees; a Charter Fellow of the American College of Employee Benefits Counsel; an Academician and Vice President of the International Academy of Trust and Estate Law; and a member of the Richmond Bar Association; Virginia Bar Association (former Chair of its Section on Taxation); Virginia State Bar; and American Bar Association, a Vice-Chair of the ABA Section of Taxation, and Past- Chair of the ABA Section of Real Property, Probate and Trust Law. Mr. Mezzullo has written and spoken widely on estate planning topics.

 

Louis Nostro practices in the area of family wealth planning, which includes estate planning, estate and trust administration, charitable planning, executive compensation, and taxation. He has spoken frequently at Florida Bar seminars on estate planning issues. He is a Florida Bar Circuit Representative and a member of the Florida Bar Estate and Gift Tax Committee. Mr. Nostro received the following degrees from the University of Florida: Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with honors, Juris Doctor with honors and Master of Laws (LL.M.) in taxation. He is certified by The Florida Bar as a specialist in the fields of Taxation and Wills, Trusts and Estates.

 

Jeffrey N. Pennell is the Richard H. Clarke Professor of Law at Emory University School of Law, Atlanta. He is the author of Casner & Pennel on Estate Planning (6th ed.), and various books, portfolios, monographs, articles and Institute chapters. He is an Advisor for the Restatement (Third) of Property - Wills and Other Donative Transfers, and an Associate Reporter for Restatement (Third) of Trusts.

 

Susan Porter is a managing director at U.S. Trust. She received an A.B. from Vassar College, a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin Law School and an LL.M. from New York University Law School. In addition to serving as a visiting adjunct professor at the University of Miami School of Law, she lectures on fiduciary law for the American Bankers Association’s National Graduate Trust School. She is on the editorial board of Practical Drafting, serves on Tax Management’s Advisory Board on Estates, Gifts and Trusts and is a member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.

 

Gideon Rothschild is a partner with the New York City law firm of Moses & Singer LLP, where he is a Co-Chair of the Estate Planning and Wealth Preservation Group. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of the Advisory Board of BNA’s Tax Management. Mr. Rothschild is the co-author of the BNA Tax Management portfolio on Asset Protection Planning and has authored numerous articles for publication. He has lectured frequently on asset protection and estate planning to professional groups including the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, the New York University Federal Tax Institute, the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Southern Federal Tax Institute and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Rothschild is also licensed as a Certified Public Accountant.

 

William A. Snyder is the founding partner of Snyder & Snyder, P.A., a boutique estate planning firm.  He is a member of the Florida and Broward County Bar Associations and is board certified by The Florida Bar in Wills, Trusts and Estates. Mr. Snyder received his LL.M from the University of Miami School of Law (Estate Planning), his J.D. from University of Florida Law School, and his B.A. from Hobart and William Smith College.  He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America, and was named as one of the Top 100 Attorneys in the U.S. by Worth magazine in December 2005 and December 2006.  Also, Mr. Snyder serves as Vice-Chairman of the Wills, Trusts, and Estates Law certification committee for the Florida Bar Association.

 

Paul M. Stokes is a partner in Stokes McMillan Maracini & Antúnez P.A. He graduated from Duke University in 1968, magna cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, with a B.A. degree in history, and from the University of Chicago Law School in 1971, with a J.D. degree, Order of the Coif. Since 1986, he has been board certified as a specialist in Wills, Trusts and Estates by the Florida Bar Board of Legal Specialization and Education. He is a member of the Tax Section and the Real Property, Probate and Trust Law of the Florida Bar, and a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. His practice includes estate planning, private client service, federal estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes, estate administration (including decedent’s estates, trust estates and guardianships), and related litigation.

 

Bruce Stone is a partner with the law firm of Goldman Felcoski & Stone P.A. in Coral Gables, Florida. His practice is concentrated in two areas: estate planning (both domestic and foreign) and adversarial trust and estate matters. He received a B.A. from the University of Florida and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received a J.D. from the Florida State University College of Law. He is a Past-Chair of the Florida Bar Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section. He is a member of the Board of Regents of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and a member of the Advisory Committee of the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning. He is the principal author of a number of Florida statutes governing dynasty trusts, the modification and reformation of irrevocable trusts, and elective share rights of surviving spouses. He was named as one of the forty-five best trust and estate lawyers in the United States in the August 1998 issue of Town & Country magazine and as one of the top 100 attorneys in the United States in the December 2005 issue of Worth magazine.

 

Conrad Teitell is a principal in the Connecticut- and Florida-based law firm of Cummings & Lockwood, resident in the firm’s Stamford office. He holds an LL.B. from Columbia University Law School and an LL.M. from New York University Law School. Mr. Teitell is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the recipient of the American Law Institute/American Bar Association’s Harrison Tweed Award for Special Merit in Continuing Legal Education. Listed in The Best Lawyers in America, his "Philanthropy and Estate Planning" columns appear in Trusts & Estates and the New York Law Journal. He is the author of the fivevolume treatise, Philanthropy and Taxation and editor and publisher of Taxwise Giving, a monthly newsletter.

 

Program Director: Tina Portuondo
Tina Portuondo is the director of the Graduate Program in Estate Planning. She earned a B.A., magna cum laude, from Wheaton College, a J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University, and an LL.M. in taxation from New York University. Ms. Portuondo joined the Law School after practicing in the areas of tax and estate planning in New York and Miami. She is also the director of the University of Miami Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, and is the Secretary and a member of the Executive Council of the Real Property, Probate & Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association.