Managing Director and Midwest Wealth Advisor
J.P. Morgan Private Bank
Pre-Transaction Planning for Business Owners
Benetta Park is a Managing Director and Midwest Wealth Advisor at J.P. Morgan Private Bank based in Chicago. She assists clients with the development of comprehensive, generational wealth transfer planning strategies. She previously was a partner in the Private Client Department of the law firm of McDermott Will & Emery in Chicago. Benetta is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and was invited to join the College as part of its inaugural class of Fellows in the category of Fiduciary Counsel.
Benetta frequently speaks and writes nationally on trust and estate planning topics. She is part of the leadership of several international, national and local professional organizations, including the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (founding officer and former Chair of the Chicago branch), Real Property, Trust & Estate Law Section of the American Bar Association, Trust Law Committee (former Chair) of the Chicago Bar Association, and the Chicago Estate Planning Council (Board Member). She also is a member of the Business Planning, Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations, and Program Committees of ACTEC. Benetta is an Adjunct Professor at Northwestern University’s law school LL.M. tax program, co-teaching “International Estate Planning” and serves as faculty for various courses at the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education (IICLE) and for the national estate planning conference, the Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning.
She has been quoted in news periodicals, including CNBC and Morningstar. She serves on the professional advisory committees of several non-profit organizations. Benetta earned her J.D. from Loyola University Chicago School of Law and her Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Managing Director
Evercore Wealth Management, LLC
Scarier Than Lions and Tigers and Bears: The Income Taxation of Trusts, Oh My!
Justin Miller, JD, LLM, TEP, AEP®, CFP®, is a partner and national director of wealth planning at Evercore Wealth Management and a managing director at Evercore Trust Company, where he works collaboratively with accountants, attorneys, and other advisors to provide comprehensive wealth planning advice to clients. Justin is also an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University School of Law, a fellow of the American Bar Foundation, and a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. In addition, he is a frequent speaker at major conferences, has published numerous articles, and is regularly quoted as an industry expert by the media. Justin received a BA, with honors from the University of California, Berkeley, and a JD and LLM in taxation from New York University School of Law.
President, Family Wealth, Eastern U.S. Region
Wilmington Trust
Trust Assets in Divorce: Fair Game or Off Limits?
Sharon has over 25 years of experience in the wealth advisory arena and is a nationally recognize speaker and author. Global media company Forbes has featured Sharon as a Top Advisor in multiple categories since 2020. In 2023 she was selected as one of the Top 50 Women Wealth Advisors in America, one of the Top 10 in New York and one of the Top 5 in New York City. Leading business publication Crain’s named Sharon to its 2020 inaugural list of the Most Notable Women in Financial Advice. In 2018, she was honored by the UJA-Federation of New York Lawyers Division for her contributions to the trusts & estates community and the community at large. Sharon is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a highly selective professional organization of preeminent estate planning attorneys in the U.S. and internationally. Sharon was inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame in 2021. This honor is considered the pinnacle of accomplishment in this field. Only 125 people across the U.S. have received the award since its inception in 2004.
Sharon is a member of The Rockefeller University Committee on Trust and Estate Gift Plans, the New York Bankers Association Trust & Investment Division Executive Committee, the Estates, Gifts and Trusts Advisory Board for The Bureau of National Affairs and the Thomson Reuters Trusts & Estates Advisory Board. She chairs the Domestic Relations Committee of Trusts & Estates magazine, where she sits on the Board, and is on the Advisory Board of Family Lawyer Magazine. Sharon served on the Board of the American Brain Foundation and was a member of its Finance Committee.
Prior to joining Wilmington Trust, Sharon was Managing Director at Lazard, the internationally renowned global investment banking and management company. As Head of Wealth Advisory of Lazard Wealth Management, she led the delivery of all wealth advisory services. Before that, she headed the Estate department at Fiduciary Trust Company International. Sharon began her career as a trusts & estates attorney at Rosenman & Colin (now Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP).
Sharon, who holds U.S., British and Australian citizenships, earned a master of laws from the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, received a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of laws from the University of New South Wales, Australia and is a Certified Divorce Financial Analyst.
Attorney
Duggan Bertsch
Third-Party Trusts are No Longer the Asset Protection Safety Net We Once Thought They Were
Mary Vandenack, JD, ACTEC, COLPM®, CAP®, brings extraordinary energy and focus to her work for clients. A founding member and the firm's managing partner, Mary is an expert in the interrelated areas of tax, business, real estate, health care, private wealth, estate planning, business succession planning and asset protection planning. Acting as outside legal counsel for closely-held businesses in conjunction with the ability to proactively address the legal issues of business owners is an area of special expertise. Mary is an innovator in the integration of technology into the practice of law. Under Vandenack's guidance, the firm has been on the leading edge of client service and technology. Mary won the American Bar Association James I. Keane Award, presented at Techshow 2015, in recognition of her efforts in the area of e-lawyering.
Mary speaks and writes extensively in her areas of practice. She is a commentator for Leimberg Services, a nationally recognized publication in the area of tax, trusts and estates, benefits and asset protection planning. Mary serves as co-chair of the Futures Task Force for the American Bar Association Real Property Trusts and Estates Section. Mary serves on the American Bar Association Techshow Board and writes a leadership column for Law Practice Management Magazine. Mary also writes a column on estate planning, asset protection planning and business succession issues for metroMagazine. Mary was named to Fortune Magazine Women Leaders in the Law in 2016.
In her spare time, Mary shares her love for health and wellness by teaching yoga, pilates and spinning. Mary also expresses her passion for health and wellness by the community activities that she supports. It is a rare occasion when Mary would miss a home Creighton Bluejays game or a College World Series game. Mary's fulfilling personal and professional life was illustrated in a September 2014 interview with the Omaha Daily Record.
Mary graduated magna cum laude from Creighton University School of Law in 1992. She served as editor in chief of the Creighton Law Review, won a Domestic Moot Court competition as Best Oral Advocate and was inducted into the Alpha Sigma Nu Honor Society. Vandenack received her bachelor's degree in business and accounting, graduating summa cum laude from the College of Saint Mary.
Additional highlights include:
- Founding and managing member of Vandenack Weaver LLC in Omaha, Nebraska
- 2015 James I. Keane Memorial Award
- ABA LTRC 2018 Distinguished Women of Legal Tech
- Commentator for Leimberg Services
- Authored, edited, and updated book chapters on Trusts for Asset Protection Planning and Trusts In Divorce After the New Tax Act
Chief Operating Officer
WealthCounsel, LLC
Practical Applications Lab - Advanced Estate Planning Summit
Jenni is the COO at WealthCounsel and an estate planning attorney. Prior to joining WealthCounsel, Jenni worked in small firms in Salt Lake City for almost a decade, focusing on estate planning, trust administration, and probate, with an emphasis on gift and estate tax issues for high net worth clients. While searching for a drafting solution, Jenni discovered WealthCounsel and joined the team as an associate editor in 2019. She began her legal career as a law clerk/bailiff for a state trial court judge and then spent a year as a prosecutor in a small Idaho county before switching to private practice.