James H. Cundiff
James H. Cundiff
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery
Cryptocurrency: Sign My Trustee Up!

James H. Cundiff advises clients on family wealth and business planning, federal estate, gift and generation-skipping tax planning, and estate and trust administration. James represents entrepreneurs, corporate executives, and other business leaders and wealthy individuals on estate and tax planning matters.

Counseling closely held businesses and family members, James is actively engaged in the structuring of family businesses as well as business control and succession planning, multi-generational wealth transfer planning, and estate plan design and implementation. James works with several single-family offices on the creation and administration of private investment pools and private trust companies. As a certified public accountant, James bridges the gaps between financial, tax and legal issues. James frequently writes and speaks on a variety of tax and estate planning subjects.



Jennifer Davenport
Jennifer Davenport
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. 
 
Jenni obtained her JD from the J. Reuben Clark Law School at Brigham Young University and is licensed in Utah. She lives in southern Utah with her husband and three children.


Blake Harris, Esq.
Blake Harris, Esq.
Managing Attorney
Blake Harris Law
Blockchain Asset Protection

Before Blake Harris Law, Blake worked for one of the nation’s largest wealth management firms, where he helped high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients plan for the transfer of their assets. Over the course of his career, Blake has worked for, co-counseled with, and learned from several of the nation’s top estate planning and asset protection attorneys.

Blake founded Blake Harris Law because he is passionate about helping families protect their wealth and pass it to the next generation. Not only does he value building long-lasting client relationships, he also strives to provide each client with confidence in their estate plan and probate case in a relaxed and casual manner.

In addition to his active practice, Blake also strives to share his in-depth knowledge to help other professionals advance in their careers. In Colorado and across the nation, Blake has given numerous presentations and continuing

education lectures on asset protection, estate planning, and probate to CPAs, financial advisors, and other attorneys. Blake has also been quoted in state-wide and national publications, such as ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox News, The Denver Post, and Market Watch, and he has been named a "Rising Star" for 2020, 2021, and 2022 by Super Lawyers Magazine.

Blake graduated in 2007 with a degree in finance from the University of Florida and received a juris doctorate in 2010 from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, a top-tier law school.

Blake has been a member in good standing of the Colorado Bar since 2013 and the Florida Bar since 2010. Blake is also the founder of the Blockchain Investment Council and an active member of the Florida Bar, the Denver Bar Association, and the Colorado Bar Association. Blake's Colorado Bar number is 45942. Blake's Florida Bar number is 86486.

Outside of work, Blake enjoys traveling and spending time with family.



Elise J. McGee
Elise J. McGee
Partner
McDermott Will & Emery
Cryptocurrency: Sign My Trustee Up!

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. Elise has analyzed SEC and regulatory compliance issues facing private trust companies, and has helped clients develop policies and procedures for their private trust companies. She also advises clients on the litigation and regulatory risks facing private trust companies and their decision-makers.

Elise works with clients, including registered investment advisers and multi-family offices, to establish and transition trusteeship to retail trust companies. She also advises retail trust companies on cryptocurrency custody matters. She helps clients structure the multi-jurisdictional relationships between trust companies, family offices and closely held businesses.

While in law school, Elise was an executive editor for The Michigan Journal of Race & Law. Prior to law school, she worked as a senior research analyst for Lexecon, where she performed research and statistical analyses focusing on the application of economics to litigation.



Pamela Morgan
Pamela Morgan
Attorney
Empowered Law
Cryptocurrency and NFT Essentials: What Estate Planners Need to Know

Pamela Morgan is an educator, entrepreneur, author, and attorney who has been working exclusively with bitcoin & open blockchains since early 2014. Morgan is a widely respected authority on multi-signature governance and legal innovation in digital currencies. She spends much of her time traveling the world training lawyers about these technologies through her company, Empowered Law. Her book, Cryptoasset Inheritance Planning: A Simple Guide for Owners, provides a clear blueprint to inheritance planning for those holding cryptocurrency, tokens, crypto-collectibles, and other cryptoassets.



John L. Varga, III ASA
John L. Varga, III ASA
Managing Director
Management Planning Inc.
The Valuation and Reporting of Cryptocurrency on Income, Gift, and Estate Tax Returns

John is a Partner at MPI and is based in the firm’s New York City office.  Since joining MPI, John has determined the value of closely held securities of companies for a variety of purposes, including estate and gift taxes, income taxes, sale and merger, stock purchase plans, buy-sell agreements, ownership succession, Employee Stock Ownership Plans and corporate and shareholder planning.  John has extensive valuation experience in many industries including complex real estate development and management organizations, technology firms (including start-up phase companies) and manufacturers of equipment and components for the automotive, consumer and industrial sectors.

The valuation analyses and reports prepared by John have been used for presentations to management, directors and stockholders of client companies, as well as to attorneys, accountants and bank trust representatives.