Richards, Layton & Finger
LLCs and Partnerships, Recent Trends
Elisa Maas is a director of Richards, Layton & Finger, where she is co-chair of the firm’s Business Department. Providing counsel and legal opinions on matters involving Delaware partnerships and limited liability companies, Elisa regularly handles transactions involving some of the world’s largest banking institutions, Fortune 500 companies, and billion-dollar private equity funds. Elisa is known for her “extremely deep level of knowledge and experience” (Chambers USA), advising clients on investment fund, joint venture, structured finance, preferred securities, and cross-border transactions. She also provides counsel regarding the formation, operation, and dissolution of Delaware partnerships and LLCs. Elisa has been recognized in Chambers USA and The Best Lawyers in America. She earned a BA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a JD from Cornell Law School.
Strickland Law Group
LLCs and Partnerships, Recent Trends
Elizabeth S. Miller holds the M. Stephen and Alyce A. Beard Chair in Business and Transactional Law at Baylor Law School where she teaches Business Organizations, Business Planning, and related courses. Professor Miller speaks and writes extensively on business organizations topics, particularly partnerships and LLCs. She frequently appears on continuing legal education programs and is co-author of a three-volume treatise on Business Organizations published by Thomson/West and a one-volume treatise that is part of the Texas Methods of Practice subset of the Texas Practice Series. Professor Miller has served as Chair of the LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities Committee of the Business Law Section of the ABA as well as the Partnership and LLC Law Committee of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. She has also served as Chair of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. Professor Miller has been involved in the drafting of legislation affecting Texas business organizations for many years. She currently chairs the Editorial Board of the LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities Committee of the ABA Business Law Section and is a member of the Uniform Law Commission-American Bar Association Joint Editorial Board for Uniform Unincorporated Organizations Acts.
Professor Miller is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation, and a recipient of the Jean Allard Glass Cutter Award presented by the Business Law Section of the American Bar Association and the Martin I. Lubaroff Award presented by the LLCs, Partnerships and Unincorporated Entities Committee of the ABA Business Law Section.
Adkisson Pitet LLP
Liability Protections for LLCs and Charging Orders
Jay D. Adkisson is a managing partner of Adkisson Pitet LLP and is admitted to practice in Arizona, California, Nevada, Oklahoma and Texas.
A 1988 graduate of the University of Oklahoma College of Law with honors and a member of the Oklahoma Law Review, Jay has twice been an expert witness to the U.S. Senate Finance Committee and is the Forbes.com writer on wealth preservation issues. He has served as an ABA Advisor to the drafting committees of the Uniform Voidable Transactions Act, the Uniform Protected Series Act, the Uniform Registration of Canadian Money Judgments Act, and the Uniform Public Expression Protection Act. He has also served as the Chair of the American Bar Association committees on captive insurance and insurance and financial products. His books include Asset Protection Concepts & Strategies (McGraw-Hill 2004), Adkisson's Captive Insurance Companies (iUniverse 2007), and the Charging Order Practice Guide (Am.Bar.Assoc. 2018).
Jay is an honorary member of the California Association of Judgment Professionals and a Hall of Fame member of the National Association of Estate Planning Councils. His law practice is in the area of creditor-debtor law, including the attack and defense of sophisticated asset protection structures.
Wilmington Trust
Comprehensive Planning for Business Owners: Wealth, Financial, Transition/Exit
As part of the Wilmington Trust Emerald Family Office & Advisory team, John leads Wilmington Trust’s business development initiatives in the minority business owner segment. With deep experience in fiduciary analysis, reporting, and risk management, he also advises the senior fiduciary leadership team, leading innovative projects designed to enhance the delivery of fiduciary services across the organization.
John joined M&T Bank in 1986, which acquired Wilmington Trust in 2011. He has more than three decades of experience in the wealth management industry. He holds an MBA from Pennsylvania State University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Bucknell University. He is a graduate of the Central Atlantic School of Trust and has attained the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ designation. John also holds the Pennsylvania Life, Accident, and Health Insurance license.
He is recognized as a strong community advocate and is on the board of the McCormick Family Foundation, Kline Foundation, Harristown Development Corporation, and United Way of the Capital Region.
Next Level Contracts
Cyber Age Ethics for Transactional Lawyers - Recording no longer available as of December 30, 2021
Lenné Eidson Espenschied has earned her status as one of the two most popular contract drafting speakers in the U.S. by continually striving for excellence and providing innovative, practical skills-based training for transactional lawyers. She practiced law in Atlanta, Georgia for 25 years, focusing on corporate and transactional representation of technology-based businesses. She is the author of two books published by the American Bar Association: Contract Drafting: Powerful Prose in Transactional Practice (ABA Fundamentals, 3rd Ed. 2019) and The Grammar and Writing Handbook for Lawyers (ABA Fundamentals, 2011). After graduating from the University of Georgia School of Law magna cum laude, Ms. Espenschied began her legal practice at a large international law firm; she also served as Senior Counsel in the legal department of Bank of America before eventually opening her own law office. As a law professor, Ms. Espenschied taught commercial law, contracts, and contract drafting. Her passion is helping lawyers acquire the skills they need to be successful in transactional practice.
Stoll Keenon Ogden
LLCs and Partnerships, Recent Trends
Tom is a Member in Stoll Keenon Ogden’s Louisville office and has been with the firm for nearly 30 years. Drawing on his experience gained from decades of contributions to the Businesses Services practice, coupled with a vibrant academic practice, Tom advises clients on all aspects of business entity organization, including related tax and securities laws, and disputes amongst business owners.
Tom’s work on behalf of his clients and the development of law generally has been oft recognized. In 2004 he was elected to membership in the American Law Institute. In 2016, he was appointed to one of the only 26 positions nationwide on the American Bar Association’s Committee on Corporate Laws. In 2017, Tom was named a Best Lawyers in America “Lawyer of the Year” in Corporate Governance Law, and in 2018 he received the Martin I. Lubaroff Award.
Tom is a prolific author on a variety of topics including the organization of limited liability companies, and various of his articles have been cited by courts in Kentucky, Florida, Delaware and by the 6th and the 7th Circuit Courts of Appeal. One of his articles was cited to the United States Supreme Court in an amicus brief filed by a group of business law professors in connection with the Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood cases decided in 2014. In 2018 he became a co-author of Ribstein and Keatinge on Limited Liability Companies.
In addition to his work on behalf of clients of Stoll Keenon Ogden, Tom serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Kentucky College of Law and regularly lectures at the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law.