The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) Elects Louis A. Mezzullo President and New Officers at Annual Meeting in Miami Beach

WASHINGTON, March 21, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), a prestigious association of highly-credentialed trust and estate lawyers peer-elected to membership, announced the 2012-2013 board and new fellows inaugurated during its annual meeting in Miami Beach, Florida. Candidates for election as an ACTEC Fellow must meet rigorous eligibility criteria including, but not limited to, demonstrated skill and significant contributions to the field of trust and estate law and no less than 10 years experience in the active private practice of probate and trust law or estate planning.

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The 2012-2013 officers will be chaired by President, Louis A. Mezzullo, a Partner with McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP. Based in Rancho Santa Fe, California, his principal areas of practice are Taxation, Estate and Business Succession Planning, and Employee Benefits. Widely published and a prolific speaker, Mezzullo frequently serves as an expert witness in matters related to estate, tax, and business planning and trust administration. During the annual meeting, he moderated the symposium, "Be Careful What You Wish For: The Pluses and Pitfalls Facing the Expert Witness."

"It is an honor to serve the College and to support the expansion of ACTEC's role educating the general public of the importance of estate planning for all families," said Mezzullo. "ACTEC fellows have exclusive access to the 'best and the brightest' trust and estate practitioners in the U.S. and abroad. By leveraging our network of Fellows, we can provide clients with unparalleled guidance on tax and non-tax issues, such as retirement planning."

Select professional activities for Mezzullo include: American Bar Association, Current Chair of the Chapter 14 Subcommittee of the Estate and Gift Taxes Committee of the ABA Section of Taxation and Past Chair of the ABA Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law; American College of Tax Counsel, Past Chair; International Academy of Estate and Trust Law, Academician and Vice President; and Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, Advisory Committee Member. Mezzullo received a J.D. from the University of RichmondSchool of Law and a M.A. from the University of Maryland.

In addition to Mezzullo, ACTEC's Board of Regents confirmed the election of the 2012-2013 officers, including;

• President-Elect: Duncan E. Osborne (Austin, Texas)
• Vice-President: Kathleen R. Sherby (St. Louis, Missouri)
• Treasurer: Bruce Stone (Coral Gables, Florida)
• Secretary: Cynda C. Ottaway (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma)
• Immediate Past President: Mary F. Radford (Atlanta, Georgia)

In another annual meeting highlight, the 2012 Joseph Trachtman Lecture, "Restating and Renewing the Law of Donative Transfers," was delivered jointly by two of the preeminent scholars in the field of trusts and estates, Professor Lawrence W. Waggoner (Lewis M. Simes Professor Emeritus of Law, University of MichiganLaw School, retired 2012) and Professor John H. Langbein (Sterling Professor of Law and Legal History, Yale Law School.)

As Reporter (Waggoner) and Associate Reporter (Langbein) for the recently-published Restatement of the Law Third, Property (Wills and Other Donative Transfers), the professors examined the traditional doctrines relating to nonprobate property and transfers by will and intestacy as well as modernized formulations of the laws relating to class gifts, powers of appointment, future interests and perpetuities. The lecture will be published in an upcoming issue of the ACTEC Law Journal.

For more information on The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, visit www.actec.org.

Contact:
Leah Weatherspoon
ACTEC Communications Director
lweatherspoon@actec.org
202.503.8528

SOURCE American College of Trust and Estate Counsel