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Overview

The co-leader of the firm’s Private Wealth practice, Chris concentrates on sophisticated estate planning, business succession planning and tax planning for high net worth clients and business owners.

Chris is a leading estate planning attorney who has built a truly national practice stretching from coast to coast. Many of the clients he serves have a net worth that often reaches ten figures, and a number are found on the Forbes 400 list and include professional athletes, professional sports team owners, entertainers and owners of large closely held businesses. These are individuals who have truly lived the American dream, and Chris values the opportunity to work with and learn from them.

A successful businessman himself, Chris owns multiple financial services businesses, as well as real estate across the country—a position that means he understands firsthand the challenges and complexities of managing both companies and properties, and he readily identifies with clients’ goals and desires for their own businesses. He also holds a Certified Public Accountant certificate and has extensive experience in federal transfer taxation and various income tax and estate planning techniques. He regularly provides on-going business counseling and guidance to many families and family businesses.

In addition to the services he provides to clients, Chris is a highly sought-after speaker in the world of high net worth estate planning and has delivered more than 200 presentations nationwide to attorneys, accountants, financial service professionals and business owners. A nationally recognized authority on strategies for such sophisticated estates, Chris often addresses exclusive Tiger 21 chapters in various cities, an organization of which he himself is a member.

Chris is deeply passionate about his purpose-driven practice and its long-term impact. He knows clients are often just as concerned about passing on values as they are about passing on wealth, and he aims to help families ensure that future generations understand the function of their inheritance. Chris works with clients to develop plans and strategies that foster financial literacy in the next generation, impart the family history and document the purpose of the family wealth.

In Chris’s client-focused practice, he measures the success of his day by whether he’s helped a family. He often serves individuals and their families for decades, and he truly loves working alongside clients as a long-term partner and family friend.

Industry

Service

Recognition

  • AzBusiness, Top 100 Lawyers in Arizona, 2023
  • The Best Lawyers In America®
    • Trusts and Estates, 2007-2025
  • Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent
  • Thomson Reuters' Missouri & Kansas Super Lawyers, Estate Planning & Probate, 2005, 2008-2009
  • Thomson Reuters' Southwest Super Lawyers, 2016
  • St. Louis Business Journal, “40 Under 40,” 2001
  • St. Louis Business Journal, Most Influential Leaders, 2004, 2005

Education

  • J.D., Saint Louis University School of Law
    • cum laude
    • Order of the Woolsack
    • Saint Louis University Law Journal
  • B.S.B.A., Washington University in St. Louis
    • summa cum laude

Admissions

  • Arizona
  • U.S. Tax Court
  • Illinois
  • Missouri
  • Texas

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Central Arizona Estate Planning Council
  • Estate Planning Council of Saint Louis, Formerly Board of Directors Member
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • The Missouri Bar
  • State Bar of Arizona
  • State Bar of Texas