And, The Winner Is . . .And, The Winner Is . . .

Michael O. Hartz is Co-Head of the Chicago Trusts and Estates Practice. Mr. Hartz concentrates his practice in estate planning and his clients consist primarily of successful family business owners who are high net-worth individuals.

Mr. Hartz has written numerous articles on tax and estate planning matters for publications, including the Journal of Taxation and TAXES. He is a member of the Board of Estate Planning and Taxation for Trusts & Estates as well as a Fellow of the American College of Trusts and Estates Counsel. A speaker and panelist at numerous estate planning, tax and retirement seminars, Mr. Hartz is also a former adjunct professor in the LLM in Taxation program at the John Marshall School of Law. He has been listed in Illinois Super Lawyers (2007–2013) and in The Best Lawyers in America (2008–2013).

Mr. Hartz received his BA from Kalamazoo College, his JD from the University of Detroit School of Law, and an LLM in taxation from the University of Florida.

Thomas Opferman is a member of SNR Denton's National Trusts and Estates practice and served as its chair from 1989 to 2006. He is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a member of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee and Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations Committee. He is a member of the editorial advisory board of Trusts & Estates magazine and serves as co-chair of its Estate Planning & Taxation Committee. Thomas is an adjunct professor at Northwestern University School of Law, where he teaches estate planning in the graduate tax program. He has served as an adjunct professor in the graduate tax program at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, where he taught estate planning for LL.M. candidates. He previously served as a member of the board of directors of Bishop Anderson Institute and a founding member and director of the Heartland Literary Society.

Thomas currently is general counsel for Episcopal Charities and Community Services (ECCS) and previously served as a trustee and vice president of finance of ECCS. He also served as a trustee of the Regenstein Foundation. Thomas serves on the Chicago Symphony Orchestra Planned Giving Advisory Council and the Ravinia Festival Association Planned Giving Advisory Committee. He previously served on the Northwestern University Estate Planning Advisory Council and The Art Institute of Chicago Gift Planning Advisory Committee. He has served as a lecturer and author for the Practicing Law Institute, the ALI-ABA, the Notre Dame Tax and Estate Planning Institute, the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education, the American Bankers Association National Graduate Trust School, the Chicago-Kent Federal Tax Institute, the Illinois Bankers Association Trust and Investment Management School, the National CLE Conference on Estate Planning and other professional organizations on the subjects of the generation-skipping transfer tax, marital trust funding, income taxation of trusts and estates, charitable giving and other subjects. He is a past chair of Division A of the Federal Tax Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and is active in the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, Estate and Gift Tax Committee.

A partner with Stinson LLP in its St. Louis office, Mr. Redd concentrates his practice in estate planning, estate and trust administration and estate and trust-related litigation. Mr. Redd is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and currently teaches as an adjunct professor at Northwestern Law. He was a contributing author to Adams, 21st Century Estate Planning: Practical Applications (Cannon Financial Institute, 2002). Mr. Redd received his J.D. from Saint Louis University.