Education: Stratford High School, Houston TX; BA, Vanderbilt University, 1994; Juris Doctor, Chicago-Kent College of Law, 2009.
Memberships: Illinois State Bar Association, Chicago Bar Association.
Born and raised in Texas, I had an interest in estates and trust work even when I was young. I was the only child of only children. My dad was an amateur historian and kept copious mementos of the family’s lineage and treasured the prospect of passing them through me to later generations. Thus the seed of passing on one’s heritage to later generations was planted very early. At the same time, I saw a number of instances in my extended family of poorly planned estates, where family members squabbled over inheritance both in and out of court. As I was looking toward law school, I knew that I would enjoy helping others plan their estates so that they could avoid the issues I had witnessed.
Before I applied to law school, my law partner Joe was a friend at our Buddhist temple, so I went to him for advice as I applied. Joe knew about my teaching background and encouraged me to use my teaching skills instead. I didn’t listen. During my first summer after law school, my clerking jobs didn’t fill up the work week and I asked Joe if I could help out a little at his office. He agreed and, before the summer was over, he asked me to “partner up” after my graduation. I couldn’t ask for a better legal mentor than Joe and our clients certainly can’t do better than him either.
You can email Kurt by clicking here.