Meeting Notes

Roy Abramowitz, CPA, CFP, Shareholder, Perkins and Co.

Roy has been with the firm since 1987 and is a former leader of its Legacy Planning Practice Group.  He is a seasoned tax professional specializing in income, estate, retirement and charitable tax planning for wealthy individuals and families.  He also has significant experience with succession, transaction, and entity planning for family-owned businesses and is the firm’s representative for the Family Firm Institute.  In addition to Legacy Planning, he serves many clients in the nonprofit sector and is and is a member of the firm’s Nonprofit Practice Group.

Amy Kutzkey, CPA, Tax Senior Manager, Perkins and Co.

Amy joined the Perkins and Co tax department in January 2015, after relocating from the Los Angeles, California area.  She brings with her 15 years of public accounting experience and is a member of the firm’s Legacy Planning Practice Group.  Amy started her career working with high net worth individuals and their related companies, giving her insight into the family dynamics that come along with owning family businesses.  She has experience with family groups, high net worth individuals, closely held businesses, trusts, private foundations, family offices, and ultimately their estates.

Meeting Notes

Think white collar crime can’t happen to you or your clients? Think again! Tiffany R. Couch, CPA/CFF, CFE will provide you the technical knowledge you need to understand typical fraud schemes, red flags of fraud, and the prevalence of these crimes on small business, non-profits and at-risk members of our society. From there, the discussion will include preservation of both electronic and physical evidence; the pros and cons of pursuing criminal charges; and understanding how a strong insurance claim can recoup your client’s funds quickly. Ms. Couch will also touch on easy and cost-effective fraud prevention tools – helping you add value to your client before a fraud happens to them. Key points will be highlighted by stories of actual fraud investigations and the action steps that produced desirable outcomes.

Tiffany is Principal at Acuity Forensics, a Pacific Northwest forensics accounting firm with a national presence. She has more than 18 years of experience in the field of accounting, with the last 11 years focused completely on forensic accounting related engagements. Her expertise is in matters involving fraud investigation, forensic accounting, contract and regulatory compliance, internal control risk assessment, and complex litigation. Ms. Couch is the winner of the 2014 James R. Baker Speaker of the Year, presented by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) to honor an individual who has demonstrated the true spirit of leadership in communication, presentation and quality instruction. She also serves as Vice Chair on the Board of Regents and is a faculty member for the ACFE, the world’s largest anti-fraud organization and the premier provider of anti-fraud training and education.

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Gene Christian is considered one of the region’s foremost authorities in the fields of planned giving and advancement.  He regularly contributes to regional and national publications and presents at conferences all over the U.S.  He works with many organizations by conducting visioning and strategic planning sessions.  He received his Bachelor’s degree from George Fox University and a Master’s in Education from the University of California at San Diego.

In 2014 Gene received the “Distinguished Service Award” from the NW Planned Giving Roundtable for his exemplary service and commitment to the planned giving community.

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Judge Robert Lewis is a graduate of Western Washington State College and the University of Washington Law School.  After admission to the Washington State Bar in October, 1981, he worked for Eastside Defender Association in Seattle as a trial attorney. Judge Lewis practiced law in Camas from 1984-2004 with the firm of Knapp, O’Dell, Lewis and MacPherson. Although the firm was a typical small town general practice, his primary focus was criminal defense and family law.  He was appointed to the superior court bench in November, 2004.

Meeting Notes

Bob Kabacy, Director

Bill Roller, Technical Assistance

Come learn how Hollywood uses estate planning to create drama!  By watching and learning about certain estate planning issues in the movies, you will better understand how your clients perceive issues and what hot buttons exist in planning.  While the movies may be fictional, some of the stories reflect real life and situations we may run across as professionals.  Issue spotting and discussion about wills, trusts, conditional gifts, ethics and more will be presented in an entertaining and novel format.  Don’t miss it.

Meeting Notes

Philip N. Jones is admitted to practice law in Oregon and Washington. Since 1976, he has been with the firm of Duffy Kekel LLP, with offices in Portland and Vancouver. Mr. Jones practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, estate and trust administration and taxation, and estate and trust litigation. He is a member of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and the Estate Planning Council of Portland. For twenty years he served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at Lewis & Clark Law School, where he taught Estate & Gift Taxation and Federal Tax Procedure. He is also the author of numerous articles in the Journal of Taxation and other publications.

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Stephen Lerch is the executive director of the Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.

Previously, he has worked as an economist and researcher on public finance and health care issues in government (U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Taxation; Washington State Department of Revenue) and the private sector (HCIA-Sachs/Solucient).

He has also previously served as an interim director for the Economic and Revenue Forecast Council.

Most recently, he held the position of Research Director at the Washington State Investment Board. He has a Ph.D. in economics from Johns Hopkins University.

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Paris Powell is a business valuation senior manager at Perkins & Company, an accounting firm in Portland, Oregon.  She oversees and plans valuation engagements, supervises staff, and assists in management of the business valuation department.  Ms. Powell has experience providing valuation services for business succession, litigation support, mergers and acquisitions, and estate planning purposes.  Her experience also includes tax advisory services, research, and review of tax returns for a variety of business clients and individuals.

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As the founder of Genesis Mediation, Dr. Randall Kinnison brings over thirty years of experience in mediation, coaching, counseling and helping families cope with difficult life issues.  Dr. Kinnison understands family and system dynamics and the underlying root causes of conflict.  He uses compassion and professional expertise to help families or businesses pinpoint problem areas, find common ground and form positive plans of action to move forward.

Dr. Kinnison has led or established non-profits over three decades.  He understands the dynamics between boards, management, staff, and customers.  He teaches conflict management skills and interoffice communication.  He assists in succession planning in sole proprietorship, family business or partnerships.  He has expertise in productivity, leadership, and building consensus. He assists in the forming of partnerships and family businesses as well as dissolutions.  He works with small and mid-sized businesses, non-profits and corporations.

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Bill Zook is a Vice President of PG Calc Incorporated, having joined its predecessor entity, Planned Giving Services, in 1996.  His background encompasses not only the practice of law but also significant involvement in the public and nonprofit sectors, dating back over 40 years.

A member of the Washington State Bar Association, Bill is a 1985 graduate of the University of Washington School of Law.  He earned his B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Virginia in 1979.  Prior to becoming a consultant, Bill practiced estate planning law, and he has considerable experience in the nonjudicial resolution of disputes, primarily through mediation and arbitration.

In the more than 15 years Bill has been a planned giving consultant, he has helped to establish dozens of charitable remainder trusts, along with charitable gift annuities, charitable bequests, and other gift arrangements.  In addition, he has counseled the firm’s clients – a diverse group of charities, including some of the nation’s most widely recognized institutions – regarding the operation of their planned giving programs.

Bill frequently speaks on charitable estate planning and related topics.  He has also contributed many articles for Planned Giving Today, and he was on the National Board of Gift-Planning Consultants for its sister publication, Planned Giving Mentor.  Moreover, he is the principal author of portions of Charitable Gift Annuities: The Complete Resource Manual.  Bill is a member of the Seattle Estate Planning Council and the Partnership for Philanthropic Planning (formerly the National Committee on Planned Giving), and he is a past president of the Washington Planned Giving Council.