Martin M. Shenkman, CPA, MBA, PFS, AEP (distinguished), JD, is an attorney in private practice in Fort Lee, New Jersey, and New York City, New York, with Shenkman Law. His practice focuses on estate and tax planning as well as planning for closely-held businesses and estate administration. Throughout his career, Mr. Shenkman received awards and acknowledgments from the New Jersey Bar Association, Worth Magazine, CPA Magazine, the American Cancer Society, and the AICPA. Mr. Shenkman holds a Bachelor of Science from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, an MBA from the University of Michigan, a law degree from Fordham University School of Law. He is admitted to the bar in New York, New Jersey, and Washington D.C.

Robert S. Keebler, CPA/PFS, MST, AEP (Distinguished), CGMA is a partner with Keebler & Associates, LLP, and the current chairman of the AICPA Advanced Estate Planning Conference. In 2007 he was inducted into the Estate Planning Hall of Fame of the National Association of Estate Planners & Councils. CPA Magazine has also named him one of the top 100 most influential practitioners in the United States and one of the top 40 tax advisors to know during a recession. His practice includes family wealth transfer and preservation planning, charitable giving, retirement distribution planning, and estate administration. 

Mr. Keebler frequently represents clients before the National Office of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in the private letter ruling process and estate, gift, and income tax examinations and appeals. He has received more than 200 favorable private letter rulings, including several key rulings of “first impression.” 

He is the author of over 100 articles and columns and is the editor, author, or co-author of many books and treatises on wealth transfer and taxation. Mr. Keebler has been a speaker at national estate planning and tax seminars for over 20 years, including the AICPA’s: Estate Planning, High Income, Advanced Financial Planning Conferences, ABA Conferences, NAPEC Conferences, The Notre Dame Estate Planning Conference, and the Heckerling Estate Planning Institute.

Professor Mitchell M. Gans is the Steven A. Horowitz distinguished professor in taxation at Hofstra University School of Law, and an Adjunct Professor of Law at NYU Law School. He is an Academic Fellow at ACTEC and is the Academic Editor of the ACTEC Journal. Professor Gans is a leading scholar in the estate-and-gift tax area, teaching courses for the IRS on estate and gift tax and valuation methodology. He is a frequent lecturer for ALI-ABA, NYU, ACTEC, the ABA, and other groups and has written numerous articles on estate tax planning topics.

Jonathan Blattmachr is a Principal in Pioneer’s estate planning advisory group. He brings over 35 years of experience in trusts and estates law. He is a retired member of Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy and the Alaska, California, and New York Bars. Jonathan has been recognized as one of the country’s most creative trusts and estates lawyers. He writes and lectures extensively on estate and trust taxation and charitable giving and has authored or co-authored six books and over 500 articles on estate planning topics. He has served as a lecturer-in-law of the Columbia University School of Law and as an Adjunct Professor of Law at New York University Law School in its Masters in Tax Program (LLM). He is a former chairperson of the Trusts & Estates Law Section of the New York State Bar Association and of several committees of the American Bar Association. Jonathan is a Fellow and a former Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and past chair of its Estate and Gift Tax Committee. Among professional activities, which are too numerous to list, Jonathan has served as an Advisor on The American Law Institute, Restatement of the Law, Trusts 3rd, and as a Fellow and Director of The New York Bar Foundation and as a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.

Jonathan graduated from Columbia University School of Law cum laude, where he was recognized as a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He received his A.B. degree from Bucknell University, majoring in mathematics. He served as an officer in the United States Army from 1970 to 1972 and was awarded the Army Commendation Medal.