Sally provides full service probate and estate planning work, helping individuals and families navigate the legal issues of death and incapacity. Beginning with estate planning for all ages, traditional, non-traditional, and blended families, working through the estate and trust administration process, guardian and conservator proceedings, contested matters (litigation) and all the way through the appellate process, Sally can work with you in resolving your issues. She is also a court approved mediator with enhanced experience in probate matters. In addition to her probate and estate planning work, Sally is a Certified Professional Coach, and provides Executive Coaching Services on a one-on-one basis, as well as in a corporate setting. She recently completed a post-graduate certificate in Forensic Psychology from San Diego State University and published a book, “When the Gloves Come Off: Why America’s Families Are Fighting in Court,” which is available on both Bookbaby.com and Amazon. http://bookbaby.com
Sally has served as president of the Greater Lansing Estate Planning and Probate Council, past board member of the Women Lawyer’s Association, adjunct professor at Thomas M. Cooley Law School and Baker College, and was named as one of Lawyer’s Weekly’s Up and Coming Lawyers.
Currently she serves as a board member of the Resolution Services Center of Central Michigan, a past board member of St. Luke Lutheran Church, a past board member of the Eaton Rapids Medical Center Foundation, a member of the Eaton County Bar Association and recent outgoing Co-Chair of the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the Ingham County Bar Association, the State Bar of Michigan’s Appellate Section, Agricultural Law Section, Alternative Dispute Resolution Section, and Probate and Estate Planning Section, and the American Agricultural Law Association where she was a returning speaker at the 2016 Annual Symposium. In November, 2017, she was one of 9 Lansing area women selected to participate in the American Cancer Society’s Power in Purple Campaign where she pledged to wear purple every day of the month and to raise at least $2500 in donations. She earned a certificate from the Institute of Continuing Legal Education in Probate and Estate Planning and frequently speaks and publishes on estate and probate topics. Sally was recently interviewed for the Michigan Lawyers Weekly in the article, “Staying out of Trouble.”
Her recent speaking engagements include:
- Spoke to the Delta/Waverly Rotary Club about her book and related topics on Tuesday, May 17th, 2022
- Testified in front of the House Judiciary Committee regarding proposed legislation to amend the Estates and Protected Individuals Code; September 15, 2020
- Testified as an Expert Witness in a Jury Trial Regarding Breach of Fiduciary Duty of a Trustee, November, 2017;
- Keynote Speaker: Business and Professional Women Meeting, September 16, 2019;
- Presented: ICBA Probate and Estate Planning Section, speaking on Probate Litigation, February 21, 2017, at Cooley Law Center in Lansing, MI;
- Presented: Trust Basics and Planned Giving to the planned giving department at Albion College on April 24, 2019;
- Attended the annual ICLE Probate and Estate Planning Institute in Acme, MI May 19th-21st, 2022.