Dan is a fellow, Regent, and past Tennessee State Chair of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) and serves on the ACTEC Charitable Planning and Exempt Organizations Committee.
He is a member of the Knoxville, Tennessee, and Florida Bar Associations, The National Lawyers Association, and the Christian Legal Society.
Dan served on the Tennessee Probate Study Group from 1986 to 2008, a joint ACTEC and Tennessee Bar committee responsible for reviewing and drafting proposed state laws regarding estates, trusts, property, and inheritance, including related tax laws.
He is a past president of the Knoxville Estate Planning Council and was an adjunct professor at the University of Tennessee College of Law in 1998.
Dan is involved with numerous local and national charities, and is a director or pro bono advisor for selected charities. He was awarded the Knoxville Bar Association annual Pro Bono award in 1991.
Dan is also a fellow of the Knoxville Bar Foundation and was in the Leadership Knoxville Class of 2002.
Writing
From 2000 to 2012, Dan authored a regular column on estate planning in theTennessee Bar Journal after having published other articles therein.
In 2001, Dan won the Tennessee Bar Association annual Justice Henry award for Outstanding Legal Writing for his column "Top 10 Rules for Estate Planning in Tennessee After Tax Reform," Tennessee Bar Journal (August 2001).
Other publications include:
Griswold et al., "Big Changes to Tennessee's Uniform Trust Code: 10 Things You Should Know", 49 TENN. BAR J. 20 (December 2013).
"The Dying Art of Will-Writing," Dicta (Knoxville Bar Association) (November 1996).
"Two-Year Overlapping GRATS Can Maximize the Benefits of Split Interest Transfers," Journal of Taxation (March 1993).
"Layered Zeroed-Out GRATS," ACTEC Notes (Winter 1992).
Speaking
Dan has spoken at various local, state, and national meetings and remains an occasional lecturer to both professional and lay groups on estate planning topics.
Personal
Dan married his junior high school sweetheart, and they have two sons and four grandchildren. He enjoys endurance running, having finished the Western States 100 Mile Trail Race at age 61, and can frequently be found on the trails of East Tennessee's parks.
Distinctions
Listed among "101 Best Lawyers in Tennessee" in 2004 and "150 Best Lawyers in Tennessee," 2005 through 2010, Business Tennessee Magazine
Named 2012 "Lawyer of the Year" for Trusts and Estates - Knoxville, by Best Lawyers in America®
Listed in Best Lawyers in America® since 1989 for Trusts and Estates, and more recently for Nonprofit Law
Listed in Tennessee Super Lawyers for estate planning and for nonprofit law
Listed in Mid-South Super Lawyers for Estate Planning
fellow and Regent, American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC)
Certified Estate Planning Law Specialist (EPLS) by the NAEPC Estate Law Specialist Board, Inc.
Master of the Bench, Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court
