Our Firm Is Built On A History Of Success

Founding attorney A. Franklin Berry Jr. started his career as a tax specialist with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). After serving as in-house counsel for several organizations – being licensed to practice in Kentucky, Florida, Georgia and Washington, D.C. – Mr. Berry entered private practice as a solo practitioner in the town in which he grew up: Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Mr. Berry quickly established a reputation as an astute estate and tax planner, regionally and nationally. In 2002, he was elected as a Fellow in the American College of Estates and Trust Counsel (ACTEC), and in 2004, he was elected as a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel (ACTC).  Mr. Berry was included in Kentucky Super Lawyers in estate planning from 2007, the first year of the honor’s inception, until his retirement.

In 2016, Mr. Berry asked Stephanie McGehee-Shacklette, an experienced estate planner, to join his practice. Mr. Berry says, “I found in Stephanie someone to whom I could turn over my practice – someone I trusted to treat my clients with the same compassion, empathy and diligence to which my clients had become accustomed.”

In 2017, Mr. Berry did what he advises his clients to do – he retired! Franklin and his wife of 46 years, Mary Ann, (pictured above) moved to Portland, Oregon, where his daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren live. Franklin and Mary Ann are now enjoying their “golden years” spending time with their family and traveling as much as they can.