Kenneth F. Lorch concentrates his practice in business and financial planning, estate administration and estate litigation. He previously was a partner in the estate planning group of Wildman, Harrold, Allen & Dixon, LLP.

Ken speaks frequently about topics relative to business succession planning and received the Chicago Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division’s David C. Hilliard Award for outstanding service to the legal profession and community. He has served on the boards of the Anti-Defamation League, the American Society of the Technion, the Council for Jewish Elderly and the Chicago Council on Planned Giving. In 2005 and 2006, Law & Politics and Chicago Magazine named Ken one of Illinois’ “Super Lawyers” in the area of Trusts and Estates. He is a member of the professional advisory committees of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Ken is an active member of the Chicago Bar Association, serving on the Probate Practice Committee Rules and Forms Committee and its Trust Law Committee. He also belongs to the Chicago Estate Planning Council.

Ken received his J.D. from The John Marshall Law School in 1976 and his bachelor’s degree from Washington University in 1973. He was admitted as an Illinois Certified Public Accountant in 1978.

William J. Fairbanks concentrates his practice in the areas of estate planning, trust and estate administration, and fiduciary and individual income taxation. His estate planning practice focuses on tax advantaged preservation and transfers of wealth and business succession planning. Trust and estate administration includes probate court practice and close coordination with fiduciaries, beneficiaries, investment managers, and accountants. His fiduciary and income tax work complements the other areas of his practice.

He is a member of the Illinois State Bar Association and the Leading Lawyers Network. He is a past committee chair at the Chicago Bar Association and an author for the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education. Previously, Bill was a partner in the trusts and estates group at Seyfarth Shaw LLP. He received his J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law in 1978 and his bachelor's degree from Brown University in 1974.

Bill has served for many years on the board of directors of Thresholds and in the past has served as a director and as President of the boards of Montgomery Place and The Church Home.

Afton L. Gauron concentrates her practice in estate planning, probate and family law. She advises clients in many areas of estate, probate and family law, including wealth management, tax planning, charitable planning, trust administration, probate, guardianship, contested estate and trust litigation, educational savings techniques, transactional and real estate matters, premarital agreements and family law matters.

Afton is a member of the American Bar Association, the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Estate Planning Council. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2002 and her bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga University in 1994.

Ryan A. Walsh advises individuals, families, business owners, and financial institutions on a range of estate planning, trust, and tax matters. He also has significant experience with trust and estate administration, preparation of estate, gift, and fiduciary income tax returns, real estate transactions, contested estate and trust litigation, trust reformation proceedings, probate and guardianship matters, and representation of clients before the Internal Revenue Service.

Ryan is a member of the Chicago Estate Planning Council, the American Bar Association (Section of Taxation and Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law), the Illinois State Bar Association (Federal Taxation Section Council and Trusts and Estates Section), the Chicago Bar Association (Trust Law Committee and Chair of the YLS Estate Planning Committee), and the American Cancer Society Planned Giving Sub-Committee. Ryan has lectured on various estate planning topics and provides regular updates on Illinois and federal case law and legislation. He assisted in the publication of the chapter entitled “Charitable Giving With Retirement Plan Assets” in the Illinois Institute of Continuing Legal Education manual entitled "Retirement Benefit Issues in Estate Planning".

Ryan is licensed to practice law in the State of Illinois and the State of Florida, and before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Ryan received his B.S. from the University of Notre Dame in 1997 and his J.D., magna cum laude, from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in 2006, where he was a staff editor of the Loyola University Chicago Consumer Law Review.

Joyce Raz has focused her professional career in all facets of trust and estate administration. Joyce began her career as an accountant and became an estate planning and probate paralegal with Holleb & Coff in 1994. She joined Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon when Ken Lorch joined the estate planning group at that firm. Joyce joined Hamilton Thies Lorch & Hagnell when the firm began its practice in 2005.

Joyce has had extensive experience in matters relating to the administration of estates, including the preparation of Federal Estate and gift tax returns and fiduciary income tax returns, preparation of court documents related to estate and trust administration, including accountings for court and client presentation. Joyce has studied extensively through Continuing Legal Education courses and her background in accounting is extremely valuable to the firm’s clients.

Melissa Patti focuses her professional career in corporate and real estate law. She has worked at Winston & Strawn, LLP and First Health Group Corporation. In 1999, Melissa joined Wildman Harrold Allen & Dixon, LLP as its primary corporate paralegal. Melissa’s extensive experience in corporate transactions includes assistance with mergers and acquisitions, secured lending and maintenance of corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships.

Melissa graduated from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale with a Bachelor’s Degree in paralegal studies. Melissa’s expertise in corporate transactions adds substantially to the firm’s ability to provide high quality service to those clients for whom closely held entities are an integral part of their estate planning and business planning.