VANANTWERP ATTORNEYS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Member of the Kentucky Bar and a 2016 Graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law
Alexis Gonzalez is a member of the Kentucky Bar and a 2016 graduate of the University of Kentucky College of Law. Alexis recently joined the Ashland community and is actively seeking opportunities to join and contribute to the local area. In law school, Alexis served as Executive Editor of the Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture, and Natural Resources Law and Treasurer of the Latino Law Society. Alexis also worked with the Lexington community through Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Bluegrass by serving as a Big Brother. Alexis is from Elizabethtown, Kentucky and graduated from Western Kentucky University, summa cum laude, in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism. While in undergraduate, Alexis worked with WKU's award-winning student paper, the College Heights Herald, as Managing Editor. Following graduation, Alexis also worked as a Copy Editor at the Owensboro-Messenger Inquirer in Owensboro, Kentucky.
Job Titles:
- Member and Former President
Job Titles:
- Member of the Kentucky Bar and a 2021 Graduate of the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law
Brent M. House is a member of the Kentucky Bar and a 2021 graduate of the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenberg College of Law. Brent is a native of Eastern Kentucky and is excited to join and contribute to the local community. While in law school, Brent was a member of the Kentucky Journal of Equine, Agriculture and Natural Resources Law, a published member of the Election Law Society and held multiple positions on the Executive Board of the Federalist Society.
Kim was selected to serve as one of only eight individuals in Kentucky as an Executive Board Member of Shaping our Appalachian Region, Inc. (SOAR). She also assisted with the business organization and formation of SOAR as a legal entity. Kim's primary areas of practice involve representing large and small size manufacturers and businesses, which may include business organization, real estate, personal property, banking, lending, tax, economic development incentives, energy, oil and gas, franchises, government relations, and ownership transfers. In the oil and gas area, Kim has represented clients regarding pipeline locations, leases, mineral fee interests, escrows, title disputes, eminent domain, ownership analysis and royalty disputes. She has also litigated business and real estate related matters throughout eastern Kentucky and before the Kentucky Court of Appeals and Supreme Court of Kentucky.
Lance McComis has provided guidance in trusts and estates since 1999. Lance concentrates his practice in the area of estate planning, estate and trust administration, real estate and business transactions.
Prior to joining VanAntwerp Attorneys, LLP, Lance served as in-house Trust Counsel and Vice President of a large regional bank with assets in excess of one billion dollars. That experience provides Lance with a unique perspective that he uses when drafting estate planning which results in cost savings to his clients and more effectively addresses their concerns.
Lance advises individuals in all areas of wealth management, including federal gift and estate tax planning, charitable gifting, generation skipping tax planning, asset protection planning and business succession planning. Lance has worked with clients on estates of all sizes from the modest to the very large and complex. Lance recently completed an estate plan for a client with an estate of over $30 million.
Utilizing a team approach with financial planners, wealth advisors, insurance agents and accountants, Lance takes a comprehensive approach to preparing estate plans for his clients. Lance customizes each estate plan to the unique goals of the client, structuring each one to minimize the impact of probate and taxes on the estate as well as to address the specific circumstances of the clients. Lance drafts many documents for clients including wills, powers of attorney, advanced health care directives, special needs trusts, living trusts, irrevocable trusts, family limited partnerships and charitable trusts.
Throughout the probate and estate administration process, Lance assists and guides clients through court appearances, filing required documentation and reports, creditor negotiations, distribution of assets, and filing of estate, inheritance and final income tax returns.
Lance has extensive experience working with both fiduciaries and beneficiaries on modification and termination of trusts under the Uniform Trust Code. Lance advocates for his clients using various methods of resolution for trust and estate disputes, including drafting private settlement agreements as well as estate and trust litigation. Lance represents both plaintiffs and defendants in estate litigation and recently represented plaintiffs in a complex multi-million dollar will contest action, which was resolved favorably for his client.
In commercial transactions, Lance represents clients in the sale and acquisition of existing businesses as well as the formation and dissolution of both for-profit and non-profit companies. Lance advises both individual and business clients on structuring entities for purposes of wealth transfer, business succession and asset protection. Lance implements entities such as Limited Liability Companies, S-Corporations, C-Corporations, trusts and both limited and general partnerships to accomplish clients' goals.
Lance has litigation experience in trust and estate challenges, corporate matters and real estate disputes.
Drawing upon her extensive labor and employment experience, Leigh has developed a strong human resources consulting practice. She teams with her clients to identify and prevent problems in the workplace before they arise. She has worked closely with her clients during COVID-19 to guide them through complex issues related to leave and accommodations. Other services to employers include developing employee handbooks and policies, conducting supervisory harassment training, counseling to avoid whistle-blowing and wage and hour claims, conducting harassment investigations, defending unemployment claims, and providing legal advice on employment laws such as the FMLA, Title VII, ADA and ADEA. Applying her experience with these workplace problems, she has developed a human resources law training program and is regularly requested to present those topics to HR managers throughout Kentucky.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Kentucky Bar
Olivia H. Gilkison is a member of the Kentucky Bar and a December 2017 graduate of Salmon P. Chase College of Law. Olivia is a native of Eastern Kentucky, and is excited to join and contribute to the local Ashland area.
Olivia is from Allen, Kentucky and graduated from the University of Pikeville, summa cum laude, in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology. While there, she contributed to research projects, and was the Vice President of the Pre-Professional Club.
Sean M. Whitt's practice is heavily devoted to litigation. He practices before multiple state and federal courts in Kentucky. He has argued cases before the Kentucky Court of Appeals and the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit on matters involving industrial personal injuries and health care breaches of contract. Sean has been involved in many jury trials, administrative hearings, arbitrations, and mediations.
Sean's practice has primarily involved matters of personal injury due to motor vehicle accidents, industrial accidents, medical malpractice, and premises liability for both plaintiffs and defendants. Additionally, Sean represents multiple banking institutions in lender disputes and commercial transactions, industrial manufacturers in construction disputes, interstate fuel and lubricants suppliers, insurance defense assignments and several Boards of Education throughout Eastern Kentucky.
In the area of personal injury litigation, Sean has defended several personal injury and wrongful death claims on behalf of industrial manufacturers where employees of contractors were injured. In these cases, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration was involved and the Plaintiffs were seeking millions of dollars in recovery. Likewise, Sean has defended physicians and medical centers for alleged medical malpractice. For a plaintiff, Sean recently litigated and settled a medical malpractice case where a surgeon and medical center left an operative sponge in the plaintiff's abdomen.
Mitchell Hall devotes his practice to defending businesses, employers, and insurance carriers throughout eastern Kentucky. An AV rated attorney by his clients and peers, Mitch has tried over 25 cases to jury verdict and has successfully defended hundreds of administrative hearings. He has argued appeals before the Sixth Circuit and Kentucky's appellate courts. His clients include the region's largest hospital, Fortune 500 industrial facilities, financial institutions, a large regional wholesale distribution company, local school boards, and healthcare professionals.
Mitch has tried medical liability, employment, transportation, commercial, and premises liability cases to verdict throughout Eastern Kentucky. His labor and employment practice includes representing companies in union negotiations, labor arbitrations, and contested proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and the Kentucky Commission on Human Rights.
Mitch's roots run deep in eastern Kentucky, as he was raised in Morehead, with family history in Johnson and Magoffin Counties. Mitch obtained his undergraduate degree from Davidson College and graduated from the University of Kentucky College of Law as a member of the Order of the Coif in 1991.
Mitch is a past President of the Kentucky Defense Counsel, where he co-founded and served as Editor of Common Defense, a nationally recognized defense publication for which the organization was awarded DRI's Outstanding Achievement Award. He currently is representing his Supreme Court District as a member of the Kentucky Bar Association's Board of Governors and previously served as Chair of the KBA's CLE Commission. He is a former President of the Kentucky Council of School Board Attorneys and a member of the Kentucky Supreme Court Civil Justice Reform Commission. He is also a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, where he currently chairs the Healthcare Section. An avid golfer, Mitch coached the Ashland Blazer High School Golf Team from 2013-2017 and also coached the high school's Mock Trial Team from 2002- 2019. He is on the Board of Directors for the Highlands Museum and Discovery in Ashland. He is a board member of the Ashland Alliance and serves as an elder of his church.
Bill is an AV® Rated, Martindale-Hubbell® attorney. When Bill joined the firm, he had the privilege of practicing with Robert T. Caldwell who had represented the U.S. steel industry at the League of Nations. Bill has built on the firm's rich heritage of representing manufacturers and businesses in a broad range of matters. By way of example, for the past 25 years, Bill has provided a broad range of services to a European manufacturer which has built one of the Commonwealth's major manufacturing facilities on a Greenfield site with an investment of more than $3 billion. Bill represents clients in matters before the Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (Air, Waste, Water) and the Cabinet for Economic Development (KBI, KIRA, IRB, Tax Abatement) with clients having received more than $70,000,000 in economic development incentives. Bill has also served as a registered legislative agent in the Kentucky General Assembly concerning legislation of importance to clients.
Bill has appeared before the Supreme Court of the United States on two occasions as well as represented clients in federal and state courts and in administrative hearings before administrative agencies.
Bill has also twice served as a Special Justice of the Supreme Court of Kentucky as well having served in the past on the Governor's Air Quality Task Force and the Governor's Labor Management Advisory Council.