Attorneys
Joseph C. Kempe, Esq., is the principal of the Firm. Though a general practice Firm, Mr. Kempe’s practice is centered on complex estate and business planning. He is double board certified in wills, trusts, and estates and tax law under Florida’s Certification program of specialists. He has held those designations since 1989. He is also rated a preeminent attorney under Martindale Hubbell’s directory of tax law and estate planning attorneys and is rated within Super Lawyers. The Firm’s representative clients include retired Fortune 500 executives, political leaders and their families, entertainers and athletes, international businessmen and women, numerous charities and private foundations, and various multistate businesses.
Mr. Tassell joined the Firm in the year 2001, from Brookmyer, Hochman, Probst & Tassell, P.A., a Palm Beach Gardens firm, where he was a shareholder. Mr. Tassell maintains a practice focusing in the areas of real estate, both residential and commercial, condominium development, the acquisition and sale of businesses, negotiation and preparation of contracts, and counseling clients concerning various business issues, including the areas of employment, shareholder relations, entity formation, and finance. Mr. Tassell is a title agent for Attorney’s Title Insurance Fund, Inc., and Chicago Title Insurance Company and is President of the title insurance affiliate of the Firm, Counselor’s Title Company.
Mrs. Poncy joined the Firm in 2011 and heads our Bioethics and Health Care Advocacy Department. Our Bioethics and Health Care Advocacy department offers representation to families, hospitals, trust companies, assisted living facilities, and physicians concerning the legal consequences of health care and end of life decisions. These bioethical decisions have become fraught with legal consequence and conflict, and we have found that legal and medical guidance is often required and very welcome by our clients, their families, their physicians, and health care institutions. At its very basic level, it furthers our ability to help our clients deal with advance directives concerning their health care, assisted living arrangements, and end of life decisions. Most importantly, legal counsel on these subjects secures the clear wishes of our clients and avoids family conflict and potential litigation between family members and health care providers.
Mr. Kempe joined us in February, 2017 after completion of his post doctorate studies at the University of San Diego School of Law, where he obtained his LL.M. degree in tax law. While there he completed the paper, Trustee Grant of Power, A Simpler Approach to Modifying GST Exempt Trusts, which is out for publication:
Ms. Lazarchick is a Jupiter, Florida native and has practiced in Palm Beach County since 2007. She began her career as an associate attorney with the litigation firm, Roberts, Reynolds, Bedard & Tuzzio , which was followed by four years of trial practice with Rosenbaum Mollengarden Janssen & Siracusa. Thereafter she became a partner in Janssen & Siracusa, P.A., where she participated in all phases of diverse litigation and trial practice. Most recently Ms. Lazarchick was a member of the litigation department of Ciklin Lubitz & O’Connell, where her practice focused on probate and trust litigation.
Mr. Avery joined us in the Spring of 2009 to head our Litigation Department and as a member of our Business Counsel Department. John is known as an aggressive litigator that gets to the point early in a case. Mr. Avery graduated the University of Florida in 1966 with a B.A. degree. He was also awarded a Law degree from UF in 1970. He was admitted into the U.S. District Court in 1972. Mr. Avery was a criminal prosecutor for Palm Beach County in the 1970s, but pursued a civil litigation career.
Ms. Mochegova joined us in 2016 from the Durham, NC law firm of Stubbs, Cole, Breedlove, Prentis & Briggs, where she was an associate attorney in the real estate, estate planning and administration departments of the firm. Prior to her practice there, she was a legal extern with the United States Attorney’s Office. A graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, Chapel Hill, Ms. Mochegova joins our Estate Planning, Administration and Wealth Management Departments.
Ms. Mochegova obtained her Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology, at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, summa cum laude, and a Master of Arts in Molecular and Cell Biology with Honors, from the University of California at Berkeley.
Counsel and Attorneys, Eme
The following attorneys have either previously been an attorney with the Firm or Of-Counsel, and presently hold a strategic practicing alliance with the Firm for specialized matters not otherwise handled by the Firm:
Ms. Hudson is a native Floridian and began her career as an associate attorney with Robert M. Montgomery, Jr. She has practiced in South Florida for over twenty years. Her experience involves not only marital rights in separations and divorce, but adoptions, dependency, child support, injunctive relief, and domestic violence and abuse. Although her concentration is in marital and family law, she has extensive experience litigating a wide range of commercial contract actions and other adversarial matters. Her relationship with the Firm will thus further bolster the expansion of our litigation practice.
Ms. Delgado is the Founder and Managing Partner at Delgado Law Group, where she has limited her practice to Immigration and related laws. She has substantial experience representing businesses and investors in their applications for EB-5 green cards, E-2, H-1B, L-1, O, and P visas. In addition to her work in immigration business matters, Ms. Delgado also represents clients seeking green cards and naturalization. She also assists immigrants who are victims of a crime, seeking asylum, or other humanitarian relief before the Immigration Court. She has also argued appeals before the Third and the Fourth District Courts of Appeals.
Ms. Sundar joined the Firm from the West Palm Beach trial firm of Matwiczyk & Brown, where she represented a diverse group of clients in trust, estate, guardianship and commercial litigation. Prior to joining Matwiczyk & Brown, she served as a Judicial Law Clerk and Circuit Civil Division Coordinator for the Fifteenth Judicial Circuit of Florida. In particular, she worked extensively for the Honorable Richard L. Oftedal, who is the principal probate and family law judge positioned at the North Palm Beach County Courthouse.
CPAs and Tax Accountants
The Firm offers legal representation in state and federal tax disputes, income and estate tax planning, and tax planning related to business operations. Our legal representation is supported by an experienced tax accounting department, which offers our clients not only assistance with tax planning in conjunction with our attorneys, but also assistance with budgeting, tax planning, and state and federal tax compliance and reporting.
Mr. Devlen is a member of our Tax Accounting and Wealth Management Departments. Prior to joining us, he was a senior associate with WTAS, LLC (formerly Arthur Andersen) in West Palm Beach, where he gained substantial experience in federal and state tax compliance and investment consulting and reporting. He was also a mentor at WTAS, where he trained and developed staff and interns. Prior to joining WTAS, Mr. Devlen interned with the Multistate Tax Commission in Washington, D.C. He was also responsible for coaching financial wellness for the executives of a large public company. While with the Firm, Mr. Devlen has been focused on client income and estate tax planning; overall integration of client wealth management; state and federal fiduciary tax compliance; and estate and gift tax planning and compliance.
Mr. Bourdeau is a member of our Tax Compliance Department. Mr. Bordeau holds a B.A. degree in Accounting from the Florida Atlantic University. He was previously with Wieseneck, Andres & Co. His background lies in federal and state, corporate, individual, partnership and fiduciary tax preparation compilation, and review. Mr. Bourdeau is a licensed certified public accountant by the State of Florida and is a member of the American and Florida Institutes of Certified Public Accountants. Mr. Bourdeau served in the Gulf War, Operation Desert Shield, in 1990 on the aircraft carrier USS Independence.
Mr. Posten is a graduate of the University of Florida Fisher School of Accounting with both a Master of Accounting and Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Mr. Posten joins us from the Stuart, Florida firm of Proctor, Crook, Crowder & Fogal, where he was a Tax Manager. Prior to his practice there, Mr. Posten was a Senior Accountant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in Miami, Florida, where he was responsible for the supervision of associate accountants. He began his career with WTAS LLC (formerly Arthur Andersen) in West Palm Beach.
Mr. Posten is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce, and the Stuart/Martin County LEADERship Alumni.
Denise B. Alpert, CPA, joins our Income, Gift and Estate Planning Department from the Palm Beach Gardens firm of LKD CPAs & Consultants, where she practiced since 2005. Prior to then, Ms. Alpert gained considerable experience in a broad range of tax planning for individuals and business at the national and international firms of Deloitte & Touche and Marcum LLP, where she was a Tax Manager. She also gained valuable experience with Tyco International (Sensormatic Electronics Corp) as a senior financial analyst.
Ms. Alpert holds a Master in Business Administration (MBA), a Master of Professional Accounting (MPA), and a Bachelor of Science (BS), Magna Cum Laude, from Barry University. She grew up in the same areas of Miami where Mr. Kempe was raised and have many common friends from the Miami area. She is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
Owen N. Bradley, CPA – Mr. Bradley joins us from the international accounting firm, Deloitte Tax, LLP, where he was a member of their Business Tax Services department, specializing in private wealth and private equity. A graduate of Auburn University with a B.S. degree in Business Administration with major in Accounting, Mr. Bradley has focused his practice on IRS audits, strategic tax planning, and tax compliance for corporations, partnerships, individuals, and trusts.
Mr. Bradley was a team leader for the Alabama Army National Guard and received an Army Commendation Medal and Combat Infantry Badge during his deployment to Afghanistan, where he was an Infantry Specialist.
Mr. Bradley is a member of our tax compliance, planning, and wealth management departments.
Ms. Rigaudon joined the firm in August 2005 as a member of our Tax Accounting and Wealth Management Departments. Mrs. Rigaudon has been focused on federal and state tax compliance, client income and estate tax planning, Advent Axys® reporting, and bill paying services. Prior to joining us, she spent five years as a staff accountant with Fulbright & Fulbright, CPA, PA in Durham, North Carolina. Mrs. Rigaudon gained experience in federal and state tax, corporate, individual, and partnership tax preparation compilation. She was also responsible for training newly business owners how to effectively use the QuickBooks Pro® program. Mrs. Rigaudon holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration and a minor in Accounting & Finance from the University of the Virgin Islands, St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.
Mr. Flood joined the firm in August 2010 as member of our Wealth Management Department. Mr. Flood holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Management and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Accounting from Belmont Abbey College, where he was a member of the varsity lacrosse team. Prior to joining the Firm he was with M&T Bank, f/n/a Provident Bank, of Baltimore, Maryland. Mr. Flood participates in economic and investment performance analysis and, in conjunction with the Firm’s certified public accountants, provides screening and reporting of client investment performance. He also has a passion for lacrosse and spends his free time coaching for the Benjamin School, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
Legal Assistants and Paralegals
Ms. Overton is a 1996 graduate of the University of North Carolina-Greensboro where she obtained her Bachelors Degree with a double major in Psychology and Classic Civilization. Ms. Overton came to us in 1998 having worked in both advertising and banking. After 6 years with the firm she went on hiatus to start a family. She returned to us in 2014 and is an integral member of our Estate Planning Department.
Mrs. Baummier has dedicated most of her time within the Treasure Coast and Palm Beach areas, starting out with Keane, Murphy & Hough in Stuart, FL, then to our firm where was employed with us 8 years. Donna ventured out and worked with Jones, Foster, Johnston & Stubbs in WPB, and made her way back to us in 2014. Donna plans to retire with our firm.
Ms. Janicki – is a member of both our Estate Administration and Fiduciary Administration Departments. She has been an integral member of the Wealth Management Department Reporting Team as well for over 5 years.
Ms. Chadwick is a member of our Health Care and Corporate/Litigation departments assisting both Attorney Poncy and Attorney Avery.
Mrs. Rodgers works within our title company, Counselors Title Company LLC. She handles all aspects of real estate closings.