About Us
The Chicago Estate Planning Council has been an outstanding source of information about estate planning developments, analysis and techniques for its members since 1938.
Council membership is carefully selected from Chicago area professionals, and is comprised of attorneys, certified financial planners, certified public accountants, chartered financial consultants, chartered life underwriters, and trust officers-all pooling their knowledge and technical expertise for the advancement of informed estate planning.
The principal objectives of the Council are:
To foster a better understanding of the proper relationship among estate planning specialists from different disciplines and to bring those specialists together in one association;
to further the education of members and the public in matters of estate planning;
to encourage the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct.
AUSTIN FLEMING AWARD
The Austin Fleming Award is presented annually to a person highly regarded by practicing estate planners for their expertise in the field, and who has made a significant contribution to the improvement of estate planning practices.
Austin Fleming was trust counsel at The Northern Trust. A tireless innovator in the trust and estate legislation and education area, he was a tremendous believer in continuing education. Fleming gave a tremendous amount to the estate planning community. When he retired, it was decided to pay tribute to him by creating this distinguished service award in his honor. Mr. Fleming’s contribution to legal scholarship and the development of the law in trusts and estates serves as a goal to be reached by all who practice in this arena.
Mr. Fleming’s contribution to legal scholarship and the development of the law started as far back as 1929 when he co-authored an article for the Michigan Law Review on whether a judgment concludes non-partners of whose interests the plaintiff had no notice. Mr. Fleming wrote articles on various legal topics beginning in the 1920s and continuing through the 1970s. He contributed much to legal understanding and development over a long period of time.
Some of the topics on which Mr. Fleming wrote, such as apportionment of estate taxes and the varying standards of prudence applicable to fiduciaries, are as alive and significant for us today as they were when the articles were written.
Mr. Fleming received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan and also his JD in 1929. He served on the staff of the general counsel of the Office of Price Administration during World War II and joined The Northern Trust in 1945. While retiring from the bank’s legal department in 1974, he continued as Of Counsel until his untimely death on January 1, 1979.
2026 Award Recipient – KIM KAMIN
Kim Kamin is a partner and Chief Wealth Strategist at Gresham Partners LLC, an independent multifamily office serving ultra-high-net-worth families nationwide. She leads the firm’s estate and wealth transfer, philanthropic, family education, and fiduciary planning work. Before joining Gresham, she was a partner in the Private Clients, Trusts and Estates Group at Schiff Hardin LLP (now ArentFox Schiff).
Kim teaches at Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law and in Executive Education at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. She is a Fellow and Past Regent of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, a Past President of the Chicago Estate Planning Council, and the Estate Planning & Legal Issues Domain Chair for the UHNW Institute. She also served on the Founders’ Committee for the University of Chicago Center of Law and Finance and serves on the advisory boards for a number of local philanthropic organizations.
A frequent speaker and writer on estate planning, Kim serves on the editorial advisory boards of Trusts & Estates and Investments & Wealth Review. She is co-executive editor and co-author of Estate Planning for Modern Families (Leimberg Library Tools & Techniques, 4th ed. 2024).
Kim earned her B.A. in psychology, with distinction and departmental honors, from Stanford University and her J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School.
2025 Award Recipient - Case Hoogendoorn
REVIOUS AWARD RECIPIENTS
2024 David Herpe
2023 Anita M. Sarafa
2022 Barry L. Finkelstein
2021 Marguerite Griffin
2020 Suzanne Shier
2019 Christine Albright
2018 Brian T. Whitlock
2017 Thomas W. Abendroth
2016 Anne-Marie Rhodes
2015 David A. Handler
2014 Eileen B. Trost
2013 Susan T. Bart
2012 LOUIS S. HARRISON
2011 RICHARD M. HORWOOD
2010 WILLIAM C. WEINSHEIMER
2009 LANNY D. LEVIN
2008 ELLIOTT M. FRIEDMAN
2007 ROBERT I. URY
2006 ROBERT E. HAMILTON
2005 LYMAN W. WELCH
2004 KAREN K. MACKAY
2003 DAVID B. HIRSCHEY
2002 JUDITH W. MCCUE
2001 CAROL A. HARRINGTON
2000 HOWARD M. MCCUE III
1999 DONALD M SCHINDEL
1998 DONALD A. GLASSBERG
1997 J. TIMOTHY RITCHIE
1996 DONALD R. DANN
1995 JOHN T. HAYES
1994 ARTHUR W. BROWN, JR.
1993 MORTON J. BARNARD
1992 HERBERT J. DAVIS
1991 MARSHALL ZISSMAN
1990 CLAIREEN L. HERTING
1989 WILLIAM R. SUTTER
1988 JAMES M. TRAPP
1987 ADDIS E. HULL, III
1986 BYRLE M. ABBIN
1985 HUGO J. MELVOIN
1984 FREDERICK H. STITT
1983 WALTER R. DAHL
1982 J. GORDON HENRY
1981 WILLIAM K. STEVENS
1980 MILLARD J. GRAUER
1979 HARRY I. GROSSMAN
1978 JAMES N. ZARTMAN
1977 DANIEL M. SCHUYLER
1976 STUART A. MONROE
1975 JAMES M. CORCORAN, JR.
1974 AUSTIN FLEMING
