Knoxville Chapter August Meeting

Chad Schollaert is Vice President Retirement Plan Services – Client Relations, focusing primarily on corporate retirement plans and investments for larger employers such as manufacturers or banks with more than 100 employees. The Trust Company serves as discretionary trustee, investment manager and record keeper on more than 200 retirement plans.

In addition to his primary retirement plan role, Schollaert serves on the investment committee of The Trust Company, which is responsible for asset selection, monitoring and allocation for client accounts. He also leads the retirement plan services committee which enables clients to stay current on regulation, enhances the final product to plan sponsors and participants and creates efficiency within our operations.

Schollaert has 15 years of experience in banking and investments and holds a B.S. degree in business administration from Lee University. A graduate of both the Cannon Financial Institute Retirement Plan Services and the Southern Trust School, he is also a member of the Tennessee Valley Employee Benefits Council.

Grant brings 26 years of professional experience in banking, financial planning and wealth management to The Trust Company of Tennessee. He has lead successful wealth management teams and forged strong relationships across a myriad of business functions and industries. Since 2012, Grant was the Managing Director for SunTrust Banks, Inc. Private Wealth Management in Knoxville, Chattanooga and in Nashville. Previously, his breadth of experience also included wealth management for US Trust- Bank of America and Wells Fargo in the Atlanta market.

A graduate of Florida International University, Grant holds a bachelor's degree in business and has continued a life-long pursuit of education including completing the Certification Financial Planning Education Program from Queens University and several other licenses.

Grant is engaged in the community as a board member for the Tennessee Foundation STEM Council, board member for Boy Scouts of America and past Trustee for the Boys and Girls Club of the Tennessee Valley. He also devotes his time to his positions on the campaign committee for United Way and is a past board member for the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce.

Alongside his hobbies of fly fishing, golf and travel, Grant enjoys spending quality time with his family and friends.

Due to his background in software development and management, John Wood assists technology companies with outsourcing arrangements, licensing agreements, privacy issues, reseller agreements, entity formation, and various other matters. John also actively advises companies on trademark, trade secret, and copyright law.

Prior to attending law school, John worked for 14 years in the computer software industry. He worked for IBM before joining startup company NetIQ/Ganymede Software in Raleigh, where he held various programming and managerial positions. He and his family then moved to Calabasas, California, where John held a directorial position at Ixia, an IP performance testing corporation. Notably, John is co-inventor for five patents.

While a law student, John was Student Materials Editor of the Tennessee Law Review. John also served as Co-coordinator for the UT Pro Bono Homeless Project, partnering with the law school and Legal Aid in offering legal counsel to constituents of Knoxville Area Rescue Ministries.

Cheryl G. Rice is a shareholder with the Knoxville law firm of Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, PC, whose practice has been focused primarily on litigation and dispute resolution for over 30 years. Cheryl routinely advises businesses, large and small, on contract and commercial issues and represents clients in litigation in state and federal courts in Tennessee and other jurisdictions. A seasoned litigator, she also assists clients in arbitration and mediation, and enjoys helping them craft solutions to challenging situations.

Cheryl volunteers her time with several local non-profit organizations and can often be found boating, cycling, hiking or enjoying sporting events with her husband and their 2 daughters.

Will graduated from the University of Tennessee as an Accounting major and continued at the University of Tennessee to earn his J.D., with a concentration in Business Transactions. He also earned an LL.M. in Tax Law from the University of Florida. Will has a wide range of experience in business law, tax law (including tax controversies with the IRS and Tennessee Department of Revenue), and commercial lending. Will also has experience with deferred compensation, sales and use tax issues, Tennessee franchise and excise tax issues, estate planning, and real property transactions. Will enjoys spending time with his wonderful wife, Meg, and their four children, Laurel, Bill, Miles, and Henry. He also loves to fish for trout in the rivers of East Tennessee and West Virginia.

Newman Bankston’s primary focus is estate and business succession planning. He regularly works with clients to create a plan for the successful transition of wealth to the next generation, while taking into account the unique family circumstances and tax issues associated with multi-generational planning.

This often consists of preparing wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and living wills, as well as creating closely held entities to hold and manage family assets. He also helps clients create and carry out charitable plans, which often involves creating private foundations, public charities, or donor advised funds.

Newman has assisted several nonprofits in their formation, application for tax-exempt status, and throughout their life cycle as a charity.

Newman regularly represents executors, administrators, trustees, creditors and beneficiaries in the probate and trust administration process. He assists both corporate and individual fiduciaries in the implementation of estate plans after death, and advising trustees, creditors, and beneficiaries on estate and trust issues, including the preparation and filing of estate and gift tax returns.

Newman is a member, and former Chair, of the TBA Executive Council for the Estate Planning and Probate Section, and is a member of the Knoxville Estate Planning Council, as well as the Knoxville, Tennessee, and American Bar Associations.

Newman enjoys spending time with his family, coaching his kids’ sports teams, and serving on various nonprofit boards. Newman and his wife, Julie, have four children: Emelia, Oliver, Celia, and Lucy.

Kaitlyn A. Sell is an associate with Egerton, McAfee, Armistead & Davis, P.C., practicing in the areas of estate planning and taxation. Kaitlyn graduated from Milligan College with a B.S. in Accounting and Business Administration with an emphasis in Legal Studies. Kaitlyn went on to earn her J.D. from the University of Tennessee where she graduated cum laude. Kaitlyn was the recipient of the CALI Excellence for the Future Awards in Estate Planning and Taxation, Civil Pretrial Litigation, and the Wills Clinic as well as served as the Managing Editor of the Tennessee Journal of Race, Gender, and Social Justice and a Research Editor for Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law. After graduating from the University of Tennessee's College of Law, Kaitlyn received her L.L.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida where she served as a Graduate Editor for the Florida Tax Review.