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Bjarne is a member of the firm’s trusts,
estates and taxation group where his practice consists of solely of
estate, tax and business planning in an effort to keep his clients
safe from excess taxation, litigation or other unpleasantness. Even
without guarantees in this regard, his clients appreciate the focus.
Through
a combination of the selection and structuring of business entities,
the determination of recommended tax planning techniques,
and the assistance with personal estate planning issues, Bjarne works
to provide for the safeguarding of a family’s assets and for
the smooth passage of businesses and wealth between generations.
Bjarne
has been selected for inclusion in "The Best Lawyers In
America", and has been elected a Fellow in the American College
of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC). Elected as a Regent to ACTEC’s
governing body, Bjarne is a member of the College’s three member
Web Oversight Group, charged with the creation and maintenance of all
electronic academic and practice materials on the members-only section
of the ACTEC Web site, is Chair of the Editorial Board, charged with
oversight over all electronic and hard copy publications of ACTEC,
and is a former Editor of ACTEC Notes (now, ACTEC Journal), the College’s
quarterly academic publication.
As the result of a seemingly complete
inability to say no, Bjarne is also a frequent lecturer on topics ranging
from charitable tax planning
to the application of technology to the practice of law.
Graduating from
the University of Montana with the perfect degree for a career in tax
planning (history) in 1968, Bjarne also obtained
his J.D. from the University of Montana School of law in 1974 and his
LL.M., in taxation, from New York University in 1975. Bjarne also attended
the University of Bordeaux in Bordeaux, France, about which he will
only say that he received a wonderful education, if not a degree.
Bjarne
also remains active in local civic and charitable causes, serving at
one time on the Board of Directors and as Chair for the former
Deaconess Hospital and currently serving on the Board of Directors
of McLaughlin Research Institute. And, due no doubt in large measure
to his inability to think quickly when asked, Bjarne also was elected
in the year 2000 as President of the Cascade County Bar Association.
Working
with the firm since 1976, Bjarne managed to entice his wife, Dena, to
move from San Francisco to Montana where she was a former
trust and estate lawyer for the San Francisco firm of Pilsbury, Madison & Sutro,
and is now a practice systems consultant to law firms nationwide. Bjarne
and Dena currently reside with their daughter, Jenny, on the left bank
of the Missouri River.
Agricultural Law
Business Law
Business Planning
Charitable Planning
Real Property
Taxation
Wills, Trusts and Estates
Estate Planning
Trusts and Estate Administration
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