MEET OUR TEAM

Michael is a widely recognized attorney and CPA — founder of a law firm, the Stuart Legacy Alliance, and co-founder of the Family Legacy Alliance, a consulting firm. These enterprises both focus on creating and maintaining family legacies. He retired from the active practice of law in 2021 after 40 years of practice and decided to give back to the legal community by mentoring lawyers who struggle with the business of maintaining a law firm.  Among clients and advisors, he earned the reputation as a responsible, reliable, and thoughtful counselor and consultant to service-based businesses and family enterprises. His practice enjoyed significant growth by maintaining the philosophy of educating clients about their options on an ongoing basis and building strong, lifelong relationships. He helped clients maintain legacies that last for generations through his innovative approach to creating and capturing these treasures, called Your Ultimate Legacy^SM.

A long time meditator, Michael trained to become a Mindfulness Coach to help people learn the benefits of mindfulness and meditation.  In the Mindful MeditationsTM series, he shares his over 35 years as a practicing meditator and training as coach to assist others on how to improve their lives and enhance their effectiveness with family, employees and professionals alike.

Michael has spoken on estate and legacy planning issues to various public groups: The Family Firm Institute, the Financial Planning Association, the Purposeful Planning Institute, the Illinois Wealth Counsel Symposium and has appeared on Channel 23’s Accountability financial forum. He has written and published articles on corporate, individual, and estate tax planning. Having recognized the need to bring families together in the estate planning process, he collaborate with firms that seek to mediate disputes in the estate planning setting.  In addition, through the Mindful MeditationsTM Program he has one-on-one sessions, group training and corporate and family retreats to assist family harmony and promote family legacy.  He also counsels service-based businesses and family enterprises to help them grow, maintain and transition their businesses.

As a holistic estate planner, Michael has worked in concert with his clients’ financial advisors, CPAs, insurance advisors, and a variety of other financial and legal professionals to ensure that all plans developed truly have the clients’ goals and objectives in mind.