Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. attorneys selected as ‘Top Women’

Date: 3/27/2014

SPRINGFIELD – Local law firm, Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., serving Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut is pleased to announce that four of the firm’s attorneys have been selected to the Mass. Top Women list.

Female attorneys on the top list have been selected to the 2014 Massachusetts Super Lawyers list and ranked top on the list in the Super Lawyers selection process. The following Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C. attorneys have been included on the list: Michele J. Feinstein of Longmeadow, in the field of closely held business law; L. Alexandra Hogan of Chicopee, in the field of bankruptcy law; Carol Cioe Klyman of Westhampton, in the field of elder law; and Ann I. Weber of Granville, in the field of elder law.

No more than five percent of the lawyers in Mass. are selected by Super Lawyers to receive this honor. Super Lawyers, a Thomson Reuters business, is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The annual selections are made using a patented multiphase process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, an independent research evaluation of candidates and peer reviews by practice area. The result is a credible, comprehensive and diverse listing of exceptional attorneys. The Super Lawyers lists are published nationwide in Super Lawyers Magazines and in leading city and regional magazines and newspapers across the country. Super Lawyers Magazines also feature editorial profiles of attorneys who embody excellence in their practice of law. For more information about Super Lawyers, go to SuperLawyers.com.

Feinstein is a partner at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., and concentrates her practice in the areas of estate planning and administration, elder law, probate litigation, health law, and corporate and business planning. She specializes in all aspects of planning for the succession of business interests, representation of closely held businesses and their owners, and representation of physicians in their individual and group practices. She is an adjunct professor of law at Western New England University, where she teaches in the Estate Planning and Elder Law Program.

Hogan of Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., concentrates her practice primarily in business, litigation and bankruptcy law. Her business practice has focused on: formation; contract preparation and negotiations; acquisitions and sales; liquor license acquisitions and transfers; loans and refinancing; zoning and land use; foreclosures and workouts. Attorney Hogan has represented business and individual litigation clients in: contract disputes; state and federal receiverships; evictions; zoning appeals; disputes between partners and shareholders of closely held businesses; commercial collection; probate litigation; civil rights; and appeals. While Hogan strives to find alternatives to bankruptcy, as it is an option of last resort, she has an extensive bankruptcy practice that includes both debtor and creditor representation in individual and business cases, including Chapter 7 and Chapter 11.

Additionally, Hogan acts as counsel to Chapter 7 Trustee, Steven Weiss, in bankruptcy litigation advanced in adversary proceedings.

Klyman is a partner at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., and concentrates her practice in the areas of elder law, estate planning and administration, special needs trust planning, estate settlement, guardianships, and probate litigation. Klyman’s services include drafting strategic plans for clients facing nursing home care and preparing and filing applications for MassHealth benefits. As an advocate, she represents clients before the Office of Medicaid Board of Hearings on MassHealth appeals, before the Superior Court on appeals of adverse administrative hearing decisions and before the Probate Court on litigation involving wills, trusts and estates and contested guardianships. She also is versed in all aspects of estate administration, including probate petitions and accountings and preparation of estate tax and gift tax returns.

Weber is a partner at Shatz, Schwartz and Fentin, P.C., and concentrates her practice in the areas of estate-tax planning, estate administration probate, and elder law, and has a particular interest in creative estate planning for authors, artists, farmers, and landowners.

She is a board member and past president of the Estate Planning Council of Hampden County Inc., and is a former (and founding) board member and current member of the Massachusetts Chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys. She is a frequent author and speaker on issues regarding estate planning.