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2023/2024 BOARD OF DIRECTOR CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

Alexis Merritt | Published on 2/6/2023

2023/2024 SBA BOARD MEMBER CANDIDATE STATEMENTS

INCUMBENT CANDIDATES

Grant Boland presently serves on the Board of Directors and serves as the Secretary for the Executive Committee. He is also a member of the Golf and Membership Committee. He seeks reelection to the Board and hopes to continue to provide opportunities to the current membership as well as provide energy and support to the expansion of the membership base into the future.

Grant is a tax and estate planning attorney who focuses his practice in the areas of trust and estate planning, tax planning and federal tax litigation. Grant's practice emphasizes the design, implementation and defense of advanced strategies to transfer ownership of family businesses and legacy properties from one generation to the next, or to charity.

Grant is an avid community leader and volunteer who has worked with assisting numerous organizations including the Phoenix Children’s Hospital Foundation, Central Arizona Estate Planning Council, the Simone Foundation, Wills For Heroes, the Disabled American Veterans Legal Clinic, and the Executive Council for the Tax Section of the State Bar of Arizona.

For most of his adult life, Mark Lasee has lived in Scottsdale, but he still enjoys discovering new things about this amazing community. Mark was previously a member of Scottsdale Leadership, where he has learned about Scottsdale’s history, city government, its outlook for the future and how such information can impact the decision-making of its future leaders. As a member of the Scottsdale Bar Association Board, has assisted with governance issues , based his prior experience as a board member of various organizations.

Mark graduated with a B.S. in business administration from the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay and a J.D. from Hamline University Law School in St. Paul, Minnesota. After spending most of his formative years in rural Wisconsin and Minnesota, like so many from the northern Midwest, after law school Mark and his wife, Jean, decided to make the move to Arizona.

Mark is a partner at Kutak Rock LLP, where he has practiced in the corporate real estate group since 2005. A Certified Real Estate Specialist with the Arizona State Bar, he dedicates a significant amount of his practice to alternative investments, renewable energy, commercial real estate and business transactions.

An avid hiker and cyclist, Mark spends his leisure time hiking and biking in the McDowell Sonoran Mountain Preserve. Cycling has lead him to exotic places like the Dolomites in Italy. He has recently made a couple of trips to Phantom Ranch in the Grand Canyon.

Mark and Jean live less than a mile away from the Mountain Preserve in North Scottsdale with their two cats, Kikkou and Buddha.

Katrina Vitale is the founder of Vitale Law, PLLC, a boutique trusts and estates law firm located in North Scottsdale. With over two decades of experience, Katrina’s practice is focused on estate planning, probate and trust administration, and conservatorships and guardianships. Katrina is a member of the Probate and Trust Section of the State Bar of Arizona, Valley Estate Planners, Central Arizona Estate Planning Council, and the Estate Planning, Probate & Trust Section of the Maricopa County Bar Association. Katrina is highly active on several committees of the Scottsdale Bar Association, including the 50th Anniversary Planning, Community Outreach, Sponsorship, and Social Committees.

A Philadelphia native, Katrina earned her law degree from Rutgers Law School and her Master of Laws in Taxation from Villanova University School of Law. Katrina previously served on the Ethics Committee for the Supreme Court of New Jersey for eight years and the District IV Fee Arbitration Committee for twelve years, in addition to serving on various boards throughout the State of New Jersey, including President of the Gloucester County Bar Association and District Representative for the New Jersey State Bar Association Young Lawyers Committee.

For more than a decade, Katrina is rated superb with AVVO and preeminent with Martindale-Hubbell. She is also recently ranked as a Top Probate Lawyer with Phoenix Magazine and a Best Lawyer in Scottsdale with Expertise.com. A Scottsdale resident, Katrina spends her leisure time hiking, biking, and horseback riding.

NEW CANDIDATES

Andi Lawrence has practiced family law for over 25 years, first in Chicago and since 2006, in Arizona. Andi enjoys educating her clients on the divorce process so they are empowered to make decisions that are best for them. She employs her legal acumen and extensive experience to craft creative solutions to challenging issues. Andi boldly leads her clients toward the realization of a new beginning with alacrity, superior knowledge, and a dedication to putting family first.

Unapologetically straightforward, Andi’s winning approach helps clients understand not only what is possible, but probable, in the dissolution of their marriages so that they can make informed, smart decisions throughout the process.

Andi earned her J.D. at DePaul University College of Law. She has been selected to Super Lawyers for 9 years and previously served as a Maricopa County Judge Pro Tem. She enjoys spending time with her 4 teenagers, SCUBA and skiing at Sunrise Ski Resort.

Bruce Samuels is a partner at Papetti Samuels Weiss McKirgan, a nine-lawyer business litigation boutique that he formed in May 2021. Before starting his own firm, he was a lawyer for 26 years at Lewis Roca, where he served as practice group leader of the firm’s 100 lawyer litigation practice group. His law practice focuses on business litigation, IP litigation, and real estate disputes. He is listed among the top 100 Lawyers in Arizona (AZ Big Media), Top 50 Arizona Lawyers (Super Lawyers), a “Local Litigation Star” by Benchmark Litigation, and Best Lawyers in several areas, including 2023 Lawyer of the Year for Trademark Law in Scottsdale.

Born and raised in Scottsdale, Bruce attended Scottsdale High until it closed, and graduated from Saguaro High School. He obtained his undergraduate degree from Occidental College and his law degree from NYU School of Law. He serves on the Boards of the Arizona Center for Law in the Public Interest and Child Crisis Arizona. He graduated from Scottsdale Leadership (Class 13) and previously served on the Board of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale.

Upon creating his firm in Scottsdale, he was told by several friends he had to join the Scottsdale Bar Association. Since then, Bruce has participated in several of the SBA’s lunch CLEs and organized his firm’s attorneys to staff the Paiute Neighborhood Legal Clinic in January.

Lisa Stone has practiced family law in Arizona for over 28 years. Lisa has extensive litigation and negotiation skills, but truly caring about the emotional and financial challenges clients face is what sets Lisa apart from her peers. Lisa’s firm, Lisa Stone Law, PLLC is a frequent sponsor of Scottsdale Bar Association luncheons and events. Lisa also volunteers with Paiute Center through Scottsdale Bar Association. Lisa served an interim term on the Scottsdale Bar Association Board of Directors in 2018/2019. For personal reasons, Lisa did not seek reelection at that time. Lisa is running for another board term to focus efforts on new member recruitment, improved resources access and greater networking and partnership opportunities for all SBA members.

Lisa is A/V rated with Martindale Hubbell®, an American Bar Foundation, Fellow; Arizona’s Finest Lawyers, Sustaining Member, Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers, American Institute of Family Law Attorneys™ 10 Best Client Satisfaction Award, 2019, AVVO, Client’s Choice Award, Family Law Assistance Project, Volunteer Lawyers Program, Family Law Attorney of the Year, 2003, Arizona Foundation for Legal Services, Top 50 Pro Bono Attorneys 2002 and 2003, Family Law Assistance Project, Outstanding Family Law Educator, 2000.

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