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Five Attorneys Promoted to Counsel

1/14/2021

Lathrop GPM is proud to announce that five of its attorneys have been promoted to counsel at the firm, effective Jan. 1, 2021. The newly promoted attorneys are Benjamin Bonestroo, Alison Foster, Michael “Pete” Knapp, Lanita Morgan and Erik Rome.

Here is additional information about each attorney:

Benjamin Bonestroo (Trusts, Estates & Legacy Planning Law — Minneapolis, Minn.): Bonestroo practices in the wealth strategies area. Working with families, fiduciaries, individuals and family businesses, he assists his clients with estate planning, estate and trust administration, business succession planning and charitable giving. This includes drafting wills, trusts, and other estate-planning instruments, advising clients on tax minimization strategies and guiding families through the estate administration process.

Alison Foster (Business Transactions Law — Denver, Colo.): Foster focuses her practice on the energy sector, working primarily on the preparation of acquisition and drilling and division order title opinions. Before joining the firm, Foster worked as a landman where she prepared ownership reports, created division orders and ran a complex title. She also had prior boutique firm experience in oil and gas. Her experience covers counties in Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Texas and North Dakota. In addition, she works with the wealth strategies practice area on complex mineral conveyancing issues (consulting and drafting).

Michael "Pete" Knapp (Business Transactions Law — Denver, Colo.): Knapp focuses on corporate law and represents clients in the oil and gas industry. He has experience in preparing drilling and division order title opinions for clients and preparing probate and quiet title lawsuits for litigation. Before joining the firm, Knapp worked as a landman in Oklahoma where he negotiated joint-operating agreements; settled surface damages and testified as an expert witness at forced pooling; increased density and location exception hearings; prepared detailed ownership reports; coordinated lease acquisition projects; and oversaw regulatory procedures to permit and drill oil and gas wells for the development of the company's leasehold.

Lanita Morgan (Environmental and Tort Law — Dallas, Texas): Morgan focuses on product liability, premises liability and breach of warranty claims in transportation. Her experience in all phases of litigation, including discovery, depositions, dispositive and pre-trial motions, pleadings and trial, allows her to properly and effectively manage a case from start to finish. Notably, Morgan served as second chair for an odor nuisance trial in Cook County, Chicago and she was the lead associate for two odor nuisance trials in Federal Court in North Carolina. Prior to beginning her legal career, Morgan served as a member of the U.S. Navy. She commits herself to providing her clients with legal services that exceed expectations, using thorough research and preparation methods.

Erik Rome (Trusts, Estates & Legacy Planning Law — Overland Park, Kansas): Rome focuses his practice on tax planning, estate planning, and estate and trust administration and helps clients develop and implement comprehensive estate plans for a wide range of estate sizes, assets and objectives. Understanding that every client's goals are unique, Rome works closely with each client to develop a custom plan to accomplish their goals, such as minimizing taxes, making charitable gifts, accounting for periods of incapacity and planning for the eventual transfer of wealth. He also advises owners of privately held entities on formation, organizational, tax and corporate succession issues. In addition, he has experience working side-by-side with litigators on trust and estate litigation, and has helped obtain court-ordered trust modifications and terminations.